We were all up at 4:30 AM because we had gone to bed so early so we unpacked a bit, hung out in the room and went down to breakfast at 6:30 AM.  This breakfast buffet was amazing, I have never seen anything like it before.  Stations for everything – Fruit and yogurt, Cantonese dim sum, Congee, Chinese food, omelets to order, english breakfast, american breakfast, noodles made to order, salad bar, baked goods, waffles, pancakes, beverages, etc.  It was insane and I’m glad it was covered under our marriott club status because it typically costs $40 per person.   We all ate so many great things and felt so much better.

We met another American military couple adopting this week as well.  They are with another agency but we will meet up with them again in Guangzhou the last week of our trip.  After breakfast we went back upstairs to wait until it was time to meet our guide for the day at the Great Wall.

Our guide and driver picked us up and took us to the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall.  The weather was perfect, clear skies and crisp temps.  Anyone who’s been to China knows that clear skies are rare as the smog is so thick.  This time of year is better but we really lucked out with the views.

We took a chairlift up to the wall and walked up and down hundreds of steps taking all the views in.  Lorelai is tireless and wanted to run up and down everywhere we went.  She was loving every minute of it.  I’m so thankful she is such an adventurous little girl.  I guess it’s in her blood, she’s 5 years old and has traveled to 6 different countries already.

After we were done climbing we got to take the toboggan ride down.  That was so much fun and I loved hearing Loli laugh and scream in delight behind me the whole way down the mountain.

From the Great Wall we went to lunch at a restaurant I had been 4 years ago on my trip to China.  The food was great and they were so sweet to make Lorelai some fried chicken nuggets with no sauce.  Joe and I shared a pork and vegetable dish and it was super yummy.  After lunch we all took a nap in the car on the way back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel we relaxed for a while and then I left Joe and Loli in the hotel so I could go wander down to the shopping street.

Wangfujing Street is a pedestrian only shopping street complete with souvenir shops, high end stores and malls full of anything you could imagine.  I stopped in a little Japanese store called MiniSo, which is similar to a Five Below.  Everything is only a few dollars and they have adorable little things.  I grabbed a few stocking stuffers for the kids  and took pictures of all the hilariously translated items.

For dinner we were planning to meet up with a group of adoptive parents from another agency.  Their guide was going to take them to a typical Chinese restaurant and we were going to tag along.  Their guide helped us order a few things and we were all so tired still that it was hard to enjoy dinner out.  Lorelai had a little bout of sadness, missing her brothers and not wanting to eat.  It’s hard to be hungry when you’re jet lagged.  We finished our dinner quickly and Joe went to pay the bill which was about $6 total.  We got dumplings, 3 bowls or rice, kung pao chicken, 3 waters, and a beer for $6.  Yes, crazy.  Back at the hotel we quickly headed to bed as we were all exhausted from the fun-filled day.  We knew the next day would need all our emotions and energy, as we went to pick up our sweet girl.