July 25 in Beijing

First of all, lets say a big thanks to Air Canada for doing such a fine job of getting us here alive and more importantly, well fed.  We understand that our emergency landing was of interest to the media and it has gradually sunk in that it could have gone very badly if it wasn't for the skill of our pilot.  Landing a large plane, full of fuel, without fully functioning flaps spells a bad day for any pilot and the brakes on fire and flat tires could not have helped his mood any.  But once the fire was out and we got to deplane, they treated us all to dinner, put us on a brand new plane 3 hours later and got us to our destination without incident.  So thank you Air Canada...you are top notch.
This also provides me with a story to tell Grace that rivals any of those "I was in labour for three days to have you" tales that Mum's tell their kids.
We missed Friday, but I think we'll find it on our way back. 
Today we visited the Temple of Heaven and a sanctuary of beautiful old trees where the people of China go to pray and meditate.  It was 30 degrees in the shade and we all invested in straw hats by the end of the visit.  There is no meditation happening will Lil around.
Then we found a great little Chinese restaurant and after a huge plate of rice and veg, the girls had a nap and the boys (get this), went shopping to the silk market.  They came home empty handed but with many stories and plenty of ideas for a future shopping trip.  While they taunted us for giving in to our jet lag, they are both now sitting here at the dinner hour, snoring loudly.
Tomorrow we fly to Nanning and prepare ourselves for Gotcha Day on Monday.    

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