Guangzhou, At Last

Well, we have finally arrived here in Guangzhou, China- our last stop on the adoption journey. And, boy are we glad to be here! The change of scenery has helped take our minds off of missing home so much.

Our flight to Guangzhou wasn't until 1:30 pm, so we took our time eating breakfast, packing, talking to the girls over webcam, etc. We're used to being at the airport two hours before the flight leaves, but we learned that's not how the Chinese do it. We arrived right at 11:15 preparing to check in and wait.. but they weren't checking anyone in until 12:15! So, we waited.. checked out the airport and realized there was a KFC on the 2nd floor! We finally heard them call for us to check in and we joined in line with the other hundred Chinese for our flight. After we got checked in, we headed to KFC and enjoyed some tasty American food!

Then we headed to our gate and waited. Our tickets said that our flight would depart from Gate 1, but on the screen they said we would leave from Gate 2. Well, us and about 500 Chinese were all confused because they kept switching gates on everyone. One minute our gate was set up for a flight to Chengdu.. and then you'd hear the Gate attendant say something in Chinese and about 100 people running to another gate. A few minutes later, the English translation would come over the loudspeaker and we realized the gates had changed. It happened about 3 or 4 times and was pretty funny to watch!

Asher on his first flight..Shenyang-Zhengzhou

Our flight made a quick stop in Zhengzhou, so it took us nearly 6 hours to get to Guangzhou. Asher did very well on the plane flights. He ate (a lot) and watched the movies they had playing. Both his gameboy and leapster had died, so he couldn't play either of them. He did well.. but I'm still not sure of how the 14 hour plane ride will go.

We were greeted by some rainy weather which ended up delaying our landing and we didn't arrived until 7:30 pm. We collected our bags and met our new guide, Lily. She's very nice, but her English is not as good as Hannah's so she is a little hard to understand!

As we pulled up to the familiar White Swan hotel, I felt like I was coming home. This is my third time staying here and each time I've always looked forward to arriving. Those of you who have stayed here know what I'm talking about. It's like a second home to me.

The hotel is located on beautiful Shamian Island in the middle of Guangzhou. It sits right on the Pearl River which seperates it from the rest of the city. The weather is warm and tropical and the people are very kind.. and speak English! Many adoptive families stay here so everywhere you look you see American couples and their new Chinese children. This was a welcomed sign because we haven't seen any American looking people in over a week!

The American Embassy is located here in Guangzhou, so every adoptive (American) family has to travel here in order to receive their child's visa. The Embassy used to be located just down the street from the White Swan, so that's why many adoptive families have stayed here. The Embassy has since moved to a new location about 45 minutes away, but the island caters to adoptive families so most end up staying here.
The streets are lined with many shops where you can buy many traditional Chinese artifacts. And there are several restaurants here including Lucy's, which serves American food!

After checking in (and meeting several American families) we headed to the room. For the first time in the three times we've stayed here, we finally got a room with a view of the river! Our first two trips we had views of the city, which was nice.. but a river view was just the icing on the cake!

We were all hungry so we headed over to Lucy's where we gorged ourselves on the best American food I've had in over two weeks! =) I do love Chinese food, but after awhile it gets a little old. With full bellies, we came back to our room and enjoyed our first night back in the White Swan. The beds even felt just a tad bit softer than our concrete mattresses in Shenyang.

This morning we awoke to more rain, but we're kind of used to that. We talked to the kids on webcam for about an hour and then headed down for breakfast, which is one of the best parts of the White Swan! It's neat to sit and watch the new parents with their babies. You can just tell who they are by the joy on their faces! Hard to believe we were here exactly three years ago with Emma.. and now here we are, adopting #3!

All adopted children are required to have a medical exam in order to obtain their American visa, so we headed over to the medical clinic for Asher's appoinment. Asher's healthy- no surprise there! He weighs 49.5 pounds, which means he has gained almost 4 pounds since being with us! I told you this kid could eat!

Guangzhou is known for it's shopping and there are many places to buy beautiful jewelery including pearls and jade, for cheap prices. That's always a favorite of ours and we visited two stores before finding prices we liked. Mom picks out the goods, and Dad does the bargaining!

We then headed back to the island and had lunch at Lucy's. Right now my parents are doing paperwork with Lily and the boys are playing with cars. Once they're done, we'll head out to start the shopping! If any of our friends back at home want us to get them something in particular, please let me know by either e-mailing me or leaving a comment.

Three more fun filled days to go... =)

The boys being silly, as usual

Playing cars in the hotel room

Mom got her much anticipated "Coming Home" Barbie!
It's a special doll made my Mattell of Barbie with an Asian baby, and it's exclusively available to those who adopt and stay at the White Swan. This is our 3rd barbie doll, and we actually got two this time because we are staying in separate rooms. We will probably donate the other one to Love Without Boundaries, for their yearly auction which benefits the orphans in China.

The White Swan's lobby

Asher at the medical exam with the same doctor who examined Esther when we were here last year!

This man is 76 years old and has been studying calligraphy since he was 6 years old.
I don't know his name, but he's one of the best in all of China.
He can even write calligraphy with his feet!
Here's he is working on a poem we had made of Asher's name.

Dad and Asher enjoying some tea

Asher "riding" on a horse made of jade.. which he probably wasn't supposed to do!

Lunch at Lucy's

View of the hotel

Streets of Shamian Island

View of the Pearl River from out hotel room