The big morning has finally arrived......"Gotcha Day"

Up at 4:00 a.m.---we prepared for our flight to Nanning, Guangxi, China. Our plane would leave Beijing at 7:55 a.m.

The hotel lobby was buzzing with excitement. All of the expecting parents and grandparents could hardly contain themselves. We knew later that afternoon that we would be meeting the little person for whom we had made the trip---our little daughter or granddaughter.

We had only seen a picture of her taken at approximately 6 months of age. She would now be 10 months old. What I found to be unbelieveable is how quickly we fell in love with that baby girl in the picture. She even had her name by the time the kids had her picture for a week.

Our daughter was terribly worried that she wouldn't recognize her own baby. Her mother comforted her as much as possible.

We got on the bus for our 45 minute trip to the airport. When we arrived at the airport, we were lead through the maze by our guide. Of course, none of us spoke more than our familiar two words "xie xie" (thank you). So getting around in the airport would have been a chore without our guide. We would have to leave our guide, with whom we had toured for the past week, in Beijing. We felt like we were leaving one of the family behind. She was wonderful.

This was to be the first of several flights to be made on a Chinese airline. It was very comfortable and uneventful. They cater more to the Asian people on these flights, since this is not a route that sees many Westerners, so we ate some local breakfast foods. It was quite tasty.

When we arrived in Nanning, we were met by four new guides who would be with us for the next 9 days. They were also employed by Comfort China Travel. One of them was an expert in making all of the paperwork come together. No, the paperwork doesn't stop with the adoption approval. There were numerous documents remaining to completed.

We were bused to the hotel and told to rest as much as possible. The bus to the CCA would be to pick us up in an hour and one-half. So---we did our best to get some rest..

More.....Beijing..............

Note: Click on pictures for larger view.

You can't go to Beijing and fill two paragraphs with information and then simply stop! It is too fantastic to be that trite.

Another must in Beijing are the Chinese acrobats. They perform every night somewhere in the city. We went to the Chao Yang Theater. We had seats 10 rows back from the stage. The cost per person is $12 to $19. I believe we paid somewhat more for our seats.

The Chinese Opera is also good entertainment. My wife and I didn't attend. Our son-in-law called a tour company and made arrangements through them. They provided a vehicle and a guide for the evening for a nominal fee. A guide can get you into parts of the theater that would not be available to the average individual, so the fee is well worth it.

There are too many things to see in Beijing to even think about talking about them here. You should, however, go to the "Chinese Traditional Cultural Center" to see how silk is processed; to a Cloisonne factory to see how it is made and to a jade gallery, such as, the "Long Di Superior Jade Gallery".

I have spent more time than I had anticipated on Beijing, but as I said it is a magnificent city. I believe it is a visit of a life-time (no, two life-times).

We will be preparing for our next stop on our quest to meet our newest granddaughter in my next post.

Now, for more about Beijing........

Beijing is a city of approximately eleven million people. These are the ones that are registered as residents. There are, however, many migrant workers that live in the city during the work season. These workers can raise the population to eighteen million. They go back to their homes in the winter.

While we there, as I said in an earlier post, you could see huge cranes everywhere on the horizon. They were beginning to prepare for the Olympics. We watched some of the construction directly below our hotel window.

One thing that you will notice in the colder parts of China is, they don't waste heat. You probably have wondered why you see so many Chinese in quilted clothing. Well, I am here to tell you, it is because heat is a used sparingly; even in the hotels. We definitely wore more clothing inside than we do at home.

In the hutongs, they use charcoal for heat. Not like we use for barbequeing, but it comes in cylinders made especially for the type of stoves that they use. The stoves heat water into steam and the steam heats the homes.

I have ridden in numerous taxis in all of the major U.S. cities, but it is certainly different in China. They use many smaller taxis. If you are a six foot man this can cramp your style. It did mine. The biggest difference, however, is price. I don't believe that we paid more that $3.00 (U.S.) for any of our jaunts. It would have been at least $10, $12 or even more at home for the same ride. It is even less expensive when you go to smaller cities.

Shopping in Beijing is very metropolitan. You can find everything that you can imagine and more. We found that electronics were not much cheaper than what we could buy at home. However, you can buy jade jewelry, for instance, considerably less.

When shopping in the large shopping centers, you should use caution. Pick-pockets are prevalent. So much so, that they have monitors up to warn about them and to tell you how to prevent them from taking advantage of you. This is knowledge that is not made readily available on the Internet.

The first thing to learn about shopping in China is, it is rare to pay the marked price; especially at one of the many individually owned shops. I am not sure that shop is the correct term, since most of them don't have hard walls. They are simply small spaces with a counter. Here the individual sets a price, but actually doesn't expect to end up with that amount. If they do, you will be the target for every vendor in the area, because the word will spread quickly. Don't feel too bad, however, when you feel like you have bargained the poor merchant out of his/her profit, because they are shrewd business people. They will never sell one of their products at a price that won't give them a profit.

Some of the better places to shop are called "Friendship Stores". These are owned by the Chinese government and provide a safe place to purchase good quality products. Here is a quote about Friendship Stores from one of the travel sites: "Prices are clearly marked on the merchandise. Prices may be slightly higher than at other Chinese stores but the goods are of higher quality and some items are unavailable elsewhere. Government stores have a reputation for honesty. Bargaining is acceptable".

Of course, no trip to Beijing would be complete without going to "The Great Wall". This had been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. It was a cool morning when we boarded the bus. The trip would be approximately one hour long to "The Ju Yong Pass". Here the Chinese government has renovated the wall. It definitely lives up to it's reputation.

If you climb the wall you receive a card stating that you are a "Hero". This is definitely a feat. The wall is extremely steep at this location and the steps are approximately ten inches high. My daughter and I were barely able to get to that point, but we did get our cards.

The scenery at Juong Pass is absolutely beautiful. It is definitely worth the trip.

I have heard it said that visiting "Tiananmen Square" is like watching parking meters run out of time. In my humble opinion this is not the case. Another saying that I believe is more realistic is, "all roads in Beijing end at Tiananmen Square. Beijing is built around the square. I know everyone has seen the picture of Mao Tse-Tung (Zetung) over the gate at the Forbidden City, well, this is on one side of the square. You enter the Forbidden City beneath his picture.

Since this post is getting longer than I planned, I will talk more about Beijing in my next post.

The people of China.........

I want to take this opportunity to talk about the people of China.

In most instances, we all have pre-conceived ideas about the people of the country to which we are traveling. This certainly was the case for us.

Our main reason for going to China early was to learn as much as possible about our newest granddaughter's people and country. What we found was amazing.

The Chinese people are the most gracious, caring and loving people that we have had the pleasure of meeting. We never felt the least bit like outsiders. Everywhere that we went we were treated with the greatest respect.

Also, they seem to have patience beyond comprehension. I guess in a country of 1.25 billion people, patience is truly a virtue. They certainly show no outward indication that they get upset with anyone.

Another thing that was obvious was how industrious they are. Everyone was trying in their own way to earn a living.

Let's talk more about Beijing..........

Before I get started with the discussion of Beijing, I want to talk a bit about my feelings upon arriving in Beijing.

Of course, I was thousands of miles from home and in one of the most mysterious countries in the world. The first night I felt very alone. This was mainly because nothing was familiar. Oh, yes, there were the ads for American products. McDonald's is big in Beijing, but nothing else was the same. I didn't even know how I would pay for things. The monetary system is soooo different. But you know, everything worked out just fine.

Beijing is in the midst of a major reconstruction for the 2008 Olympics. Everywhere that we went there were huge cranes. Along with this modern equipment, however, there were many workers using picks and shovels.

I can describe many things for you, but the one thing I have no way to compare for you is, how people in Beijing drive! I like to call it organized chaos.

The pedestrian does not have the right-of-way in Beijing. When asked this question our guide simply replied, "If the driver were to stop for the people, he would never be able to start again".

The one thing that I never did see was anyone getting upset at the situation. "Road Rage" is not even in the Chinese vocabulary. They simply take things is stride. We can learn much from them.

There are so many stark contrasts in the city. On one hand you have the large sky-scrapers and on the other hand you have the hutongs. The sad part is that many of the historic buildings were torn down during the revolution. Now they are beginning to renovate the ones remaining.

Beijing....what a city!

Our trip was very long, but just as enjoyable. Of course, none of us had ever traveled Internationally. So, this was almost as exciting as the thought of "meeting" our new granddaughter.

When we left home, the weather was in the mid-forties. When we arrived in Beijing, the temperature was in the high twenties and it was snowing lightly. We had been told what to expect, so we had plenty of warm clothing with us.

We were met at the airport by our guide for the next seven days. She worked for China Comfort Travel. CCT has worked with adoptive families in China for the past seven years. Therefore, they know what will make us comfortable and what most Europeans want to see while in China.

The trip to our hotel, The Marco Polo, was interesting. We had to travel about 45 minutes on one of the freeways. With snow on the road, we were a bit uneasy. However, we made it without incident.

The hotel was great. The Marco Polo is a Four-Star hotel. In fact, we only stayed in Four and Five-Star hotels on our entire trip. This certainly made the trip even that much more enjoyable.

Since we arrived a couple of days before the other families, our guide took us to see some places that we had requested to see. As I said earlier, my son-in-law and I were on the Internet for hours.

We went to a silk factory. There we got to see how they raise silk worms and how the cocoon is made into thread. While everything we did was interesting, one of the most interesting things that we did was to take a rickshaw tour of a "hutong" . A hutong is basically a small community within Beijing. Most of them are well over one hundred years old.

After the others arrived, we took a tour of the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, The Summer Palace and The Great Wall.

Of course, no trip to Beijing (Peking) would be complete without a dining on "Beijing (Peking) Duck". I wasn't fortunate enough to have this experience, but those who did said it was wonderful.

I can't wait any longer.............................!

This was one of the most memorable experiences of our entire lives. I can't sit back any longer and go through the preliminary steps, we need to begin our treak.

After the long months of preparing and planning, the day for our adventure to begin had come. It was February 22, 2005. We had to drive several hundred miles to the city where we would depart.

We went a day early. The plan was to get as close to the airport as possible, so the next morning we wouldn't have to hurry and be stressed. This was an exceptional plan. It worked well.

Our trip to the airport was very relaxed. Since we had so much luggage, it was necessary to take two vehicles. There were many things to take for our new granddaughter. Our trip was going to a long one, so we took plenty of reading materials and snacks, also.

Our first stop was in San Francisco. This is where we would board our plane for Beijing (Peking). It would be a thirteen (13) hour flight.

We had decided to travel a week early so we could do some sight-seeing. WACAP made all of the arrangements for us.

Our itinerary was Beijing, Nanning, Guilin and Guangzhou (Canton).

A good adoption agency will make a huge difference.

Since we had never worked with an adoption agency before, we had no idea what to expect. Of course, we were not involved with the actual adoption process, but we certainly did benefit from the professionalism of the agency, WACAP.

They kept all of us updated regularly. They had added us to their list to receive information and also their newsletter. This gave us insight into what was happening inside the agency.

As I mentioned earlier, the entire process takes a year or more. Therefore, being kept in the loop helps eliminate much anxiety. The unknown is what creates problems.

Let's take a break today........

There will be plenty of time for planning. The entire China adoption process will take approximately a year. So, let's talk about some of the things that we did to keep sane.

Of course, mommy and grandma began planning the nursery. Which room would become the nursery; what color/s should it be; which furniture to buy and on and on. Oh, yes, then there were the clothes shopping trips. This was actually very exciting for all of us.

Another thing that helped was communicating with the other parents who would be making the trip with our group. The adoption agency, WACAP, made a list available. You know the old saying, "Misery likes company". They were all as excited and as anxious as we were and just being able to talk about the trip was helpful.

Daddy and I spent many hours on the Internet. There are so many things to learn about China. We will discuss all about China, from my perspective, later in the blog.

Last of all, we made an effort to learn a few words of Chinese. This can definitely take up much of your time. Here is one of the free sites on the Internet to help you learn some of the language.

What is most important?

The most important items that you will require are a passport, to get you back into the U.S. and a visa for travels in China. You can apply for the passport anytime during the process, however, the visa was somewhat more tricky.

We couldn't apply for visas until we knew where we would be entering China and the dates we would be there. This didn't happen for us until late in the process. We used a service that applied for the visas for us. Of course, if this makes you uncomfortable, you can make a trip to the nearest Chinese consulate and apply in person. It would have been a four day round-trip for us to apply in person. The adoption agency with whom you are working should guide you every step of the way.

Planning---this is 90% of the trip!

A good plan will ensure that your trip is extremely enjoyable. If you should be as fortunate as we were, your kids will make your arrangements along with theirs. They did this to ensure that we all got our documents and other necessities for the trip at the same time. This would mean we could all travel together without problems.

What needs to be considered?

There are many seminars given on International travel all over the U.S. My wife and I attended one that was sponsored by AAA. While we had traveled extensively here at home, we had never taken a trip to another country; especially one where we had to travel an entire day and would be gone for three (3) weeks. The seminar was certainly helpful.

Once you know where you will be traveling, check with your doctor and local health department to determine which, if any, shots you may require. From what we found, the requirements change frequently.

Remember, China is a large country, with many diverse climatic conditions. It is cold to fridgid in the north and mild to steamy in the south. It, of course, will depend on what time of the year you travel.

We knew from our past experiences that we would have no difficulty loving this child, but we felt it would be different.

I mentioned earlier that we have eight (8) biological grandkids. This is not exactly true. One of our granddaughters is from our son-in-law's first marriage. We love her, however, as if she had been a part of our family from day one. This is why we knew that we could love an adopted child.

How did we feel it would be different?

Because most of the babies coming from China are at least six (6) months old, they have had no contact with English speaking people. We didn't know if this would be an obstacle or not. How would we communicate with the child. Also, this has given them time to become attached to his/her care-giver. Now, they are taken to a strange place and handed to a stranger. What would this be like for him/her. We would simply have to wait and see.

Note: We highly recommend a documentary (China's "Lost Girls") that we saw on the National Geographic channel. It was done by Lisa Ling. Lisa is Chinese. She had always wanted to do a story about "The Lost Girls of China".

Once we had gotten all of these questions discussed, we began to plan the trip.

Okay--where were we? Oh, yes, I remember....

Grandma and I were just told that we were going to become grandparents again. We already have eight (8) wonderful biological grandkids. This time, however, it would be different. Our new grandchild was going to be Chinese. Wow!

At this point there wasn't much for grandma and grandpa to do, but sit back and enjoy the prospect of a new grandchild.

There were still all of the preliminary things to be done. The most important of which was deciding upon an adoption agency. This had to be done with much care. Which one would be most reliable and helpful? Our kids did much research.

Their friends had used WACAP (World Association for Children and Parents) and were completely satisfied with the results. So, WACAP seemed like a good place to begin.

Note: You will find WACAP's link on this site.

After corresponding back and forth for some time, they decided to go with WACAP. At the risk of removing any suspense, this was an extremely good decision. WACAP is trendous!! How do I know? We were involved every step of the way.

This is when things began to get exciting. Grandma and mommy-to-be talked at great length about the trip and decided that she, grandma, would travel with them. They didn't know if I would want to make the trip. Of course, I let them know that I wouldn't miss the opportunity.

I told them that I considered this no differently than going to the hospital in town. It would just take longer to get there.

They say (whoever "they are") that life is made-up of choices; good and bad. This was one of the best choices I have ever made.

With the first major hurdle out of the way, we began to plan for the trip. While the kids were dealing with the adoption process, grandma and I began dreaming about what it would be like to have a new grandchild; especially one from another country.

We knew from our past experiences that we would have no difficulty loving this child, but we felt it would be different.

Where does every great journey begin?---at the beginning, of course!

Our journey began sometime in October, 2003 or a bit earlier. We had heard some chatter about the possibility of an adoption, but no particulars were given. At first only domestic adoption was being considered. As you will soon learn, this is no easy decision.

The airwaves were quiet for some time. Then, one fateful day, our son-in-law came home from work and announced to our daughter that a man from work and his wife and children were coming for dinner the next evening.

They had recently adopted a baby girl from China and believed that it was the only way to go. Of course, as with any exciting experience, you want to share it with anyone who will listen. My son-in-law and daughter were prime candidates since they were in the decision phase of adoption.

The next evening they came for dinner. Our daughter literally fell in love with the baby from China. This was definitely a turning-point in the process.

Several nights later, we received a call from our children (son-in-law and daughter). They wanted to come to visit. This was nothing out of the ordinary, since it happens quite often. But this night would proove to be very different.

"We are considering a China adoption", said our daughter. "What would you think of having another grandchild?" Grandma and grandpa both teared up and chimed-out with a big "Wonderful"! As you grandparents know, you can never have too many grandchildren.

I always tell people candidly, "If I had known how much fun grandchildren are, I would have had them first." Our kids simply laugh knowing how we feel about them.

As grandparents of eight (8) wonderful biological grandchildren, we were intrigued by the notion to also become adoptive grandparents.

Once we had had time to digest the entire idea, my wife was the first to decide she would make the trip regardless if I went or not. This was not going to happen! I was determined that we both would go. That is when the many months of planning began.

The purpose of this blog is to give prospective adoptive grandparents of Chinese children some insight into the process and to give you some understanding of China.

You, as grandparents, have it extremely easy. While the parents-to-be are dealing with the adoptive process, you have time to simply bask in the glory of becoming grandparents for the first time or more.