Shopping, shopping and more shopping

I don't think I realized the extent of the shopping we'd be doing here. But it makes sense when you figure that most of the stuff we own is "made in China". As a matter of fact, as I was packing my suitcase to come here it crossed my mind that most of the things we were bringing was returning to it's homeland. We will definately be leaving with more stuff than we came with and oh, yeah somewhere in all these bags is a baby.
We've purchased some traditional stuff that will be really neat keepsakes - one of my favorites is a scroll with her name on it in Chinese characters, the date and place she was born and a beautiful picture of a cherry blossom which symbolizes winter (the time she was born and when we got her) Also, some lovely pearls from her birth region. Here at the hotel a tailor came and personally measures us for clothes - we pick the style and fabric and poof! a few days later for less than $100 bucks I've got a really nice jacket. I also picked up a tablecloth to use for Chinese NEw Year.
Other things we've picked up are some sharp looking Columbia jackets and ski pants for a mere pitance. Wayne got some boots, etc. We picked up an extra suitcase for quite a deal too.
This morning we toured the Forbidden City and Tiennamen Square. It was really neat and we got something out of it but with babies along it's quite challenging. It was so chilly that we were really excited that near the end of the Forbidden City there was a Starbucks and my hot chocolate hit the spot. That's right you heard me = they are EVERYWHERE!
Later in the day we went out as a group for a traditional Peking Duck dinner. It was awesome. The duck was OK but it was oh so much more than that. Zanna ate rice that I fed her with chopsticks and she loved the broccoli even if she has no teeth. Should be interesting what her digestive system ends up doing with that later. I can't wait to get her home and full of good fruits and veggies. It's a struggle here to find stuff for her that's healthy.
We can't wait to get home. Tomorrow is our last day. We look forward to seeing everyone back home and showing off our little girl!