Rolling on

Today is our final day in Xi'an and it is going to be a long one as we have an evening flight. We sleep in (so much for my 5AM DNA thing, huh?) and head down to the buffet for breakfast. We have sat at the same table downstairs for all but one of the meals we've enjoyed there and are sort of bumming to see that we cannot enjoy our final buffet sitting there either. We load up on the usual fare and Shan-Shan keeps his good eating habits going. We head back to the room and do a final pack and weight check to make sure we don't go over and have to pay extra. Domestic flights in China have a weight restriction of 44lbs so we try to be mindful. Apparently using up the diapers, giving away the gifts and eating some of the snacks has all helped as we are lighter across the board! Santa was smart enough to know that we would need a travel scale and it has come in handy as we shift items around to lighten the loads.

After packing we all lay down for a bit to rest before we check out. Poor Shan-Shan has a self soothing technique where he rocks himself on his hands and knees to wind down. He's rocking but it doesn't seem to be helping him much as he goes for over 20 minutes before he finally falls asleep. We get moving again and head downstairs saying good-bye to our hotel room. We meet up with Rea and pack up and head out for our final sightseeing trip in Xi'an. We drive to the Muslim quarter of the old city to see the great mosque and enjoy the old buildings. This part of the city is what I imagined more of China would be with the small, narrow streets paved with flagstones and vendors lining both sides selling food and souvenirs. The smells are fantastic and more middle eastern in spices than what we've encountered so far in China. We wind our way through the streets and I snap a picture of a t-shirt with Obama in Chairman Mao outfit and hat. For those of you who know me and my politics, I find this spot on. :). Pretty telling when the communists in China closely identify with our president. Spread the wealth anyone?

We reach the great mosque and are told that it is over 1400 years old and was started by the early influences of the Silk Road, of which Xi'an was one of the main eastern ends of. It is not a traditional mosque with a dome and minarets but many Chinese gates and buildings. While we are there they are holding a service and are told that over 900 muslims are inside. There are many outside as well praying and listening to the service. We leave the mosque and head towards the Bell Tower and swing through an air conditioned underground mall on the way. It is very, very hot in Xi'an again and we are sweating like crazy. The Bell Tower was the original clock for the old city and it was used to tell the time as well as signal when the city gates were opened or closed. It is sweltering and we stop to enjoy a cold drink while taking in the sights from the tower. We head back to the van and buy some stuffed flatbreads that are sweet and the others are salty to try out - not bad. They call them "little pancakes".

We head to the adoption office to pick up Shan-Shan's passport before we roll towards the airport. The ride to the airport is long and Shan-Shan isn't liking it at all. We arrive at the airport around 5:15 and apparently according to Chinese policy, you cannot check in for a flight until 2 hours before the flight departs so we have time to kill. We find some seats and hang around for a while before Rea and I go to check in. The idea of lines have apparently not reached China so it is a mob scene to check in. When I think about the things that could be done to improve the overall efficiency of China, earlier check in would be one them for sure. We get to the counter at 17:42 and apparently we can't check in until 17:45 so the lady behind the counter checks in the next people in line. Sounds good, right? Nope, the people behind us are part of a tour group and no joke, there are 42 of them and every dang one of them checks in on the same record locator. Eventually we get checked in and learn that we are not sitting together on the plane and that 4 of us are grouped together and then the other 2 are together. Rea tries to get seats juggled but apparently the 4 are - get this - business class so the others cannot be moved without paying a lot. We make it through security with no real issues and no crying this time so are pretty pleased.

Next order of business is to get some food as it is dinner time. I was hoping for a quick and easy noodle place like the ones we'd saw in Beijing's airport but no dice. I end up "shopping" for dinner at a store that had the most food like things so we ended up eating muffins, custard cakes, crackers, cookies, pineapple juice and peach juice and water. The ladies behind the counter were laughing so I was glad we could provide some entertainment. Airports in non-mainstream China are not like regular ones. The announcements were done in Chinese so we relied on body language and a screen that showed our flight. While we were sitting there enjoying our dinner, a guy showed up by the counter with a bullhorn, spoke in Chinese and then left. We eventually figured out that it was an announcement that our flight was delayed by over an hour and half. Our long day just got longer. Not a lot you can do about it in situations like this so we just sucked it up and rolled with it. As we got closer to our departure our plane arrived and I was surprised to see it was a Boeing 777, the same size and class of plane we flew form Chicago to Beijing. Apparently Xi'an to Guangzhou is a pretty popular route. We got in line early to make sure we had overhead space and to claim our seats. Julie, Max, Veronica and Shan-Shan all sat together in business class while Sydney and I sit in economy. Surprisingly we were served dinner but neither of us ate it. Sydney and I watched "The Blind Side" but neither of us could hear as the jacks for the headphones didn't work, so I did a rough narration. This ended up being a good time killer and before we knew it we were preparing for landing.

On the ground we de-planed via steps and took a bus to the terminal. Julie told me about how much Shan-Shan cried on the flight and would only sit in her lap. The trip home should be a hoot. At least we will all be together to help. We get our bag, meet Amy, our guide. We load in the car and do our best to keep the kids awake on the 30 minute drive to the hotel. We have a near miss accident that wakes everyone up with the quick stop. Thankfully we are already checked in so they just need copies of our passports and a card for incidentals and we are up to our room. It is 2AM before Julie and I lay down knowing that we need to get up at 6AM for Shan-Shan's medical exam and breakfast. It was a long day, but we survived and have memories that we won't soon forget. :)