Today is an easy day for us… we’re postponing the Great Wall trip until the end of the month when we come back to Beijing after our travels to Guilin, Chengdu, etc. Still adjusting to the time difference, plus all the walking, talking, language translation, etc. that takes up much more energy than a normal day in the States.
Yesterday’s highlights were visiting the China Care Children’s Home and going to the Donghuamen Night Market. Babies and food are two of my fave things. China Care was awesome! The babies were so cute, and I was relieved to see that they are also incredibly well cared-for. They have very loving staff, and nice facilities, too. It’s not really one building, but rather the Children’s Home is run out of several apartments in Shunyi, a suburb 45 minutes north of Beijing. I was happily surprised that we actually got to hold and play with the babies! The children have all come to Beijing from orphanages in other parts of China to receive medical treatment for various conditions such as cleft palates, heart problems, hydrocephalus, etc. They get the necessary treatment and follow-up care here, and then they are placed in foster care once they are all better. Or, for the few whose conditions are terminal, they are placed in a nearby hospice. (Oh, there go the tears…. crying on the keyboard now.) But most of the children have conditions that are easily fixed with surgery, so that’s the good news. About 1/3 of the children currently are adopted. They’re hoping that number goes up, up, up to 100%, of course, but in the meantime the children receive really great foster care, much different from the U.S.
Picture Time!
The night market was fun, too. Some of the food was great, some….eh. Not great. But it was good times. Mark will tell you all about it, I’m sure. You’ll be glad to know we survived two absolutely insane taxi rides yesterday. Not all the taxi drivers are crazy….I think most of them are pretty great. But we somehow managed to find two on a suicide mission yesterday. Happily, disaster was somehow miraculously diverted and we arrived safely at our destinations.
Yes. I am getting run down and I’ve only been here for three days. Fortunately, instead of taking a 2 hour + bus ride to the Great Wall tomorrow, we’re just going to relax a little - and I’m going to work on my reports that I really need to get done for work. So that should let us get charged up.
Breakfast - a quick clip of just us at breakfast eating food? ha. Ummmmmm….
Even more exciting is Leah @ the Night Market - we went over to one of the more popular night markets, and ate some food… weird stuff, but this clip was taken using again my regular camera - we have a good amount from the camcorder but apparently I need a DV chord which I do not have with me - I guess it’ll just be saved for our China SlideShow Party in July.
Below are some more photos - we’ve taken SO many that it’s hard to even upload them all to Flickr - it just takes too long. But here are a few - and these aren’t always even the best.
Beijing can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t ‘buy-in’ to the system of chaos. More than any American city, but much like many other cities around the world, it’s just constant chaos and everyone knows how to act appropriately - by attuning their own level of chaos to interweave with everyone elses. Driving in the US seems to rigid now. What’s all this business with staying within the same lane for any amount of time? What are shoulders but another lane? I used to think that my friend Calvin from high school drove like a maniac - now I realize he just drives the same way people do here - with the exact knowledge and feel of how big/small his car is - and squeezing into the tightest possible spaces between a car and a bus while merging and switching lanes.
Food is everywhere, people are everywhere, construction is everywhere. The old and new and poor all live together, often with nothing more than a cinder block wall separating them - if even that much. It’s very interesting to witness, and to be surrounded by everything that is Beijing. A big difference between this city and others is that, although it is considerably huge and chaotic, it does not feel very aggressive. I don’t get any sort of meaness or any vibe of that nature from any of the people.
