White Cloud Mountain.

After a restful night for all, (10 hours for monkey, 9 for Daddy, 8 for Mommy) we got up, showered, changed diapers (poo poo is regular now and a happy girl for it), had our bottle and medicine and headed down to breakfast. (best meal of the day, and no, i am not trying any of the local dishes) We boarded the bus around 9am and drove for about 40 minutes, just outside of town to White Cloud Mountain. It was a freezing cold Winter day on White Cloud Mountain, the temperature coming in at about 26c with a humidity of about 32 c. Needless to say, we had all dressed for colder weather thinking that a mountain would be cool. Another beautiful day, it never rains here and everything is so lush. White Cloud Mountain is surounded by some beautiful man-made lakes with incredible walking bridges throughout. We got off the bus (still havent seen one single accident here- it is incredible how close everyone comes to hitting each other!) and made our way up to the Gondola loading area. The Gondola is a fairly new addition and was very trustworthy to ride in. We rode for about 15 minutes up the mountain into a cloud that surrounds it. The view of the city was worth the trip, although very smoggy. But the air on the mountain was fresh and clean compared to the city. Side note: I dont know if i mentioned in earlier blogs, but the locals all over China use coal for heat- you can see it stacked up beside their home and we saw firsthand how it is used in their stoves. Anyways, we took some photos and watched families exercising and playing a version of hacky-sack with a ball with feathers on it- looks like a shuttlecock. I bought one to bring home. The largest bird sanctuary in China is on the mountain and we walked through. Their was a performance area where we watched birds doing all kinds of ridiculous things like: riding a bicycle, bowling, roller skating, pulling a wooden duck with wheels, singing, and flying through the crowd as you hold up paper money so that the bird lands on your head and takes the money. Not much for the babies to watch but fun for the adults. We walked through the netted in sanctuary and saw many strange birds. We returned to the cable car and rode back down to the bus. Hailey really loves the Baby Bijorn. We have had her faced out the last two days and it keeps her cooler. When she faces in my heat knocks her out. She loves her Ba Ba anyways and doesnt mind shouting out a million times a day "Da, Da, Da, Da, Da". I told Ma Ma that she is saving the "Ma, Ma" calls for dirty diaper time. We are still getting used to remembering her feeding time, and with all these outings, the schedule is messed up all the time. But like Shirley says "She is a kind child, she never complains".

Love Alex, Jason and Man Man