With the time difference and crossing the international date line we arrived in Beijing after an eleven hour flight on Thursday around 3:30pm. I highly recommend Hainan Airlines. The plane was a Boeing 787. We flew economy and had a wonderful experience. The flight attendants were more than attentive. Each seat had a screen with a handheld device. You had your choice of movies, games, e-books, language instruction, tv shows, music, etc. This was a HUGE blessing as it helped the girls with staying entertained. Our girls all did fabulously on the flight. Even little Maya Grace did well. As we landed this emotional momma started crying. My girls were back on the land that gave birth to them and their ancestors. Thankful they can once again be "home". A surreal moment was when we landed in Beijing and as everyone was unbuckling, standing, and obtaining their carry-one luggage music started playing on the airplane intercom! Nothing other than John Denver "Country Roads" started blaring! I started cracking up. I was delirious with exhaustion at this point so crying and laughing at once seemed normal.
We had a four and half hour layover in Beijing. The airport is massive and it is most interesting when you are probably one of ten non-Asians in the entire airport. You have your Asian child on a "leash" (ok it is a cute little stuffed doggie back pack with a plush attachment that you hold in your hand but still works as a "leash") to keep her from running away! We opted to not bring a stroller and only the "leash" and Ergo carrier. Nothing like fully realizing the change in cultures when people literally stop and stand and just stare at you. Completely normal in the great P.R. of China! Oh and I must mention that right before boarding - my child on a leash who has just become potty trained, Anneli, and I found a "family restroom". We all pottied, washed our hands, and well then realized we could not open the door!! The door handle was broken. As panic set it I started knocking on the door as loudly as I could. A janitor type man started yelling in Chinese obviously trying to give me instructions. He finally was able to get the door open! As I was knocking Anneli was scouring the bathroom for a "hidden passage". Love that kid!
We also flew Hainan to Guangzhou. Smaller plane but still wonderful service. We finally got to our hotel about 2am on Friday morning. YAY for more frequent flyer miles from our last trip! We stayed at the Pullman Guangzhou Hotel which is connected to the Guangzhou airport. It was very convenient IF you knew how to actually get to it! We could clearly see it from the airport but HOW to get there was the QUESTION of the hour! Arriving so late/early whichever you chose to call it many exit gates were shut down. The signage directed you to gates which were closed! Oh and then through in the construction which had areas blocked off. We asked several employees how to get there and were given different directions by all. Obviously the language barrier was an issue. We were told to go "upstairs". We did! A guard immediately stopped us as we were trying to exit the elevator and said "no". We finally found someone who could direct us after wandering with three extremely tired children at least thirty minutes. We checked in at the hotel and got to the room to find that there was only one king size bed for five of us. We were too tired to even care! A shower had never felt so good! I pulled the foot stool up to the chair in the room, piled it with pillows and made Anneli a make shift bed. The other four of us slept in the big bed. Kudos to our adoption agency guide! We had only been in the room for about 15 minutes when she called to make sure we had arrived safely. She had set an alarm to wake up and call us. Sarah ROCKS! We planned to meet her later in the day to visit Maya Grace's orphanage.
Photo in the hotel lobby - Everything is decorated for Chinese New Year and it is beautiful!
Next post - Maya's Orphanage Visit
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