July 17: Leaving U.S.
July 18: Arriving in Beijing at 1:50pm
July 19: Local sightseeing (Great Wall and the Summer Palace)
July 20: Fly from Beijing to Guangzhou at 9:00. Arrive in Guangzhou at 12:05
*****Meet Elizabeth at 15:00*****
July 21: Registration and Notarization at Civil Affair Office
July 22: Apply for Elizabeth's passport. Local sightseeing (Shang Xia Jiu Pedestrian Street)
July 23: Local sightseeing (Yuntai Hill Park)
July 24: Photos and Physical for Elizabeth
July 25: Local Sightseeing (Yuexiu Park and Family Chen's Temple)
July 26: Local sightseeing (Zoo)
July 27: Get the physical report
July 28: Visa appointment at 9:30. Local sightseeing (Six Banyan Temple)
July 29: Local sightseeing (Liuhau Lake Park). Swearing in ceremony at the Consulate (get visas)
July 30: Fly to Beijing at 9:00. Arrive Beijing at 11:50.
July 31: Local sightseeing (Forbidden City)
August 1: Return Home!!!!
Carrie, Will, Wills and Jack: Many blessings for safe travels on your voyage to Elizabeth. I wish you all the best and hope that we can get together soon. My boys are always asking if they can see those"boig boys from the allergist's office" again.
ReplyDeleteCarrie - love the blog. I have a lot to say (mostly congratulations and that we can wait to meet our new cousin). Two business matters first.
ReplyDelete1. In Beijing, we highly recommend the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall(been there twice...our kids loved it), and not to Badaling. Badaling is very touristy (lots of tour buses with bull horn-toting guides, hawkers, etc.). Mutianyi is 90 miles outside of Beijing and has a wonderful gondola up the wall, and a louge (spelling?) to take you down. Eat at "The Schoolhouse" for lunch. Your hotel can arrange for an affordable driver for you to get there and back.
2. I highly recommend that you don't take the kids to a zoo in China. There is a very different standard of confinement and treatment of animals in China, and I think the experience may be very upsetting to the kids. For example, at many zoos, visitors are sold live chickens to feed to the animals, and in some cases, live lambs are dropped into tiger's cages for the purpose of entertaining the crowd. Animals have also been taught to do tricks for junk food, etc. This is a well documented on the internet and you may be able to find a list of zoos that DO comply with basic standards of treatment, but my understanding is that there ar only a few. I've learned to be a cultural relativist with many things, but I worry that your kids might really be upset about what they'll see. At best, it's a pretty depressing experience.
Just a couple of tips to make your trip more pleasant. If you need restaurant recommendations for Beijing or any other tips on sites that you kids will enjoy, just let us know. If you want to let me know which hotel you're in, I can also help to guide you.
Good luck!