5/3 - Today was our last day together as a group. We hit the breakfast bar with Tara and Aaron as soon as it opened. The food was great like always. I tried some pickled something that looked like caterpillar larvae. You will have to see the picture to believe it! Anyways it was really a vegetable root. The reason I'm telling you this is because Dan had a handfull, too, which came back to haunt him later in the trip. We packed our luggage and repacked and repacked trying to keep both suitcases under 20 kg. After we got to the airport, Zhou said they combine the wait and count it that way! Oh well. We met the bus and others at 9:00 am again and headed to the Temple of Heaven. This is where the Emperor would go to pray for a good harvest. It reminded me of the Forbidden City in that there were lots of different courtyards and structures, but not individual rooms. There were many gardens (and restrooms) along the way, too. It looks to me like the Chinese people come to these landmarks and hang out the way we might go to a local park - just a lot more crowded. Halfway through the trip, the pickled caterpillars caught up with Dan. The next stop was the bus and a shopping emporium. There were 4 floors of shopping with little vendors set up to sell their wares. They were vultures. "Lady, Lady, lookie, lookie, you want a purse?" Everything was for sale - knock off purses, clothes, shoes and jewelry. Most places to shop are on the barter system. We looked, but I knew there was no room left in the suitcase. There will be more shopping in Guanzhou when we have Kimberly's suitcase and the weight limit is 50 lbs. The Harp family had to split because they had an early flight out. We finished up our visit along with the other 3 families and headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for a relaxing lunch. Dan was revived and tried the soup. After a little shopping in the store we headed to the airport. Zhou walked us in and helped us check in and sent us off at the security gate. We waited for 2 hours and boarded a bus to drive us out on the tarmac to climb a large plane. It was an easy flight, but my stomach was a little quesy, probably from anticipation of what is to come. Vickie, our local guide, was waiting for us at the airport after we collected our luggage. She has worked for the adoption center for 7 years and explained the events for the week. Changsha is the capital city of Hunan Province. Hengyang City, where Kimberly was found is about a 2-1/2 hour ride away. The Hunan Province is known for their agriculture - lots of rice patties and fish. Hunan means south of the lake and the name came from their location. Hunan is south of the second largest lake in China and is also home to part of the longest river in China. There is not a lot of factories here, but they do have a bike and twin engine factory in the outskirts of the city. Traffic is crazy, like in Beijing; Vickie called it "unorganized". That is an understatement! Scooters, cars and pedestrians weave in and out of the streets and somehow manage not to hit each other. In general, there is a lot of horn blowing and swerving. The hotel is downtown and beautiful; it looks like Vegas! Vickie helped us check in and we headed upstairs to crash before the BIG DAY!