Sophia slept the whole night through. I guess she most be feeling better. This morning, she also drank her full bottle of formula. We were so happy about that. We went walking along the Pearl River. We saw old people exercising and dancing with different music.

In the afternoon, we went shopping to Carrefour, and then went to this other building to make the adoption official. Went to Lucy's for dinner.

Had breakfast at the Swan Hotel. It was packed with lots of people and also with families with their adopted Chinese babies. Went to the same office we visited yesterday to receive our babies. This time, we met with the notary and the registration. They also took a family picture of the three of us. It was a very hot day. Karen, Assen, and Sophia went to the swimming pool.

Flew to Guangzhou this morning (CA-1351). Got to the White Swan Hotel and found our room on the ninth floor. A small bus took us to the Civil Affairs Office where we met many children that were being adopted. We received Sophia. She is got a little bit of a cold, so we'll need to take good care of her. She is a very quiet baby (so far). She even fell asleep while other babies were crying. Assen is taking good care of her.

We visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City today. It started as a rainy day, but it actually turned into a nice fresh day. Tiananmen square reminded me of El Zocalo in Mexico City, but is a lot larger. The forbidden city was a lot larger than what I expected also. We also did a bicycle tour of Hutong and visited a house in the neighborhood.

Took a bus to visit the famous Great Wall of China with all the adopting families. Joy talked to us about Chinese culture while riding the bus. We visited a Cloisonne factory in our way to the Great Wall. There was a lot of traffic when arriving to the place where we had to park. Took a gondola ride up to the wall and went sight-seeing. There were so many tourists and so many pesty vendors! The tourist crowd reminded me of Niagara Falls.

Breakfast in the hotel was almost as good and delicious as we could have them at home! Met some of the other adopting familes. Assen and dad went swimming for a while while mom ran on a treadmill. Glad we brought our Bulgarian swim caps. Met the rest of the adopting families and went grocery shopping. We were brave enough to try some Chinese food. We asked for two different dishes. One of them was pretty good. In the afternoon, we went to see this Chinese Acrobat Show. It was really worth it! Assen kept attention the whole time!!!

Traveling

Flew from CID to ORD without major events (UA-7116). The plane in ORD was late, so we didn't leave ORD until about 4 PM (UA-851). Assen played for about two hours in the Children's play area. Geography lesson: The plane did not fly west to China, but north! We flew over Lake Superior, Hudson Bay, and very close to the North Pole and the Arctic Ocean. Then, we flew west, and then south through Siberia, Mongolia, and China! The airport at Beijing was huge and amazing (PEK). It looks like they are ready for the olympics. After about an hour-drive, we finally arrived to the Days Hotel and Suites. The hotel room is spacious, with two queen size beds. The beds are really hard, but the bathroom is also spacious and modern.