Wed in Kunming - Stone Forest and Orphanage Visit

(We posted more photos below for Tuesday, too)
We had a wonderful day today. I know we've been terrible at updating our blog, but we've been so busy seeing so many beautiful places in Yunnan and around Kunming, that we haven't had time to get on the computer. We usually leave the hotel by 8:30 and don't return until even when we have to find dinner, get the girls baths and to bed, then clean and organize things to get ready for the next day.

Having two little ones along on the trip is tiring. Miyah's doing incredibly well, but I think that if I didn't worry about how she would have done without out us for two weeks, I would have left her home. It's not an easy trip for a three year old. She's hungry all the time because she often doesn't like the food and we aren't exactly doing things typically interesting for a three year old. A lot of walking and early mornings/late nights. And that would be fine if it were somewhere like Disney...she did great there. It's really fine, just not easy for anyone.

Anyway, this morning we drove an hour to the Stone Forest. We first stopped at a little shop and bought a carrier made by the area minority people. You see women carrying babies in these all over Kunming. We thought they would be fun to have just for the embroidery, but it also came in handy for carrying Miyah or Mei Lin because we only had one carrier and a lot of walking to do.

The karst formations that make up the "forest" are beautiful. I wish we had time to explore because it would be fun to do a leisurely walk through the whole forest. It was extremely crowded and dozens of people asked Megan to have their picture taken with her. She had a crowd waiting in line for pictures! She was a good sport and smiled through the whole thing. A few times we had to tell them no more.

The Yi people are guides at the forest. They are a minority group in Yunnan and wear interesting clothing. I'll post photos from the Stone Forest later.

After the forest, we did some shopping on the way back to the bus. We bought some beautiful embroidery handmade by the minority groups and some dolls and outfits. It's amazing how cheap the embroidery is. It must take them many hours to make, yet they sell it for $5-$10.

Then we stopped at a restaurant for another wonderful lunch. Once again, Megan ate only the fried rice. She pretty much fills up at the breakfast buffet at the hotel and then eats rice the rest of the day.

We were so blessed to get a wonderful tour of Mei Lins orphanage. We brought some donations from Pat's mom and they seemed so happy to have them.

Then we were taken around the large orphanage complex. I can't tell you how impressed we were! The orphanage was extremely clean and the people were friendly. Several workers saw us and ran up calling Mei Lin's Chinese name, "Pan Jun Xia!". She was obviously loved and well cared for. Many of them signed the book given to us by the orphanage. The book is a treasure! There are dozens and dozens of beautiful photos of orphanage and foster care life. It was made in July 2006, so Mei Lin was actually living there at the time. We were told she lived there for 7 months and then in foster care for 7 months.

There is a school, library, physical therapy room, doctor's office, music and dance room, many play rooms, and each beautiful, clean and staffed by happpy, loving staff. We were told there are 7 doctors, 60 full time staff and 200 part time staff. Mei Lin's physical therapist spent a lot of time playing with her and gave the girls a toy from the room.

We saw a few babies be carried, two to a lady (front and back) around the grounds and many older children returning from school and doing their homework under the trees on the beautiful grounds. There are a few gazebos amongst the beautiful landscaping that made you feel like you were at a resort.

By the end of our tour there were many children returning from school escorted by orphanage staff. It was obvious that the children were getting the best care possible at the orphanage. We feel so blessed that Mei Lin lived in such an atmosphere.

We have a lot of photos of the orphanage to share, unfortunately I wasn't able to give each photo a caption due to some computer problem. Maybe I can fix that later.