China Day 2: Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

We had another full day in Beijing today.  Our morning was spent at our agency's orientation, which Jason already commented on.  Towards the end of the orientation, they showed a map of China and then they started putting pictures of our children up on the map, one at a time.  After the picture came on the screen, each family identified their child (if they were able).  Hannah's picture was the second one they showed, and of course we recognized her right away since she hasn't changed much since the last pictures we have of her.  I was once again stunned at how beautiful she is.  They said she had just woken up before they took the picture, so maybe that's why she looks so sad.  After they showed everyone's children, they began passing out the red books.  These books contain the new pictures and information about our children.  There were four new pictures of Hannah, two being recent pictures, and two of the others from last August.  Tomorrow we'll have the real-life version, but it was still so wonderful to get some new pictures of her, and I can't stop staring at them!

After lunch, we went on a tour of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.  The Forbidden City was the emperor's palace that was built from 1406-1420.  I had no idea how vast the Forbidden City was.  It was amazing to see the architectural details and walk through courtyard after courtyard and take in the rich history that is held there.  It was amazing and a bit overwhelming with so many people there and so much to see!  Then we went over to Tiananmen Square and took some pictures there as well.  We've really enjoyed getting a glimpse into China's history the past couple of days and have learned so much!  Of course, what we are really excited about is meeting our little girl tomorrow.  We can't wait!!