Jiangxi Journey - Wuyuan

The Wuyuan area is about two hours from the porcelain capital and has some of the most beautiful scenery and most well-preserved ancient architecture in China. Some of the home structures are over 600 years old.

We arrived in Wuyuan mid-afternoon and spent a couple of hours walking through fields of the flowers used for rapeseed oil. There are tiers of gardens going up steep hills.

A highlight was riding a long, narrow raft through the flower fields to the small, ancient village.

The village has water flowing through it and many old shops located on each side. We enjoyed food from several vendors in this area and are always amazed at the variety of delicious spicy food.

Jiangxi Journey - Jingdezhen

On the third day we visited Jingdezhen which is the porcelain capital of China. It is a city of about 1.5 million people.

We enjoyed a tour of what I would call "porcelain alley" where we saw artists painting porcelain. Our Zena, who is very artistic, was in overload to see so much creativity displayed! Artists were sitting in their shop painting the porcelain so we were watching close-up.




We met more "family" and had lunch with them. Another delicious meal at a big, round table!

Jiangxi Journey - Jiujiang City

After we enjoyed beautiful Mount Lushan, we traveled down the mountain on a park bus, at a China fast rate for those of you familiar with driving here, flying around the sharp curves to the entrance of the park in Jiujiang City.

A big lake is in the center of the city so we walked around the lake before joining Nan's sister and her family for a delicious meal at a nice restaurant, again at a huge round table! All of the sister's family lives in this city.





Jiujiang is on the southern shores of the Yangtze River. It is a city of 4.7 million people. The long bridge over the river had amazing lighting that is a show in of itself at night! A large park with a beach lies along one part of the river and it is just beautiful to see the Chinese-style pavilions that are located over the edge of the water.

Jiangxi Journey - Nanchang and Mt Lushan

Many of you know of our dear, departed Aunt Nan who we met ten years ago in Nashville. She grew up in Nanchang, which is also where two of our daughters were placed in our arms. Her brother, Hong, and his wife, Xuiping, invited us to spend five days with them last week. Our time together was such a rich blessing and our "family" has grown even more! We met Nan's sister, her two adult children and granddaughter, Yuji's father in addition to Hong's son, his wife, their daughter and Xuiping's sister and brother-in-law who live in Nanchang.

The afternoon we arrived in Nanchang, Hong and Xuiping served a delicious, traditional Chinese meal at their home. This is the apartment where Nan and her four siblings grew up many years ago! Hong and his family now live there.



We took the girls to the Gloria Hotel where Zara was placed in our arms in 2002. Then three years later, Zola was placed in our arms in a government building but we also stayed at the Gloria Hotel for a week. Being there brought back so many precious memories of seeing our babies for the first time and also the friendships we made with other adoptive families who remain so special to us.



Nanchang is the provincial capital of Jiangxi province and has a population of over 5 million.

Our friend, Maria, who we met through Zena's adoption in 2004 joined us to travel for two days. Maria worked for Children's Hope and then came to the US for additional university studies and visited with us throughout her four years in the US.

The next morning we got in a big van that Hong had rented and our family, Hong, Xuiping and Xuiping's sister took off on a four-day sightseeing trip! We went to Mt Lushan which is a beautiful part of God's creation! Over two days, we hiked about twelve miles through this beautiful park!

Much to our surprise, we saw monkeys living in the wild! There were about twelve monkeys and they were coming up to the trail as people walked by. The signs said not to feed them but people were, so the monkeys would come up to people expecting food!

Hope at the Big House

March 17-21, 2014



When we first arrived from the Luoyang airport to Maria's Big House of Hope, all the Martins, Renichs, Linda and Jona were outside waiting for us! And that is a big welcome - 14 people - at the Big House!

I really like Maria's but it is just a whole different feel than Hope in Beijing. There are a lot more babies and the building has seven floors! We played with the children and had a sweet time.

First night we ate at a Hot Pot restaurant with several of our friends. I loved the experience! Everyone had a little hot pot in front of their place setting. Most tables in Chinese restaurants are round with a lazy Susan. Fresh meats, vegetables and eggs were brought for us to select for our hot pot. It was delicious!

Tuesday night was Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary and we ate at Duck Restaurant. I tried some very interesting food that is popular like fried bull frog and duck brain! I am now part of the "Duck Brain Club" joining a couple of others in the group who have tried it.

~Zara




How cool that we got to celebrate Mom and Dad's 25th Wedding Anniversary in China! We ate at Duck Restaurant and tried a lot of different food. My favorite was fried corn that had a spicy flavor.

We played with babies here. Several were sleeping and many are very sick.

It is fun to play with the children of families that work here. We enjoy our friendship with them.

On Wednesday morning Zara, Zola and I helped with preschool. It was fun to listen to the songs they sing and learn some more Chinese words. The children painted rainbows today in preschool. This year I am going to get much better at speaking Chinese!

~Zena




After spending the day at MBHOH, we went to a park. It was fun to get in a hamster ball. We tried to stand in them but we kept on falling down.

For dinner on Thursday we went to a barbeque place where I had some spicy chicken and some not-so-hot chicken. It was meat cooked on a stick! We sat outside and it was a cool evening! We had a lot of fun playing with our friends and trying new and different food! It is a fun for them to go out and share the local culture when friends visit.

~Zola

Happy Anniversary Baby....March 18th

We have been on an amazing adventure the past week and didn't have good internet connection so couldn't update blog. Even though we hoped to update, it has been a blessing to pull away from technology and enjoy special time with friends and "family" here.

Last week ~

On March 18th, Charles and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary! When we talked about a special weekend trip last fall to celebrate our anniversary, we had no idea we would be making a trip to China. How wonderful to be here in the country where we became parents twelve years ago to celebrate our silver anniversary!

Charles surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Tuesday evening celebration dinner was more special than we could have planned! Duck Restaurant in Luoyang was the location and we were joined by the Martins, Renichs, Rita and JonaLyn who are special friends who work at Maria's Big House of Hope. Dinner was served at a huge round table in a private room with so many dishes of delicious Chinese food! What a special celebration of our love for each other and where God has led us through these years.

Out and About In Beijing

Last Friday, we went on an outing to Beijing with Mikey who works at Hope and has lived in China for several years! We had lunch then Baskin-Robbins ice cream for dessert! Then, we went to IKEA in Beijing. That place was huge! We had never been to IKEA! It was three stories and everywhere we turned, there was another display. I saw a lot of things I liked that I couldn’t bring home with me. Mom is getting the two-bedroom apartment at Hope ready for a family to live in for the next year as they move there to help with the babies.

Saturday, we went to airport to get Dad as he came back after having to leave to work at home for a while. He came in at Capital Airport Terminal 2 which is where he and mom flew in each time they adopted one of us. Now there is a newer terminal for most international flights that is huge and where we came in a few weeks ago.

On Sunday we go to the international church that is approved for foreign passport holders to attend. What a blessing to worship each week with people from around the world! On the way to church, we go to Starbucks and McDonalds which is the Hope staff and volunteers routine! Hope is about 35 minutes from this area so this is a special treat each week!

~Zara