FengduMission2006

Day 2 - Tuesday August 8

Maggie our guide said we needed to leave the hotel by 6:15 am. Sounds like it is a rough time to wake up, but when you have had a fifteen hour time change it does not really matter what time you wake up the first day. We didn’t leave the hotel till about 6:30 which was a big mistake. The airport is about 1 hour away from the hotel, there was traffic and the bus loading section was closed off. We rushed through the airport, and were the last people on the plane before they closed the doors. Close call. Remember always listen to the guide.
Most of the people except for sporadic businesses men were from China, so we definitely stood out on the plane. We had a two hour flight and landed safely in Chongqing airport. Little fact about Chongqing, it is the largest city in the world with 30 million residents. From the airport we got onto our little bus that would take us to Fengdu - about a 3 hour drive. We stopped off and had some authentic Chinese food. The Chinese food here is different than in the US, I have found that the flavors are more vibrant and that they serve a huge amount of food.
After lunch we loaded the bus for our 3 hour drive. This was the most interesting part of our traveling so far. We were going deep into China. We drove on 2 lane highways and windy mountain roads. The drive took us along the Yangtzee River gorge. It was beautiful. We observed that the Chinese utilize every bit of land available for farming. There are no grass patches in front of houses, but instead there is corn, rice or beans in almost every nook and cranny of the land, and most of it is not flat. This is a valley that the Yangtzee River goes through so there is a lot of terrace farming that takes place. Harvest time appears to be right now. In the driveways and on the road you could find corn, rice, peppers and many other things drying. Again the Chinese were making best use of the land. The other thing that you notice is that there were also these little storefronts that people had for their businesses. They would sell various items from these stores, and they would also serve as restaurants, gathering places and in some cases living quarters.
We arrived at the hotel, and Susan, Robin and Maggie went and met with Mr. Tsao the orphanage director. We found out all of the children are under 2 years old and that there were about 50 children. We needed to be flexible with all of our planning. We were prepared to have crafts and activities for kids who were a lot older. We all went to sleep exhausted, anticipating what it would be like to see these little ones for the first time

posted by Byrne Family @ 4:39 AM