(The following, along with the subsequent episodes, was written as a series of email to family & friends shortly after I returned from China. It has been modified slightly.)

From: Jai Sanders
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002
Subject: China, Part 1

Day 1: Travel, Travel, Travel, this day was all about getting somewhere. Left Nashville for Frankfort, KY. Arrived later than planed. Meet LiAnna Steffen, the 2 year old dynamo who was adopted when she was 10 months from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China (near Kazakhstan & Mongolia). After about a minute or two of her sizing me up I became a whipping boy! - Slap, giggle, slap, giggle and then do it again. We all ate and had a late bedtime, despite knowing we'd have to get up really early.

Day 2: Up before the Sun, LiAnna is NOT a late sleeper, and off to Lexington's airport. It's a 1 hour flight to Detroit. Through Metro Airport's spooky, retro tunnel (complete with synchro lights and bad music) to the International terminal where we immediately boarded the huge, honking 747. 12 hours, 3 movies (Men In Black 2, Mr. Deeds & Juwanna Man) later and across the International Dateline we arrived in Tokyo. We were politely ushered by white-gloved airport attendants through a security scan and back to the same plan for the 3 hour flight to Beijing. At this point the identity of the plane changes from Japanese to Chinese, no more sushi - and very little English. We pass through the customs gate past some young and dour looking police to our bags and our first guide, or "facilitator"... Mable (or Mabel, I never saw it spelled), a sweet but anxious 20-something who spoke pretty solid English and is a devout & unabashed "Believer" (that's Believer in Christ for those who don't know). She escorted us to the Chang An Holiday Inn Beijing, a brass and glass monstrosity of modern travel living.

Day 3: We started at 7am for breakfast at the huge buffet line that's filled with far more western food than Chinese - this seemed to be a popular hotel with Europeans - and off to the Badaling Pass of the Great Wall of China. The landscape went from big city hustle and bustle to jagged mountains and the bits and pieces of the Wall. First, we saw the parts of the wall that were in disrepair and unused then we started to see the more popular gates and passes where the tour buses and taxis were lined up. It was a beautiful day, although chilly and hazy.

Finally... Badaling! - apparently one of the more popular parts of the Wall. People were everywhere, it wasn't uncomfortable it was just very busy; busy with lots of Chinese tourists and school kids, Westerners, elderly and young. This was definitely a hot spot. At the Wall we immediately started to climb. We climbed up a flight of stairs onto the top of the wall where we looked out to see mountains everywhere, we could see the Wall zigzagging on top of these mountains as far as the haze permits. Next we climbed some more; we climbed stairs, we climbed ramps, sometimes we climbed stairs through a lookout post, sometimes we walked a ramp that ascends at a 60 degree pitch. We climbed and climbed till we were out of breath - as was everyone around us - but also like everyone we stopped and looked and were amazed by the extraordinary sight of the surrounding landscape and the fact that this Wall we were climbing obviously had no end! The inside (the China side) had stairways and doorways which led to the base of the wall, the outside was sheer cliff and steep mountains... invaders did NOT come over this wall. At the top of Badaling there was the Gate of Heroes which was populated by trinket vendors and water and fruit salesmen (can you imagine having to haul tourist crap to the top of this thing?!?), with PA speakers proclaiming the greatness of the people who built a structure as grand as this wall, or so it was translated to us. You bought your water for $2 and your poorly manufactured "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirt for $1, you took your picture and you began the climb down the same way you just came up, and you laugh at the people struggling to get to the Hero's Gate!

Mable told us stories related to the building of the Wall. These stories, as well as many others that shape the mythology of China, were about lost love. There were many different stories about women losing their lover and forever waiting for him to return or men mistakenly killing their lover and never forgiving themselves. Next, it was off to the "Friendship Store," a gov't run duty-free store where you could buy anything from raw silk, calligraphy brushes, rugs, and antiques to life-sized replicas of the Terra Cotta Warriors from Xi'an. John & I ate lunch without Mable and Mr. Wong, our driver who liked to say "Let's Go". Apparently, the "facilitators/guides" related to the adoption agencies don't eat with the adopting families. I think it's b/c they eat real food while we eat generic/Westernized food but what do I know?

After lunch we headed to the Forbidden City or Palace Museum, as it is called by the Chinese. This was possibly the most eye opening part of the entire trip. Why? Because after witnessing the opulence and audacious display of power and wealth it became abundantly clear why Sun Yat Sen and the other revolutionary leaders wanted a change and why the early Marxists won as much support as they won. This place was built to intimidate and every minor detail was designed to reinforce the idea that the Emperor was the ultimate power. What I also found amazing about this place was how design ideas and aesthetics were repeatedly reinforced. For example, the traditional styled house in China is an outside wall, an internal courtyard and the innermost set of rooms. This massive complex was designed in such a way that, this concept was placed within itself and on top of itself, over and over. It's awe-inspiring. It's beautiful.

We left the Palace Museum through the Bad Luck gate (Tian'anmen Gate or Gate of Heavenly Peace) but, apparently, when you were to be killed for something, or anything, you were sent out from the Palace through this gate. This gate opens into Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest public square. It is larger than 60 soccer fields and features Mao Zedong's Tomb and a couple of monuments to the fallen Revolutionaries. It was cold and we were hungry, so we didn't stay too long. I mean, there's not alot to see, it's huge open square.

Finally! It was dinner time and notice that we hadn't been back to the hotel since 9am. We were taken to one of the oldest and best restaurants for Beijing Duck, of course, I don't remember the name. We had a private room - just the two of us - and slowly but surely the food began to pour in! This dinner is traditionally given as a sign of fortune and prosperity, these ducks are farm raised and specially roasted. The meat is sliced thin at your table and you piece the duck together like a burrito... dip the meat in the sauce, put it on the pancake (a very thin tortilla), add the slivers of cucumber, fold it over and pop it in your mouth... finally the breast meat is presented to the guest of honor... the meat is laid over the roasted head of the duck and you eat that sliver of meat just like you did the rest. OK, it's probably a far more exciting experience when there are lots of people but John & I just sort of fumbled our way through the meal, waiting for Mable to come back to us.

The last event of the night was the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe. Long story short... a bunch of double jointed kids twisting in unnatural ways while balancing plates, glasses, umbrellas and balls. Not to diminish the skill and concentration, let alone the balance, but, for me, a little of this goes a very long way.

Day 4: Our day starts equally as early but today we start with our packed bags and another breakfast at the superbar!

Off to what became my favorite site in Beijing, the Temple of Heaven. I forgot to mention that on the way to the Great Wall we stopped at a Jade Factory. Factory is code for state run store. Well, today we went to a pearl factory and the cool thing about these places is that they explain what the product is and the different types of raw materials, where it comes from, how it turns into the final product. At the Jade factory I fell in love with Cat's Eye Jade (with it's amazing translucent gold/white shades) and Water Amethyst but I wasn't attuned to the exchange rate yet and shied away from buying anything. At the pearl factory we learned the difference b/t fresh & salt water pearls and we learned how to tell fake pearls from real, again I shied away from making a purchase. Now, the Temple of Heaven is this huge garden/farm complex (larger than the Palace Museum complex) surrounding the actual Temple buildings. It is a beautiful, calm yet vibrant place. Elderly come there daily to hang out, play hacky sack, dance, do tai-chi and play music. This was the one place I know I could return to over & over.

After that it was off to the airport. Mable helped us check in and despite their concern over a bottle of Nyquil in my bag we were off to Nanning.

Sorry there are no pictures of Beijing yet, I accidentally deleted my pictures the day after we left but sometime in the future John will be sending me copies of his.

Until next time...
Jai