City photos

Here we are standing in the Forbidden City. Everything had so much detailing.

In the garden area of the city.

Imperial City

Summer Palace

The Summer Palace was originally a royal garden and a temporary dwelling for the emperors of the Qing Dynasty. The park was started in 1750 and named the Garden of Clear Ripples. It was burned down by French and British troops in 1860. In 1866, the Empress Dowager Cixi began reconstruction on the park and renamed it the Summer Palace. Hills and water surround the palaces, temples, and gardens. A large lake known as Kunming Lake holds a beautiful boat made of marble.

Temple of Heaven

Early Saturday morning we decided to walk to the Temple of Heaven. It was located very close to our hotel in the Chongwen district of Beijing. The temple was originally built in 1420. This building was a marvelous example of Chinese architecture. It was the place where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties worshiped Heaven and prayed for good harvests. There were multiple buildings within the walls of the temple area. We toured the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. We were unable to see the echo wall because it was under renovation in preparation for the Olympics in 2008.

The area around the temples was also lovely. In fact it was my favorite part. There were ancient tree lined paths leading to all of the different areas. Outside of the main building areas, groups of people were scattered all over. Many were dancing or practicing Tai Chi. I have never visited a place in the US that was anything like it. We learned that it is a popular spot for retired people to meet and socialize. Everyone was very friendly. We talked with several people and I discovered that I need more practice on my Mandarin. One group invited Matt to exercise with them. They clapped and cheered for him as he used the various pieces of equipment. Then they all told me that I had a fine son.

The Beijing Zoo

I had wanted to see as much as possible during our short stay in Beijing, so I had scheduled a trip to the Beijing Zoo for the same day that we had arrived. Our guide Steven had planned for us to step off the plane and head straight to the Zoo. We had no way of knowing when we left the US that it would be 100 degrees that day in Beijing. We were dressed way to warmly and felt extremely tired from our flight. The Zoo raises over 650 different types of animals. It is also home to some of China's Giant Panda Bears. The pandas were the main focus of the zoo and many people visit just for the opportunity to watch the bears. Some of the other animals were living in somewhat poor conditions, as compared to standards at US zoos. Many of the animals were very close to the public. I witnessed people throwing pop bottles at the monkeys and all sorts of things at the brown bears.

Heading to Beijing

On September 17, my mother, oldest son and I left for Beijing. As I walked across the tarmac, I couldn't help but let my eyes fill up with tears. I was finally going to meet my daughter!!

Over Siberia
We took a direct flight on a 777 from Newark to Beijing. Many people have asked if we flew east or west. The answer is neither. We headed north over Canada and the North Pole. We had a smooth flight and plenty to eat, but 13 hours is a very long time on a plane. Unfortunately, I was so excited about everything that I wasn't able to sleep.

As soon as we arrived in Beijing, we met up with our guide Steven. I was so relieved to see him standing there waiting for us. (I had discovered that it was much less expensive to book our Beijing tour for ourselves. The adoption agency wanted quite a bit more money.) We hired Beijing Xinhua Tours. They did an excellent job!!! They were waiting with a very nice Mercedes van. As we left the airport, the first thing that struck was me was the traffic. I have never seen anything like it!! New York City seems tame in comparison.

The Call

Waiting for China to approve our adoption, seemed to take forever. It really wasn't very long, but when you are waiting to meet your child every day seems like an eternity.

Day 78 of the wait arrived. I was starting to feel like our approval would never come. I checked the mail again!! I opened up the mail box and there was a flyer from Samaritan's Purse. On the last page was a picture of beautiful little girl from China. I ran inside and told my husband that it was "a sign" that today we would receive approval to go get our daughter. Not 10 minutes later the phone rang. I ran to the phone and didn't even bother to look at the caller ID. I knew it was our Adoption Agency. I was right. They had just gotten our approval from China. It was time to pack our bags.

Datong SWI

Microtia

While we were waiting for travel approval from China, my family tried to learn all that we could about Microtia. This is one of the medical conditions our daughter was born with. We are not Doctors, but this is some of the information that we have found.

Microtia is a birth deformity of the ear. It effects approximately 1 in 7,000 people. The term microtia literally means "small ear". In 90% of cases only one ear is involved. More often on the right side. At this time, the exact cause of microtia is unclear. People with microtia often also have atresia which is the lack of an outer ear canal. Many times the bones of the middle ear are also involved. A CT scan is used to determine the status of the middle ear. Some people may have underdeveloped bony and soft tissues on the involved side of the face. This is know as hemifacial microtia. Approximately 15% of people with microtia have facial nerve weakness. There is also a higher incidence of kidney and heart abnormalities among people with microtia. A renal ultrasound is used to determine the status of the kidneys.
When a person with unilateral microtia has normal hearing in the unaffected ear than most of the time a hearing aid is not required. They will have trouble hearing in crowds and often have trouble knowing which direction a sound is coming from.

Paper Chasing

This part of the adoption process I highly under appreciated. I figured that if I gathered my paperwork quickly the whole process would go smoothly and quickly. I did not realize that although I was in a hurry, every other person in the world could care less how quickly my dossier was completed. This was just the beginning in my lesson in patience.

My criminal background check was is an excellent example. Twice they spelled our names wrong and once they typed up the wrong address. During my fourth visit to the office, the secretary complained about my being "SO PICKY" . She also informed me that she was tired of having to type up my forms. I immediately let her know of my feelings. I broke out into tears right then and there. I told her that she may be unhappy about all the mistakes, but I could guarantee that I was much more upset about it. I explained that "Every time you type it up incorrectly that means one more day that my daughter spends living in an orphanage." I went on to say that it meant one more day that I would miss holding my daughter in my arms, and one more day of her life that I would miss out on!!! Then, I looked right at her and said " If it's typed correctly this time, then we will both be happy, and my daughter will get to come home." The secretary quietly replied "I will make sure that it is right this time". It was!!

We also had to wait almost 2 months for our I171 form. We called the office many times but the person in charge never seemed to be able to give us any other answer than they were working on it.

Finally, after a total of 41/2 months we could send our Dossier to China.

How We Started Our Adoption

In January of 2006, we started the adoption process with an agency in our state. One week after starting the home study process, I read about a special needs little girl in Datong, China who was waiting for a family. She was trying to be placed by a different agency than ours. I knew that our agency did not work with others, yet I felt like I had to find out more about this little girl. Her name was Kang and she was born with microtia. I requested her picture, and as soon as I saw her face I knew that she was my daughter. I said a little prayer and within an hour I contacted the agency about starting the process to bring my daughter home. When my husband came home that night, I let him know what I had done. My husband was very surprised to say the least. He was not sure about taking on the medical issues of a special needs child. We had discussed adopting a special needs child before, but had never pursued the idea. He thought a decision like that should not be made so quickly. I reminded him that a decade ago, he asked me to marry him, after knowing each other for only 6 weeks.
He looked at her picture, then asked me "How can you be so sure?".
I simply replied "A mother knows her child."
He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked "How do we bring her home?"