Where in the World is Claire?

Claire is waiting for us in the Children's Welfare Institute of Tianjin City in China. Unlike most cities in China, Tianjin is not in a province, though it used to be the capital of Hebei province. It is one of four municipalities that are directly under the central government and have the status of a province. It is located in the northeast of the North China Plain. Facing the Bohai Gulf in the east, it is bordered on it's other three sides by Hebei province. It is only about an hour train ride or two hour bus ride from Beijing. It is marked on the map with the red dot in the North. The other red dots represent the other municipalities and the capital, Beijing is marked with a red square

The name Tianjin means "the place where the emperor crossed the river". It is also known as the Diamond of the Bohai Gulf and the gateway to the capital of The People's Republic of China. It is one of biggest industrial and port cities in China. In 1404 it became a military position of strategic importance and construction of city walls began. Later it was called Tianjin Fort.

The summers are hot and humid (sound familiar) and the winters are cold and dry. I wonder if she will miss the winters?
The population of Tianjin Municipality is over 9 million permanent residents most of which are Han Chinese. The municipality has both urban areas and rural areas as well as port towns along the coast.

The 2008 Summer Olympic Football (soccer) games will be held in Tianjin at the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium.

The terrain is generally flat and swampy so she should feel right at home here in the Low-country! There is a mountainous area to the north which boasts one of the ten most visited sites in Tianjin, the Huangyaguan Great Wall. This is considered to be a miniature of the Great Wall.

When we go to China we will come into Beijing, spend several days there and then travel to Tianjin to receive Claire. We will spend a few more days in Tianjin to do all our paperwork and then fly to Guangzhou where we will stay the rest of our time in China (7-10 more days). It is in Guangzhou that Claire will get her visa and we will fly home from there!