We Didn't Make it to Beijing

Due to mechanical problems with the plane in Columbia we missed our Beijing connection. We are spending the night in Chicago and will make the 12:43 flight to Beijing. This will mean we will miss the Forbidden City and Great Wall. We saw them last time but it is still disappointing. Tienanmen Square is a few blocks from our hotel so I think we may take a quick trip there, we missed it last time.

We're On Our Way

We are sitting in the Columbia airport waiting for our flight to Chicago where will get our 13 hour flight to Beijing. We have an hour and a half layover in Chicago. We arrive in Beijing at 4:30 pm Beijing time Saturday which is 3:30 am eastern US time. We will update sometime Saturday night from Beijing.

Zaijian y'all.
--
Chris Maron
122 Landing Drive
Lexington, SC 29072
cmaron@windstream.net
Home: 803-996-6359
Cell: 803-206-3757
Work: 803-939-2693
http://cmaronfamily.blogspot.com/

Travel Itinerary

We finally have our travel itinerary.

January 16th: Arriving in Beijing by UA851 at 16:25.

Stay in Wang Fu Jing Grand Hotel

January 17th: Local sightseeing: Forbidden City and Great Wall

January 18th: Flying from Beijing to Jinan by SC1152 (09:40/10:30).

Stay in Zhonghao Grand Hotel

Meet the child in the afternoon.

January 19th: Adoption Finalized by Chinese Government

January 20th: Local sightseeing: Daming Lake (the Great Lake) and Baotu Spring

January 21st: Local sightseeing: Qianfu Mountain (Thousand Buddha Mountain).

January 22nd: Local sightseeing: the Yellow River

Flying from Jinan to Guangzhou (U.S. Consulate) by SC1171 (17:05/19:30).
Stay in White Swan Hotel

January 23rd: Paperwork and medical exam.

January 24th: Local sightseeing: Yuntai Garden (Cloud Terrace Garden)

January 25th: Local sightseeing: Walking Street

January 26th: Visa appointment at 9:00am

Local sightseeing: the Temple of Six Banyan Trees

January 27th: Swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Consulate

January 28th: Local sightseeing: Local Zoo

January 29th: Flying from Guangzhou to Beijing by CA1330 (10:00/12:50),
and then transfer UA 850 to Chicago then to Columbia, SC

Our Travel Approval Came!

We finally received our travel approval and will be leaving on January 15th to get Kassidy. Our final itinerary has not been finalized but all 5 of us will be leaving Columbia on January 15th and 6 of us will be returning January 29th. We should be getting Kassidy on January 18th but will know the exact date later.

We'll Be Home for Christmas

It's been a long time since we've updated so here it goes. Yes, the title of this update is accurate, we won't be going to China to pick up Kassidy over the holidays. Our final travel approval has not come back. The new regulations have made the process slower so our paperwork has been stuck at the US Immigration Service and the US Consulate in Guangzhou. It was cleared through all of that at the beginning of the month and still is in Beijing waiting for the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) to give the final approval. We feel certain we will get that before Christmas which means we will be traveling in January. We are disappointed since we will not have her home for Christmas and because we missed her 6th birthday on December 8th. We sent her a birthday package but it definitely is not the same as being there.
We have been busy with Christmas activities these last few weeks. Attached are some pictures of parades, concerts, musicals, and parties we have been attending or taking part in. The picture of all the little girls in the group picture was from the FCC (Families with Chinese Children) Christmas party. That picture was like trying to herd cats. I doubt there is one picture of all of them.