We wanted to do something that would be fun for Nora, so we spent the morning at the Blue Zoo aquarium. She loved it–especially the BIG, naughty shark.

Later, we walked around the old part of Beijing. This is either in front of the Bell Tower or the Drum Tower (I admit I’m not sure which).

Here we are at the Forbidden City…

and the Olympic Plaza…

and of course, engaging in some international race relations.

Today we got to Beijing, and met Blake and my dad at the airport. YAY! It’s just what we needed to cap off the trip. Here they are with Nora in front of her favorite feature of our hotel–one of the two lion statues flanking the entrance.

Nora, giving me her classic photo face in front of the terra cotta warriors in Xian:

And here she is outside the museum, trying to make friends with a very smiley but shy Chinese boy her own age in split pants. She kept kind of sidling up to him, shoulders hunched and belly out. Each time she got too close, he would run back to his mom.

Nora loved the video they showed about the history of the terra cotta warriors. For the next few hours, all she talked about was fighting, fire, running, and flags. Maybe someday Blake won’t have to watch all his favorite movies alone.

Nora made quite a few conquests in the People’s Park. This one was probably the most age-appropriate.

I have a cute video of this little guy singing her the ABCs, but I think YouTube is blocked in China. I’ll post it when we get back.

Checking out the view of Shanghai (or as she calls it, “Hai-Hai”) from the window of our FIVE STAR hotel room: