A Day at the Cloisonne Factory and Great Wall!

Today we started our day off with a tour of the Cloisonne Factory in Beijing. Cloisonne is an art that has been around for between 700 and 800 years. Copper is formed into it's particular shape, and then these meticulous little ladies take thin strips of copper, bend them to their desired shape, and then glue them to the copper item to form a pattern. Then, they take an enamel powder mixed with water and fill in the areas between the copper strips, and then they fire them in a kiln. They were beautiful!! It was amazing to see what these ladies had made. They were making vases, bowls, plates, decorations, all kinds of stuff!

We then went to the Great Wall, which was situated between 2 sets of mountains, which we can't remember. Scott said the Jeng Dong mountain when I asked him what the names were, but he was WAY off. There was no DONG in the name!!! It's been funny to hear him pronounce the names of the cities that we will be visiting! The Great Wall was so crowded. The first set of stairs there was just shoulder to shoulder people, sweating and pushing. It was stressful!!! But, when Scott and I got past the first set of stairs it was much better. We got quite a work out! I was the first one to reach the highest point in our group! There was only one more person that even tried, and it wasn't Scott because he was down aways puking because he had gotten so hot and was working so hard. We had gotten our pictures taken several times with Chinese people; everyone is very interested in Scott's goatee and bald head! This one young kid had taken Scott's picture earlier and then saw him again, this time puking, and he started to take his picture! I was laughing and pointed my finger and said "No, no!!" Later, a beetle flew into my ear, and thanks to Erin Bollhorst who had told me a story about a beetle burrowing into someone's ear, I flipped out and hit it . In the process of flipping out I hit my earring and it flew over the Great Wall. I'm like, "Seriously?" So, I took the other one off and threw it over too!! Going back down was just as hard as going up. My legs felt like noodles and I was just waiting for them to give out. I accidentally kneed an older Chinese man and I'm pretty sure he cussed me out in Chinese! I just smiled and said "Sorry!" I mean, really, what are you going to do?!!

So, here we are back at the hotel, ready to collapse!!! 2 more days and we get to finally meet Mary. It's very surreal to think that we are here, touring China, and our daughter is just miles away waiting on us. We figured out that Mary will be the youngest child in the whole travel group, which consists of about 19 families. Everyone is so nice and it's wonderful to hear their own stories, of how God has worked in their lives and throughout the adoption process. Tomorrow we will go to the Forbidden City and Tienenem Square. We are looking forward to it being our last day in Beijing. One day closer to Mary!!

*Note: Jill and Scott are unable to access the blog or Facebook while they are in China. Both applications are blocked. They can see your comments on Facebook because they are sent to her email, but they are not able to reply to them. Even though they are unable to see your comments on this blog while she is in China, please still write some! If you have trouble, you can send me (Stephanie) a message, and I can tell you how. It is very easy! They are excited to be able to have this blog to look back on when they get home, and they will be able to read each of your comments then. Also, they will be able to print all blog entries and comments for Mary's baby book as well so that Mary will always have them.