Journey of a Lifetime

My brother Gene and I will be leaving for Beijing on Tuesday, October 31st. We are bringing a laptop and plan on blogging all the way. If we have problems my sister will post for me. After touring for a few days in Beijing we will fly to Guangdong to get Abbey. We will be based there the the rest of the trip and hope to take a few side trips. Abbey is in the province of Guangdong all the way down south near the South China Sea in Yangdong. If you look at the map and find the yellow province for Guangdong and then look further down the tip, south of Hong Kong, that's where she is.

November 2 Arrive in Beijing (it takes a day to get there and you lose a day)
November 3 Tour Hutong (traditional streets of Beijing) Visit a kindergarten class!
Tour the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
November 4 Tour the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tian An Men Square
November 5 Fly to Guangzhou and stay at the fabulous White Swan Hotel
November 6 Get our babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 7 Civil Affairs Bureau and Public Notary offices to do adoption paperwork
November 8 Shopping for baby supplies (diapers, formula, etc)
November 9 Tour Chen Family Temple
November 10 Tour Zhong Shan Memorial Hall
November 11 Tour Zoo
November 12 Tour Six Banyan Trees Temple
November 13 Travel 3 1/2 hours south of Guangzhou to Yangdong to visit Abbey's orphanage and see where she was found (at the fruit market)
November 14 Babies visa pictures and medical exams
November 15 Process INS forms and get Abbey's passport
November 16 Our guide turns in all our paperwork at the American Consulate
November 17 American Consulate for Abbey's visa and then fly home that night

Between the 9th and the 12th we are hoping to go to Shenzen and visit friends of mine who have just opened a new school.