Guangzhou

(I have occasionally written more than one post in a day, so make sure to scroll down)

We made it to Guangzhou and to our hotel Friday night at 9:15. Flying in China is quite an experience. The airport in Nanchange has hot and extremely crowded. We were sent to gate 4 with one other family from the U.S. It became obvious very quickly that we were not at the right gate. After talking to a nice Chinese lady who spoke English and asking airport personnel, we were told that the gate was changed......maybe to 8, but to wait for the announcement to make sure. Well, we made the right decision to head down to gate 8 (which was on a different level), because there never was a gate change announcement. The first announcement was the boarding call ! The way boarding works is everybody rushes the gate, and whoever pushes the hardest, gets on first! This time we had to get on a bus to get to the plane. Once the bus is full, they add on about another 30 people. You don't have to worry about holding on, because you're wedged in too tight to fall down. Our seats on the plane were not together, so it took a few minutes for the flight attendants to convince a few people to change seats. Sounded like he didn't give them much of a choice. This was Lily's first plane ride and she did great initially. She did grab and pinch my leg to hold on, but seemed ok with take off. Landing was another story. She screamed throughout the last part of the landing. She hated the seatbelt, and I'm sure the pressure felt strange to her. Once we landed and I picked her up, she fell into an exhausted sleep. Tyler and Michael had also fallen asleep on the plane and did NOT want to wake up! It didn't help that although we gate checked the strollers, we didn't get them back until baggage claim. You should have seen Ruben hauling all the carryons and sleepy children! (sorry no picture as my hands were rather full too)

The room at our hotel is really nice. Although older than our last hotel and not as updated, we have a suite this time connected to a regular room. 2 bedrooms, 3 baths, and a living area. Nice and roomy. Because of the extra room, we were actually able to get unpacked after putting the children to bed.

I forgot to mention yesterday that not only did Lily go to bed Thursday night without crying, she woke up Friday morning with no tears! Matter of fact, as she was waking up, I heard her singing a song in a whisper! It was very cute. I so wish I would have had the video camera!
Lily also went to bed well on Friday night. She slept until about 6:30am. Her brothers slept until after 7am!

After breakfast, it was time for Lily's medical exam. There are 4 different stations, the last being immunizations. It was very crowded as one of the agencies had 28 families there, so it took a while to get through. Children are not immunized to US standards in China, and a relatively new rule by the US government says that all children have to be caught up on their shots before they can enter the United States. Prior to the rule, parents could have their children checked once home and immunized over a period of time. Our Lily had to get 5 shots and a TB test all at one time!! One little baby from our Nanchang hotel had to get 7 shots!!! It's really sad that they put these children through this horrible experience. There are people working on changing this requirement, but it will be some time before it makes it through all the government agencies. So for now, we sit and wait for shots. Lily did fine for the TB test and first 2 shots, and then she started to cry. She was gripping the candy they gave her, so as soon as the shots were done, I unwrapped a piece and popped it in her mouth. That made everything better! (I did give her Motrin before we went, but she spit it out on the floor!) The boys were good sports through the long exam. They brought their trucks, and we found a movie playing in the back.......Pixar Cars!! (movie in English, subtitled in Mandarin) Michael didn't want to leave! Eventually, Ruben took the boys and went to the little shop to buy snacks and drinks.

After all of that, it was back to the hotel for lunch in the room, and nap time.
While the 3 younger kids napped, Alex and I took a walk around the island. In Guangzhou, we are staying in an area called Shamian Island. There are a lot of adoptive families here and plenty of little stores to shop in. Today we just looked, trying to get an idea of what is available. The shop keepers are all very friendly, and will follow you around the stores. Dropped some laundry off at one of the shops, that promised good pricing. We had a little sticker shock in Nanchang with the laundry prices there.......especially when everything else was so cheap. While walking around the island, we also saw a number of couples having their wedding pictures taken. Our guide said that is very common, as the island is so pretty.

Things in Guangzhou are definitely more expensive than they were in Nanchang. We are no longer able to eat dinner for $12. The convenience store prices were also more expensive although cheaper than home. (they have 7-11's here!)

Once the kids woke from their naps, we headed to Lucy's for dinner. Lucy's is well known on the island for their American food. We wanted the boys to have something they actually liked for dinner. Lily had some of Ruben's beef stir fry, that she seemed to really like, as well as rice, and of course, french fries with ketchup!

After dinner we took a little walk and then headed back to our hotel for bed.

Friday night at the Nanchang Airport with our wonderful guide, Coby
The morning picture
Checking out the view from the new hotel

View of some of the rooftops nearby

The playroom at our hotel........not much there, but it was good for a few minute diversion

Waiting to be called in for pictures prior to the medical exam

The chaos at the medical exam

People everywhere waiting, and waiting. Our guide said that sometimes there's only a few families. We just had a bad day. One of the agencies had 28 families there that day!

Still waiting. The boys brought their trucks to play with.

Exam room 2

Waiting for the last room...........shots

Shopping at the local 7-11

One of the many brides in a traditional Chinese dress

Ivory dresses have become very popular for weddings. (interesting style)

Shamain Island is quite pretty

Look what we found! Haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure we will!

Michael eating his traditional Chinese meal

There's lots of statues on Shamain Island. The kids had fun posing with them.

Every hotel room needs a gas mask! We seriously have these in each of our rooms!