Linda @ the Junior Olympics

At 10, Linda has come a long way.  Swimming is her thing.  She is on the Y team, and just a year ago started USA swimming. This summer was the long course season. That is the 50 meter pools you see.  25 meter and yard pools are called short course. 

Her first meet at this distance was good and surprised us all.  Most of the season showed consistency.  It took to the very last meet, but she qualified for 2 individual events for 10 and under at the JO Championships; the 50m freestyle and the 50m butterfly.  Though she did not make the finals, she improved on her times.  I did not think she would make individual cuts this time.  She did, and I'm quite proud of her.  Congrats, little one. 

In addition to the individual events, she was able to swim 2 relays.  She is quite good at relays.  Way to go!

Short course season starts in Sept, plus she ages up.  It will be tough, but she loves to swim.  Go Linda!

Terracotta Warriors

As I look back I see these pictures only got partial uploads.  So here are some repeats for ya....

Last Night in Shanghai

We are finishing up our trip here in Shanghai.  We spent the day at the museum and after lunch we visited a very busy shopping area.  Tonight we will have a simple dinner with our group and then pack for that short flight back home.  I think we had a very good heritage tour and learned much about China and where our children are from.

yesterday was hot and muggy: today was cold and damp. There was a neat thunder storm last night.  Tomorrow is going to be warm again.  Our tour guide calls it baby-face weather. 

See you at home!

Shanghai: 100 floors

Today was a good day of site seeing.  We saw the buhdist temple.  It was very interesting.  After a good lunch we headed to the 4Th tallest building in the world. 

Ever been to the 100th floor and look down?  What a view that is!  I loved it. Next door is the nearly complete 2nd tallest building.  To look down on all the other tall buildings was amazing.

After the vertigo visit our guide took us to a "cheap" shopping area where we looked at some interesting item for cheap!  we did buy Linda a couple new dresses since she is outgrowing her others we bought 8 your ago.

A good day we did have.  Our guide is very nice and helpful here.

Shanghai

We safely arrived in Shanghai after an hour delay.  Thick fog was the culprit.  We didn't get to bed until after midnight!  Yeah, I'm cursed.  Woke up at 6!

Here was my view from floor 16 of the hotel.  Let's see what the day brings. 

Various pics from around

Here are a few pictures from various activities.  Pandas!  Shadow Puppets.

The puppet Linda is holding is very old. 

Pics from Nanchang

The Tengwang Pagoda. 

Pictures!

I had to transfer from the tablet to phone to get the pictures up.  Here are a couple. 
Old orphanage sign and finding spot.  Linda standing in new orphanage under sign with her Chinese name.

Nanchang & Suichuan

The whirlwind portion of our trip is going strong.  We split from Chengdu and landed in Nanchang.  This is very important to us as this is were we first met our daughter, Linda.  We stayed in the the Gloria Hotel, the same one we stayed when we traveled here before.  It has changed a bit, but not much.  We enjoyed a nice lunch and then we headed to the Tengwang Pagoda.  Unfortunately we were unable to duplicate a picture with Mel and Linda in front of a rooster statue.  The area is under renovation.  We headed down the shopping street we liked so much.  Well, guess what was under construction.  New subway and renovation of the shopping street.  Still brought back memories. 

We decided to purchase a gift fruit basket for the orphanage director.  Very nice.  We hit the market to get some munchies for the 5 hour bus ride and water.  Once back to the hotel we crashed. 

Five hours to Suichuan!  Yes sir.  A long bus ride and it was wonderful to see the country side.  Rice patties were being prepared.  It is warm and humid as we head south.  We saw huge bamboo forests, too. 

I'll elaborate on the significance of Suichuan in the next post.  It is time for dinner.  This should be quite interesting.  More soon!

Xi'An

I've had very little time to post.  Since Beijing we've done a bunch.  I will have to see what I've posted, but we took the overnight train from Beijing to Xi'An.  I thought it was very nice. I actually slept!

Here in Xi'an we've seen a museum and had a traditional hot pot.  We also went for authentic dumplings and a show.  Very long day just like we had in Beijing.  Today we took a trip to a terracotta factory to see how they make terracotta warrior replicas.  They are made just like they did in the past using the special clay found in this region and a kiln similar to what was used.  From there we visited a "local" school so the kids can see how they spend their day.  In my opinion this school was more what I imagined than when we saw a school in Guangzhou.  Poor kids had a decent school, but no heat!  They had their jackets on, but it did not phase them. 

Of course the big part of the day was visiting the Terracotta Warriors.  As one would expect it is amazing.  Simply amazing.  Such history.  To see it in person lacks in words.  Walking into Pit 1 and seeing the rows.  Seeing the details on the warriors is amazing.  Meeting the farmer who found the first piece while digging a well is cool.  We even have a picture with him.  We had a wonderful noodle lunch at the museum. 

The site seeing ended today on the ancient wall of Xi'an.  The top was resurfaced in 1984, but the wall has been in tact for about 300 years.  It even has  a mote around it!   Very cool.  You can rent bikes and ride the wall, but my doctor would not approve with my arm.  At least we got to walk around a bit. 

I'll post when I can.  We tour another museum here tomorrow, then we fly to Chengdu tomorrow!