China 2010 Days 1-2

Traveling to China (Tuesday - Wednesday)

What a very long day it's been. It began with leaving for O'Hare at about 8:30am (Tue) and boarding for a long 13 hour+ flight to Seoul, Korea - continued with a couple of hour layover - and then finally ending with another flight from Seoul to Beijing. We connected with our ride from the airport with no problem and finally made it to our hotel room by about 8:30am (Wed. Chicago time) - for a total of 24 hours traveling time. Of course it was 9:30pm here in Beijing. Alas, we get to continue our trek tomorrow morning and head for Luoyang.

LuoYang Day 1 (Thursday)

Today we made it to Luoyang. We began with an enlightening walk through the streets of Beijing and then flew to Luoyang. Here we were met by Mike (New Day) and taken to our hotel - very nice. While at the hotel Mike arranged a meeting for us tomorrow morning with ZT and with both ZG's and ZT's foster families) We're so excited. Unfortunately we found out today that ZT's orphanage is requiring that he be brought back to the orphanage on Saturday and remain there until he is brought to Zhengzhou where he will be handed over to us on Monday morning. This will likely limit some of the "early" time we had planned on spending with him. Though the thought of this saddens us, it appears that here this is standard protocol. ZG had a nice reunion with Mike and then we went out for dinner at a local joint known for their unique dumpling creations. A feast by most standards - excellent service, a private dining room, and all we could eat with plenty of left-overs - all for a grand total of less than $8 U.S. This was somewhat special for ZG, who still remembers making dumplings with his foster mother.

We are so tired right now - it's off to dreamland for us..............