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.