Around Xi'an

Terra-Cotta Warriors

Wow! We just returned home after taking a two hour bus ride from the Warriors. The bus was jam packed with people. My head was strategically wedged against the window to catch the occasional breath of fresh air. Mariella was five pancaked people away from me. Occasionally I would hear Mariella yelling, "are you still on the bus?" Craziness! Some how we made it back and got off on the correct stop. Pretty good for not being able to read anything. The visit to the Terra-Cotta Warriors was unique.

Three Self Church

Today Mariella and I visited a Three Self Church. It is the Christian Church sanctioned by the Chinese government. The service and Bible study we went to was in English and Chinese. It was an interesting and freezing experience. I will attach a photo of Mariella in her giant parka. It was great a transformational time of studying the good book, sharing and praying together. In the next couple days we plan on seeing the Terracotta Warriors before flying to Bangkok, Thailand. Other pictures in this slide show are of a visit to the history museum. Oh, we also were in a public bus when a van crashed into us. We we jolted forward when the bus driver slammed on his breaks, but not enough to throw us out of the seats. It was entertaining watching the bus driver and the van driver yell at each other. After ten minutes the bus driver jumped back in and we were on our way.

Xi'an, China

We landed in Xi’an today at 12:30. Our friend Daniel, who teaches at a university welcomed us at the airport. After a 50 minute bus ride we entered the center of the city through the giant outer-wall surrounding the city center. We walked around and watched kites, gazed upon the drum tower and meandered the Muslim quarter. Daniel treated us to guan tang baozi, steamed dumplings filled with soup and meat then dipped in different sauces. The dumplings are taste fantastic. Mariella was stopped by two parents who were coaxing their daughter to practice her English with Mariella. I took a photo of Mariella and the little one. For dinner we had da pan gi (meaning a big plate of chicken). The stuff was, Wow! The chicken is served on a giant plate all cut up. It reminded me of a stew with all the broth drained except for the bottom inch of the serving plate. The chicken was mixed with potatoes, garlic, bell peppers and then a heaping bowl of noodles is dumped on top. Once you eat the noodles and make a dent in the chicken they come by and dump another steaming bowl of noodle on-top of what is left. Sooooo good.

Bye, Bye, Beijing

Flying from Beijing to Xi'an to visit a friend. We had a blast with the Fadling family. Thanks you!

From China, Beijing4

From China, Beijing5

Record Snowfall In Beijing

The papers are reporting a record snowfall in Beijing (a whole 12 inches). Here are some photos. We walked with the girls to the local Hutong for heaping bowls of noodle soup costing a total of two dollars. It was piping hot and good.

We also received a phone call from their school. School is canceled tomorrow. The girls celebrated loudly when they heard the news.

Sent the Kids to School, but there is No School Today. Oops!

So Mariella worked tirelessly with Savannah and Shania on their homework last night. Lunches were packed and school clothes were picked out for the next morning. We woke the girls up at 6:30 am and assisted them with getting ready for school. Then we sent them hurriedly out the door to walk to their bus. By the way, they had to walk through the the foot and a half of fresh snow. Twenty-five minutes passed before to very cold crying girls came back through the door. They were sad because they missed the bus. They were crying because their feet were wet and frozen. When they took off their shoes and socks the socks stood straight up like a mold of their feet and ankle. We gathered some information them through intense questioning. Did you walk to the right place? Did you wait where your bus normally picks you up? Could the bus be late because of the recent snow fall? Did you stop to talk to or pet and dogs? We ended up checking out the school website. It turns out there is a teacher training day. School actually starts tomorrow. Oops! Sorry girls. At least they got some good exercise walking through the snowdrifts. : )

We'll try it again tomorrow. There should be a bus tomorrow.

Said Goodbye to the Children at Shepherd's Field

We said goodbye to the kiddos. Here are some photos of the last couple days. A couple days ago we visited the house where children do not get many visitors because they are quarantined off. Most of them have heart problems. Many are recovering from recent surgeries. There is a constant need for donations used for surgeries. Last night it snowed lightly. We are still chillin' in Beijing. We are watching the girls for a few more days while their parents fly south for a short vacation in 80 degree weather. I believe the projected high is twelve degrees and the low is negative four. We are feel blessed with each new day on this journey.

Happy New Year !

The longer we are with the kids the more we see how wonderful they are. Mariella, Savannah, Shania and I are having a great week. We’ve played with kids, hugged them, laughed with them, and danced with them. They are smart and energetic and full of laughter. Here are some recent photos. The dog in the photos is named Stevie. He knows everything going on around here. He follows us from house to house while were visiting children. Stevie thinks his main job is to chase the cats, which seems to be some kind of compulsive disorder. Stevie followed us as we walked down the street for dinner. He snuck in the restaurant during one of our visits. The second time he waited patiently outside the restaurant door. The paintings in the slide show are displayed in the guest house and in some of the children’s houses. Have a Happy New Year!

Shepherd's Field

We are having a great time loving on the little kiddos. Here are some photos.

To the Dickerson family:
Here is Elizabeth, the child you write, pray for and sponsor. She is a sharp young lady who speaks great English. I passed on your message to her. She blushed a little when we told her that you "love her and think she is beautiful and wonderful". We repeated your words a few times so it would sink in and ring in her heart and ears.

Scammed at The Forbidden City

Well, today we were humbled. We’ve read about different scams in different countries, but we were not educated on the Beijing Tea Scam run by seemingly nice Chinese college English majors eager to practice their English. It is difficult to swallow my pride and admit being taken advantage of, but it happened. We brushed shoulders with three college aged girls at the Forbidden City next to Tiananmen Square. We had friendly conversation and before we knew it we found some nice friends or so we thought. We decided to grab a quick drink with them. The con was so subtle. We ended up going to a tea shop with them where we tried some fantastic teas. We foolishly did not ask to see the prices of the teas (heavily inflated prices). We drank tea and ate snacks and a couple hours later the bill came. It was off the charts expensive. The girls were also shocked by the price and were forced to pay with their so called credit cards, but they were in on the scam. We payed our share which was too much money for “gourmet” tea. The whole thing was a set up and it was good.

Here is another victim’s internet post:
“Update: I don't think this Tea House goes by this name in China, but you can use a simple rule of thumb. If you go to ANY TEA HOUSE make sure the sampling is FREE - this is the normal situation and you are NOT obligated to buy tea, which even in China can be very expensive. In general if you are uncertain of fees.... ASK!

I fell for the Beijing Tea Scam (also common in Shanghai) where you are approached by a person claiming to want to practice English, then subtly lured to a Tea House for a "Tea Ceremony" that is hugely overpriced.

The scam is so good I later found that some savvy travelers had also been duped by this because it preys on the fact that you don't want to insult anybody and generally are unfamiliar enough with the landscape, money, etec. that you just pay the bill. My bill was $85 for a few tea samples. I'm guessing some who fall for this never even realize that they have been scammed - rather just think they paid "a lot" for Tea.

The China Tourism groups and guidebooks are guilty of NOT warning people enough about the fact that generally if you are approached in popular tourism areas by people who can speak English they are usually working some sort of sale or scam. Sadly, the notion that people are looking to practice their English is only true in that that they are improving on these very clever short cons.”

It is difficult to admit what happened, but it is an unfortunate reality of the journey. I usually try to paint myself in a positive light especially when I screw up, but I am trying to become more transparent and honest about the good, bad and embarrassing things in my life. It will be difficult for us to trust nice Chinese people in the future as we will be expecting they may want to take advantage of us. We pray that we will still be able to love people well despite being lied to and robbed. The last photo in the slide show is a picture of our con artist friends. The ringleader is not pictured because her “Buddhist faith” does not allow her to get her picture taken. Interesting!



We plan on spending the next week living and volunteering at an orphanage. We will bring our friend's two daughters who were adopted. We anticipate a fruitful visit where Christ will work in and around each of us. May love overflow and bring glory to Jesus. We may even bring our complementary tea gift to share with others.

Great Wall of China

We hiked on the Great Wall today near Huang Hua Chung. Here are some pics:

A Beijing Duck Christmas

From China, Beijing Duck Christmas 2

Many of us have seen the movie, "Christmas Story". After Ralphie's Father loses his blessed turkey to the neighbor's dogs they end up eating a Christmas dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. They eat roasted duck. Here is our version...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Today marks six months on the road. Praise Jesus!

Shepherds Field

Yesterday we went to visit Shepherd's Field in Langfang. We heard the story of how the "village of love" came to be. The kids and staff are fantastic. There are great kids to adopt if you are interested in growing your family.

chinaorphans.org

Biking the outskirts of Beijing

Yesterday Matt, Daniel and I wandered the city. Matt showed us the area around the college he attends. Today Dan, Matt's dad, was kind enough to let me barrow his road bike. I went on a 30 mile (round trip) ride to a town north of Beijing. Part of the great wall is on the mountains on the outskirts of town. I did not ride up into the mountains to see the wall. We plan on hiking near the wall in the next few days. Tomorrow we plan on visiting an orphanage. Some friends of our adopted their daughter from the orphanage. It was fun riding through fields and streets of the quiet village. Here are some photos.

Left the house at 10:54...

It is an interesting thing to have a guard standing in-front of the house 24-7. Each time we leave or return home our movements are noted by the guard in his book. I guess it is nice to have a guard watching over things all the time. Good for safety.

A Sunday in Beijing

From China, Scorpion

From China, Scorpion2

Here are some photos from the Christmas party a couple nights ago. We went Christmas Caroling through the neighborhood. We stayed out until mild hypothermia set in. The Chinese guards in the complex appeared to be amused by our singing. This morning we went to church. The church is sanctioned with the government. We must show visas at the door. Only international citizens are allowed to attend. After church we had some more chinese food and then drove by Tienanmen Square. We did some shopping and I came away with a $3 dollar cashmere scarf. Nice! We ended the evening with snacks from the street vendors. We had noodles, cantaloupe, pot stickers and scorpion.

Two Chinese girls stopped Mariella and Shania for a picture. Many Chinese like westerners and even request pictures.

Checked In...

Today we checked in with the local police department. When visiting friends it is necessary to check in with the police to let them know where you are staying. We informed them and received a receipt of approval. Dan and I ate nearby the house. Fresh and delicious soup for 60 cents a bowl. Can't beat that. I took the girls for a walk later in the day. After forty minutes in the freezing weather they were ready to return home. It's cold! Tonight the Fadling's are hosting a Christmas party.

The First will be Last…

I’ve read Christ’s teachings about the first being last and that it is better to give than to receive. What I did not know was that this teaching may also apply to Chinese Christmas parties. The party was at a local bar where good food and drinks were served. There was also a live band and karaoke. Eventually the people hosting the dinner initiated a group game where prizes could be won. We enthusiastically anticipated the start of the game. What was the game you ask? The first game played with fifty or so people was, guess a number between 1 and 100. It was a crack up. One by one the host went around the room with a mic asking people to guess the number written on the paper, not assisting by saying higher or lower, but just saying no to all incorrect numbers. I said 99 and was wrong, but Mariella guessed 23 and was right. Yes! We will win a prize. After some vigorous cheering from the crowd Mariella waited for the 1st prize. The host held three pieces of paper in her hand and asked Mariella to pick one of them; she picked the middle paper and read the word “show” on it. The host happily announced that the winner gets to sing a song. They were freaking serious. Mariella’s prize was to sing an impromptu song. Man, I’ve never seen someone freeze up so quickly. Talk about pressure. There were a bunch of Chinese and international people looking at her waiting for her to sing. I thought it was the funniest thing ever and was glad that I did not choose the correct number and win the game. Eventually, Mariella panicked and pulled me to the stage. Oh, crap I thought. Like a good husband I got up and walked out to the floor now freezing under the pressure just like Mariella. I was handed a guitar by the band guy. What the heck am I supposed to do with this? Hit the host over the head with it? I wish I could say we picked a fantastic song and sung it with great skill and that the other party members joined in on the singing. The event did not happen like a typical Hollywood movie. Instead, after scrambling to think of a song, we sung the fifties song, “Lolly Pop”. We sung it horribly and we must have looked like complete idiots. We definitely lost the game! After the terrible singing, a few highly intoxicated people clapped for us and we were given a wrapped gift. I thought, at least we get a nice gift. Mariella ran back to the seat and tried burying her face behind me; we eventually un-wrapped the gift at the table and discovered a hard plastic bear bank, probably made in China. Nice! At least we do not need to find a white elephant gift for Friday night’s party. We were first, but were last. We are reminded that sometimes it is better to be last. Especially when playing games at Chinese Christmas parties. Luckily we will never see these people again.