Trek from Datong and Hanging Monastery

I forgot to include this picture in yesterday's post. It's on the drive to Datong. Ewan is making himself comfortable ;) What else are siblings good for if not a pillow and foot rest?

 I had to take these next two pictures. It was on our second night. Ewan and I were in our own hotel room, and he was not wanting to fall asleep. We'd already brushed his teeth, but he found this fruit that was left for us by the hotel on the nightstand. He wanted to eat it. At first I said no, but I'm doing my best, per my Karyn Purvis studying, to pick my battles and especially not fight about food. I decided, why not? It's just fruit. He had so much fun eating the fruit. He laid right by me and cuddled while he did it and giggled the whole time. Score one for Purvis!

The second night was better than the first. It didn't take nearly as long to fall asleep, but he did have a total meltdown after he was done eating the fruit and wanted to leave the room. I wouldn't let him, and he started bawling. He let me cuddle right into him and rub his back. Sweet boy eventually fell asleep. Nighttime is so sad. I'm sure Ewan gets scared, confused, and homesick. It's heartbreaking!

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. Ewan is such a ham. He commands the attention of every room. It's so funny! He was SO excited to have noodles for breakfast, and he let the whole room know! 

We packed up and left the hotel. This hotel, the Hiton, was near ours. It cracked me up. So close to the Hilton, yet so far away...

 The city of Datong is actually quite amazing! It's so pretty! It has this old city wall around it. I think, other than Guangzhou, it's my favorite Chinese city I've seen so far! It also had the first blue skies I've seen since leaving for China!

 Sorry the quality is so poor on these. I was taking them from my phone inside the van.

 The ride home was not much different than the ride there. Jie Jie made a great foot rest!

Months before we left for China, we knew that if we wanted to travel to Datong to visit the orphanage that we'd probably need to spend the night. With that in mind, we did some research and found these hanging temples near the city. We arranged to go visit them on our way home. They were absolutely AMAZING!! Other than the Great Wall of China, this is my favorite site I've seen here! They were built in the year 491. They are more than 1400 hundred years old! WOW!!

The drive into the canyon and the surrounding mountains reminded us so much of Utah!

 Except for THIS view! SO awesome!!

 See the temples nestled in the mountain?

 Little man making his way. He's about the size of a typical American three year old. The smallest size clothes I brought are a 4T, and they're a little too big for him. Don't let his size fool you, though, there's a BIG personality hidden inside!

 The lady below posing by the rock behind Ewan is my favorite. She did several different poses while her husband snapped photos. I love her arm dramatically swooped over the rock with her hat in hand. So typical in China, but it never gets old to me!

 And then there's this pose. So glam!! Ewan thinks so, too.

It's a bit of a hike up to the temple on uneven cobble stone-type pavement. Ewan was having a hard time walking on it. He hasn't loved anyone carrying him places, but he let Quin finally pick him up and carry him. Ever since then, he hardly wants to walk anywhere. Quin and I have become his personal sherpas! I love it, though! You're supposed to let kids adopted from orphanages regress to where they need, and he's loving being carried everywhere, so that's what he gets!

There's some sort of large tunnel on the way. You can also catch a glimpse of a dam in the distance to the left. This is apparently a flood zone, so the ancient people built a temple on the mountain for protection from the floods. It used to be much higher up, but the flooding over the years has brought the ground level up. Now there's a dam to prevent flooding.

As we were walking, our guide informed us that this structure made it into Time magazine as one of the 10 most dangerous structures in the world. She was quite proud of this fact. They believe the temple was built miraculously and don't believe it to be dangerous. This FREAKED me out, though!! AAAHH!! We considered backing out, but we'd come so far! We decided to press our luck!

 Getting closer!

 Certainly not the best or most flattering photo of any of us, but the only one of me from the day. I was holding the camera the rest of the time. Our guide, Coco, insisted to take this one.

We started walking up the many stairs to get up there and Quin tried to get Ewan to walk on his own. No way! He like the idea of someone carrying him, so the two of us had to switch off on different flights of stairs until we got there.

 This is the name of the temple written in flowers below.

 This is as we approached the last stairs. It's absolutely breathtaking in person!

Geh Geh went up the stairs and quickly got yelled at by a bunch of Chinese people that he needed to get down. We thought it was because when he walked upstairs it was creaking and unsafe. It is creaking and unsafe, but we later learned you come down these stairs at the end of the tour. He was going backwards, but you're totally allowed up there.

 Coco and Geh Geh rubbing Buddha's belly for good luck!

 I am so in love with this place! Unfortunately Ewan brought a little basketball (the one he swiped from the orphanage the day before) and couldn't help but throw it. Even on the hanging temple.

 Coco trying her best to explain to Ewan why he couldn't continue to throw his ball into the crowds of people on the unstable structure. Her powers of persuasion failed.

 There's a souvenir shop in the temple. Of course. And, of course, we stopped. And, of course, we bought some stuff.

 Everyone crammed in the bitty little shop.

 So beautiful, satellite dish and all. I don't understand what the purpose of this is?

 Ewan showing off his basketball and new necklace. 24 hours later his new necklace was shattered to pieces as he twirled it around and it flew off his finger and hit the tile in the lobby. It was nice while it lasted, though! So much for good luck!

 Geh Geh and his new necklace and one he bought for a friend.

 And...the boys being boys again. Throwing the ball and chasing it on the hanging temple.

 Isn't this place just incredible!?

 It's absolutely breathtaking! And absolutely freaky! The higher we got in the temple, the more scared I got!

 Look how high up we're getting! Ah! The floors got steeper, more slippery and much more creaky the higher we got! 

 One of the many rooms with statues in it. You're not allowed to take pictures of most of them, unfortunately.

 A "bedroom" for travelers in old days.

 Onward and upward we go! Such tiny, narrow staircases!

Now look how high up! It makes me dizzy, even now! So freaky that we're just literally hanging there!

 A certain free-fall to death if something were to happen to the rickety old structure!

 Another statue room.

 Quin had to carry Ewan the rest of the way. It was way too scary and dangerous. Even with Quin carrying him, Ewan was freaked out! He insisted to be on the inside and wouldn't look down.

 Ewan looking in the Buddha room. Look how scary this is! Just hanging over a cliff! It was also SO magnificent! You need to take your life in your hands every once in a while to live, right?

 A view looking down at how far we'd come.

 Ni Hao! Just on top of one of the world's most dangerous, yet beautiful, structures!

 Heading down a slippery slope. Literally. It was so worn you practically slid down it.

 Notice the writing on the wall? Again, literally. This reminded me so much of the Indian ruins in Moab and Arches!

 Trying to make it down alive.

 So amazing! Even though this place was dangerous and kind of freaky, I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I'm SO glad we went!

 This picture of Quin and Ewan is the same stairway Geh Geh was on at the beginning. It was SO TINY! I don't know how he managed to squeeze them both through that opening!

 A view from beneath. Notice how on parts of it, it's well, just hanging? They were very creaky, and I'm glad I saw this view after we finished!

 More people forcing toys into Ewan's hand. This time we bought it for him. It's already broken. Like the necklace.

 We made it the rest of the way back to Taiyuan. It was a L O N G drive. Ewan did okay, but he just really hates the car. The only thing that would distract him was the iPad. More Ni Hao Kai-lan. He sat in the back and cuddled with me all three hours, so it was worth it! It was so nice to be back in our big apartment-type hotel!

While he waited for me to get ready for bed, Ewan took the Magformers and made a track for his cars! He's so smart! What a creative idea!

Bedtime continues to be a challenge. He punched me in the face with a Magformer when I told him it was time for bed. I told him sternly in Chinese "Please don't hit me", and he immediately began to sob inconsolably. He let me cuddle him and pat his back, but he cried for quite a while. I finally picked him up and rocked him, and that did the trick. He stopped crying and calmed down. He laid back down by me and almost immediately fell asleep. It was our best night yet! He stayed asleep from 10:00 pm to 6:40 am! Yay! Hoping to get to bed earlier tonight to give him even more sleep. Poor guy is generally just exhausted.

This little guy is so much fun! He loves all of us and doesn't let a language barrier stop him from telling us exactly what he needs at all times. He has one of the most expressive faces I've ever seen! He can act things out so perfectly, and I'm also learning to recognize what some of the phrases he says often mean. We're making it work! He's an absolute gem and I'm so thankful he's my son!!