After enduring a fourteen-hour plane ride, the Wirth family stepped foot in Asia. The most populated country in the world, China is full of exotic sights, beautiful architecture, and bustling activity. One of the best vacations we have been on, my family and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in this vibrant area. From Beijing to Kunming, our pre-planned tour took us all over the place. A cool side note about the tour was that it consisted of dozens of families, all of who had adopted children from China. Our party, the Blue Group, was made up of 12 families (including us), each having a China-born girl around my sister and I's age!
The Blue Group
Beginning with the biggest city in the country, Beijing had tons to offer. We visited attractions like the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, and a Kung Foo show. Notably, we saw the famous Tian'anmen Square where the 1989 military confrontation occurred and hiked the Great Wall of China's uneven steps (with a breathtaking view!). A special dinner we ate included authentic Peking duck which, let me tell you, is so good. It was moist, flavorful, and paired well with several sauces the restaurant provided us. Additionally, our group ventured into a silk factory and a jade factory. The manufacture of both the silk and the jade was remarkable, not to mention the multitude of products they created!
Nicole (my sister) and I on the Great Wall Peking Duck
Xi'an was our next stop. The Terracotta Soldiers astonished us - there were countless of them! Along with the vast number, the amount of intricate detail dedicated to each structure was unbelievable. It's hard to come to terms with the idea that all these soldiers were built centuries ago. There are mini figurines of the soldiers in my family's home now! We also got the opportunity to bike on Xi'an's Ancient Wall. It was a lot of fun to ride with my sister and some of the other girls in the Blue Group!
Terracotta Soldiers
Continuing on to Chengdu, visiting the Panda Reserve was arguably one of the best parts of the trip. While there, we got pictures holding a toddler panda! The giant bears were adorable and entertaining to watch. Munching on bamboo was a common pastime across the pandas! Proceeding to a local park, our group was given a traditional tea, tried our hand at dancing with Chinese props, and got ear massages. These ear massages were some of the craziest things I have ever experienced. The masseuses used tools to clean out ear wax and a brush that they vibrated while in the ear. I do think I was able to hear better afterward!
Holding a Toddler Panda
The last city we visited with our entire group of girls was Yangshuo. A cool activity we engaged in was a Li River Cruise that sailed all the way from Guilin to Yangshuo and passed by beautiful mountains, farms, and animals. We also participated in a Tai Chi lesson which required a lot more patience and technique than I had thought. Furthermore, we found pleasure in an impressive Liu Sanjie folk tale performance, took a cooking class that involved delicious food, and traveled to a pearl factory in Guilin. And, at the Farewell Dinner on the last night with the Blue Group and the other groups, we enjoyed some yummy food, watched a talent show, and said our goodbyes; it was bittersweet, to say the least.
Following the parting with the large group, we rode a train to Changsha with a smaller crowd. We explored sights such as Yuelu Academy, Orange Beach, Tianxin Pavilion, and Needle Point. The ones that personally impacted me the most were the North Bus Station and No. 1 SWI, an orphanage. The North Bus Station was the place where I was found and the orphanage was where I was taken to be cared for. Both places were extremely eye-opening. When we visited the orphanage, the director of the orphanage greeted and had lunch with us. He was kind and happy that we had come. The orphanage even put up my name on an electronic banner!
No. 1 SWI Director and I
Our final destination in China was Kunming. We had fun seeing the Stone Forest where there are a plethora of tall stones, Minority Village where my sister and I rode an elephant, and the Dongchuan District orphanage where my sister had stayed. The kids there were so sweet and full of life! In addition, Nicole's finding site was a cement factory that was run down when we saw it, making it hard to believe it was where she was found.
Circling back around to Beijing, we spent our final night at our first hotel of the trip. China felt like a whole other world that we were able to immerse ourselves in for two weeks, and it was hard to believe it was over. All in all, I loved being able to experience the culture that I was born from and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.