Marjorie-Waiting in the hotel lobby

We have officially checked out of the Hotel lobby in Beijing and are waiting to meet up with Danling, the    tour agency owner and director.  She will take the parents to meet with a citizen panel consisting of China residents while the children will be taken to another part of the hotel for a fun activity.  This panel was formed to allow us to ask them questions about China and their attitudes concerning adoption and the one child policy.  The children are not invited since Danling wants us to be able to ask questions without reservations.  It should be interesting.  If any interesting information comes up I will be sure to share it with you.

After the panel discussion we will have dinner with the group and then onto the train station.  It will be fun to pass through the countryside at night while traveling to Xi'an, the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors.  

Earlier today we had a blast riding rickshaws through the historical neighborhood of Hutong.  Hutong is a section of Beijing that takes you back to how China was earlier in previous centuries.

                                          (Yikes, my legs look scary white here!)

 Homes are basically a courtyard with rooms surrounding it.  We were able to go into one of the homes and eat a homemade dinner with dumplings.  The girls even got to make a dumpling.  

We also were able to climb a tower on the edge of the Hutong neighborhood that overlooked the city of Beijing.  This time I was able to make it to the top (as opposed to the Great Wall)!  The view was beautiful, especially since it was an unusually clear day with minimal smog. What was really neat was recognizing the places we had already visited such as the Beijing Olympic Park, The Forbidden City, and the mountains with the Great Wall winding through them.