January 18, 2006....a day like no other

Early in the morning, we awoke to snow that had fallen during the night. The temperatures were below zero and we could hear the wind whipping against our hotel window. It was terribly cold. The first order of business was making arrangements for one of the babies we had seen the day before to be transferred to the Hope Foster Home. He has more severe medical needs at the moment, and we both felt that he would have the best chance of a full recovery if he was moved to Beijing where he could be daily monitored by their medical staff. We worked out all the details, and I am happy to say that little Lei is moving to Beijing before spring festival. We are overjoyed that we could help him. What a blessing it is to know Joyce and Robin are there. The orphanage staff was so very grateful. They love this little boy but know that he really needs more one on one care.

The orphanage really wanted us to see some of beautiful Kaifeng, so even though it was bitterly cold, we all bundled into their van and headed to one of the ancient parks. Kaifeng was one of China’s ancient capitol cities, during the Song dynasty which was around 950 AD. We slowly pulled up to their own forbidden city, which was situated on a beautiful lake with pagodas. Up on the hill was a huge statue of the emperor and we could see one amazing ancient building after another.

We all took a deep breath to brace ourselves for the cold and headed out to stroll through the park. I could never do it justice.

We saw pagodas and statues, and the old mill where they ground flour

(Karen gave the grinding wheel a try), we saw huge wooden circles that looked like giant ferris wheels that men would manually turn to draw water and irrigate their fields. As we walked deeper into the park, we walked over a very famous arched bridge and came up to the huge gates to the ancient city.

All of the people working in the park were dressed in the clothing from the Song Dynasty so it really was like walking back in time. Inside the city we saw the inn that travelers of old could stay at, the market, and much more. Normally when I go to China, I never get to tour because I am so busy working. I think I have to hold the record for the most number of times to Beijing without ever seeing the Great Wall, so this was a real morning treat for me to get to see some of the incredible ancient sites of China. Finally, we realized that none of us could feel our toes or fingers anymore and so we headed back to the van. But not before stopping to buy some handmade children’s vests for the art auction. They are so cute! We also found an old ceramic statue of a wise man of China. I wish we had more time to look in the little stores but as I said…..we were FREEZING.

By this time, the snow began falling, and we realized that the temperatures had plummeted and we were literally skating upon solid ice that used to be the road. As the van turned out of the parking lot, we started to fishtail and literally were only able to go 1-2 miles an hour. They had wanted to show us more of the city, but we told them that since the airport was 140 km away, we really needed to head to Zhengzhou. We managed to get back to the hotel to grab our bags. Just as we arrived, Zhang Ming got a call that the van driver who was supposed to take us to the airport had called to say he would not venture out on the roads as they were unsafe. We discussed many ways to get to Zhengzhou but no one wanted to head out. Finally, the orphanage director called one of his old friends in the military and he agreed to come and take us to Zhengzhou. When he arrived, we loaded all of the luggage in the back, and we tried our best to discourage the director and vice director from driving with us but they absolutely insisted.

So all of us headed off but only got a few minutes out when they got a call that the province had closed the highway due to snow. With a deep breath, we decided to take the back roads to Zhengzhou. As we were leaving the city, they pointed out the ancient wall of Kaifeng which used to surround the entire city. During a time of great poverty, villagers had dismantled the bricks of the wall to build themselves shelter. About ten years ago, the city decided to rebuild it as it was, and they asked the local citizens that if their ancestors had taken bricks to build their homes, could they please donate bricks to the project. Instead, the local people dismantled their own homes so that the very same bricks that once guarded the city could do so again. Sometimes in my life, I see images that are so absolutely breathtaking that I wish my eyes were a camera so that I could save the image forever and share it with everyone. As we drove by this snow covered ancient wall, four young girls drove by single file on their bicycles, and each girl had on a different brightly colored coat with colored scarves over their faces. It was such a beautiful image that it literally took my breath away.

The drive was much more interesting than the highway trip we had taken coming in. We slowly drove through village after village, each with their own wall and gate. At one point, we drove through the Sunshine village where so many of the children who lost their parents to HIV now live. That was also a moment I will not forget as everywhere we looked we saw young kids, walking down the road, being pulled in a tractor, and playing in the snow.

Shortly after passing this village our van began to fish tail. It literally was like we were in slow motion as we began to do a 360 on this crowded road. The last image I saw was an enormous bus heading straight for the van. I saw us turning one way and the bus swerving to miss us with lots of cars behind it. I closed my eyes and said a prayer bracing for the impact that I knew would crush our car. But it never came. Miraculously, we had slid to safety in the middle of the road. The bus had somehow missed us…..but that was impossible. Karen and I were both shaking as we tried our best to maneuver back to the direction we were originally headed. You have to remember that these roads were packed with people, cars, huge trucks all taking the same path to Zhengzhou since the highway was closed. Finally we got pointed in the right direction and headed on. To say we were shaken is a huge understatement. We were all shocked to the core.

The assistant director, who is one of the most lovely women I have ever had the privilege to meet, tried to calm all of our nerves by pulling out some bread she had bought for our journey. I think I saw everyone’s hands shaking as they put the bread to their mouths. Each time the van would begin to fishtail we would all hold our breaths and brace. About 10 kilometers further up the road, it happened again. The car began to spin out of control and once again (I am amazed at how this happens), time went into slow motion as we saw a truck, a car, and then us spinning to the side of the road where a steep gulley awaited us. I counted two complete spins and realized we were not going to have enough time left to avoid rolling down the ditch. And then we stopped. And we were on the edge of the road and safe……I told Karen later that it was like out of a movie, where a car goes to the edge of the dock over water and teeters. One more foot and our van would have rolled. The director and I had to get out of the van this time while the driver tried to get us the right way. I was saying “thank you, thank you, thank you” over and over that we were safe, and then I just had to start smiling and laughing as I watched the sea of cars and trucks passing us on the road. I realized that here was this blonde lady, standing in the middle of rural Henan on the side of the road in a snowstorm, and everyone who was passing by was pointed to their companions in utter and complete curiosity as to what in the world I was doing there. I saw old truck after truck filled with men in their army green trench coats passing me in total amazement. Yet another image I will not soon forget. J

Our driver wondered if the large amount of luggage in the back was the reason for our problem, so we rearranged the suitcases and headed off again. We still had 2/3 of the way to go to Zhengzhou but thankfully there were no more close calls. We were all nervously laughing while learning the words for “scared out of our minds”, “swallowing our hearts”, and many more fun phrases that I can honestly say I never want to use again in China. The director said, “when we get to the airport I want to take a picture of all of us with this van because this is a day I will never forget”. I made a mental note that from now on, every January 18th I am going to send the orphanage flowers for the day we did NOT lose our lives.

We had several more hours on the road to talk, so we used the time to discuss more of how we could help Kaifeng. They really need foster care, especially for the cleft babies. The vice director said she knew if the cleft babies were in loving homes, they would be fattened up so quickly. They have a new arrival who is less than a month old, a beautiful little girl, so Karen and I made the “executive decision” that she and I were moving that baby into care just out of our own pockets. She will be snug in a foster home before spring festival. I told Karen that if she and I weren’t good friends before this trip, after what we had lived through we were bonded forever! And now we share a baby. J

The orphanage also has five children who need school sponsors. We talked about how this could work and they promised to give us monthly reports on the children if we could begin such a program.

We also discussed their true need for an incubator. Since most of the babies they get are straight from the hospital as newborns, so many of them are too tiny to be in a crib without warm heat. This orphanage is so excited about international adoptions. They plan to use all the funds raised to help the kids medically. We discussed which kids should be sent for adoption and talked extensively about the older girls. They promised to file on the young girls we had taken out to dinner. They did not realize that children with Hep B could be adopted. They should hopefully have at least 8 children to send for adoption this year. I am so thankful.

Finally, after many hours, we saw the outskirts of Zhengzhou. I really hated to say goodbye to these kind people. I promised them we would see each other again in the future however. They have such a true love for the kids. At one point, the director asked what our opinion was on fancy facilities versus caring staff. He told me that he knew that their facility was old and in need of much help, but he said “we love these kids and we hope that love is more important than wealthy surroundings”. We could not agree more.

Once we got into the airport, we parked the van and all of us got out thanking the heavens for our safe arrival. We found a woman sweeping the snow and had her take lots of photos of our group to commemorate the fact that we were alive! It honestly was quite funny at that point. We headed into the terminal and we tried our best to get our luggage through without a fine but there was no doing so today. I told Karen that I thought we had used up all of our luck on the road which was fine by me! We said goodbye to our new friends and both Karen and I had heavy hearts that they had to drive back all the way in the blizzard. We actually learned later that it took them 13 hours to make the drive home.

We made it to the gate just as they were announcing that the airport was being closed. The flight before ours was the last flight out. What were we going to do now? We exited the airport security area to find a ticket agent to see if we could get booked the next day to anywhere in China. Could we go to Shanghai? To Beijing? Any flights to Hangzhou? “Bu yao.” (don’t have). It is spring festival time here and there are no seats available. “Is there first class? We will pay first class?” Bu yao. Can we go to the train station and take an overnight train anywhere out of the city? “ Bu yao. The highway is closed….the trains are sold out “ So what can we do? Then they started telling people that they had to leave the airport. “No one can stay in the airport.” Outside the wind was wailing and the snow was blowing parallel to the ground. This was the only time Zhang Ming had to yell. They wanted us to leave, and we walked outside for a moment and it was bitterly cold. We were not dressed for snow…..in fact, I had on clogs! They told us to walk down the long road to look for a hotel but I told Zhang Ming I would not leave the airport without a confirmed reservation because hundreds of people were trudging out looking for a room. He started phoning hotels and they were all full. Karen and I looked at each other and said, “we cannot leave”. I honestly couldn’t feel my toes that point and both of us were shaking and could not stop…..we were so cold. I honestly have never been as cold as I was last night. We stood pleading with the security people and I could hear Zhang Ming saying “Americans…..orphans……so cold…nowhere to go…..” but it wasn’t working. Finally Karen and I had to make the decision that we would have to do a little civil disobedience. We went over and sat down against a wall and said we would not leave the airport to stand outside all night in a blizzard. We thought the security people might be really angry with us, but one man in uniform walked by us camped out on the floor and winked at Karen as if to say “you go girl”.

Just then Zhang Ming came back in from outside and told us he had found a cab. He thought the best move was to search for a hotel as they had turned off the heat in the airport and were closing up. So off we went, without our luggage, and began slowly inching along the road to hotels to see if there was room. At the second one, I told Zhang Ming that I would go in instead of him….maybe they would find a room for a foreigner. So I went into the hotel and asked and at first the two desk people vehemently shook their heads saying no room. But then suddenly one of them pointed to the back wall to a sign that said “Presidential Suite”. That was most definitely available. “how much?” I asked. $180 US. With my limited Chinese I tried to find out if there were bedrooms but there was just one room…..one bed. I realized that we were traveling with a Chinese man and I didn’t know how he would feel sleeping in the same room. I went back to ask him and he suggested at first going to a different hotel to try, but then the taxi driver told him that all the roads into the city were closed. We assured him that it would not bother us at all…..but it was up to him. We certainly didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but we all knew we had no choice…there was no where for us to go. We were sharing a room. At least we had found shelter for the night.

They told us at the desk that there was a party going on in the suite and so we couldn’t have the room until 10 p.m. We went to find something to eat, as we had eaten nothing but the small piece of bread on the way to Zhengzhou. The whole hotel was freezing….no heat……and when the waitress poured the boiling water into our cups, instead of drinking it Karen and I cupped it with our hands trying to get any warmth into our bodies. We ordered some soup and it tasted wonderful and thankfully was so spicy that it made us feel even warmer. At one point Zhang Ming said to me, “Amy, you have the wrong shoes for this weather.” I must be tired because even typing that I am still laughing at how funny I thought that comment was.

Finally we were taken to our room. They had made up a couch for Zhang Ming to sleep on, but there was no heat at all in the room and no hot water. I kept asking him if he would be okay sleeping in the same room as us and he said he felt it would be fine. At that point I told him that we were now officially “very good friends”. It was also at that point that we all started laughing so hard (I have never seen him laugh so hard) because we suddenly noticed that the entire wall of the bathroom was solid glass. Anyone in the room could look right in at anyone showering or going to the bathroom. This was a slight problem! J Zhang Ming told the hotel that they had to cover the window, so some young girls came and scotch taped a sheet to the window. I told Karen, “of course you realize when you get in the shower the steam will cause the blanket to fall off”. Ha ha…….but of course, we realized later that there was no hot water so it was a mute point.

It was so cold in the room that we all just slept in our clothing. I really had no feeling in my feet and it was strange to move them in the bed and not be able to feel the sheets. Thankfully we managed to fall asleep and Karen and I both got about 4 hours before waking up the wind rattling the windows and pure snow out of the windows. We woke up poor Zhang Ming and told him we wanted to head to the airport anyway. We were determined to be first in line. I had a whole day of work to do in Shantou and I was already going to miss the whole day. So at 6 a.m., we headed out. The roads to the airport were deserted.

As I type this, it is now 4 p.m. on Thursday and the airport is still closed. People are everywhere. I am staring out the window at the Chinese flag which is blowing so hard in the wind that it is straight out. I can hardly see anything out of the windows. We have talked to people in the airport who have reported that all the trains are sold out and there are no flights left before CNY to any other city. We have no choice but to wait. It is very cold and the people around us are understandably upset.

We are praying we make it to Shantou. We have foster care visits and education reports to do….and so many things to discuss with the director. At this point, I am not holding much hope. If the airport is closed today…..then we will have to figure out a way to get to Beijing so we can get back to the US this weekend. I told Karen to remember that no matter what…..we had already accomplished so much. Baby Lei is going to the Hope Foster Home! Baby Na is going to foster care in Kaifeng. Every child counts. The whole trip was worth it just for that news.