Guangzhou

Last night my friend Cathy met us at the airport in Guangzhou. She is living in Shanghai with her family for 3 years and flew in to stay with us for the weekend. Here is a picture of Ella opening her first 'Welcome the Family' gift from Cathy.

We are staying at the White Swan Hotel. It is the most beautiful hotel we've stayed at so far this trip. It has a waterfall in the lobby, and many Chinese antiques. There is a coy pond and even a huge birdcage filled with songbirds.

The White Swan is located on Shaiman Island. The island is on the Pearl River and was originally settled by the English and French back in the 19th century. All the architecture is very European. It is very laid-back and relaxing compared to the cities in China. The streets are lined with trees, boulevards have parks in the center, and there are very few cars. There are a couple of big hotels on the island and many shops that cater to the tourists who are staying at the hotels. Every adoptive family from the U.S. must come to Guangzhou to go through the American Consulate, and most families stay on Shaiman Island. We are definately not an oddity being a Caucasian couple with a Chinese baby like we were in Nanning. The breakfast buffet at the White Swan is lined with high chairs. We've met so many new families with daughters from all over China. Of course I think we have the cutest one!

As a requirement of the American government, Ella had to have her first medical exam today. It was quite cursory, with a quick check of temerature, height (30 inches), weight (23 lbs - yes, she is a chunk!!!), hearing and heartbeat.

After the medical exam, Cathy took Jen (MN) and I shopping. She's quite the bargainer and able to converse somewhat in Mandarin with the shopkeepers. She drives a hard bargain and sticks to her guns. Jen and I bought so much that we also had to have Cathy bargain for a new suitcase to haul all the stuff home - and we each got a suitcase for the equivalent of $11 each!

My sweet husband watched Ella for the evening and told Cathy and I to go out to dinner and have a drink. We ended up at a wonderful Thai restaurant and talked for 2 hours over a bottle of wine and some seafood. Who knew I'd have to come all the way to China to have a long, uninterrupted chat with one of my dearest friends?!

If you'd like to view more pictures from our first day in Guangzhou, click on the More Pictures link at the top right of this page. Then choose the folder called Day 10 - Saturday.