A Welcome Change

Our first night here on the Island was great. This is the view from my room at night. The place is amazing, neon, light shows, funky music, indescribable! After settling in the room, we took to the streets. The shopping seems great (and cheap). Everyone said I can get a good deal and that imagine they were from Jiangxi province too, just like Claudia (yeah right)...but the people are friendly and the English is spoken very well which is a welcome change. we are not far from Hong Kong so the whole feel of the island is much different then inland China.

After walking by the shops, and shop keepers, we proceeded through a park with lovely gardens and people painting everywhere. Many people we setting up tables, bands were being set up and bars. What I could give for a glass of wine here, but wine is very expensive, all imported about 20$ or so a glass, so we are all left with the local beer which is the same price as water, but much better! We all took the gals out for dinner at the infamous Lucy's which servers both Western and Asian food. The place has so much Americana memorabilia. Food was great as was the company. The babies loved the chicken congee and some even found the taste for French Fries. Little Claudia can't feed herself yet so she sticks with congee.

We were joined by Kim and Micheal and their little Mayia. They enjoyed the duck dinner with us earlier but head to another province to get their daughter, now all the families from our agency are together at the White Swan and the excitement we all feel is great.

After dinner and drinks we all walked back to the hotel taking in the feel of the City - it feels more like vacation here...after the usual stuff in the room (which does have BBC, CNN and MTV..yeah) like bath bottle, new diaper and bed.. I was lucky enough to enjoy a diet coke (not easy to find these past days) in the largest bubble bath ever (also not easy to find these past days).

The next day we will head out to do a tour and shop the pearl and jade markets and then I am hoping to hit the gym, the spa, do some shopping and enjoy the pool with Claudia.

Claudia has been very stoic throughout this whole event - she is very easy and does not put up any fuss, but each day we are seeing more smiles and more life in those little eyes..she actually reaches for me and I think she is beginning to bond. I have been teaching her to say Ge Ge so she can great Colton and when she heard him last night on the phone she smiled. She has seen Nancy and Joel, Hilary, Jim, Allison and Kristin all via web cam a few times and she is waiting to get a glimpse of the rest of the family especially Colton, Deb please get me a time so we can see Colton I miss him so much....

More photos of the evening posted below!

She Came With A Cookie She Left With A Tear

Yesterday was the Forth of July we spent the day doing much necessary paperwork, getting more supplies at the local Wal mart (which does sell frogs, turtles and snakes in the food section..all live), and packing for our airplane trip to Guangzhou.

Today we left early....as we did so it was bittersweet..we know our babies are from Jiangxi province and they are leaving all they know, the food, the people, the language. As we traveled throughout the town this past week, Claudia and some of the others would be searching in the faces of the locals for someone familiar..they would respond when the locals flocked us and talked with them, and they really really enjoyed the local cuisine, especially Claudia who eats non-stop. As we entered the airport I showed Claudia the mountains one last time and I kid you not a small tear ran down her face, (it could be the slight cold she has but somehow I believe she knows this is good bye.)

The babies were circled by strangers is the airport all eager to learn about us. Most gave us thumbs up, said thanks for all we are doing and kept saying we had big hearts. Many strangers took our photos and one man was drawn to tears expressing the gratitude to our group for helping these lost daughters of China. After a short delay we boarded the plane expecting lots of crying, but alas the girls were great and we all made it in one piece. thereafter we boarded the bus and started on to our "home" for the next few days, The White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island In Guangzhou. All I can say is this place is the bomb. The view above is the view from my room. The place has every amenity...

More than a century ago the Mandarins of Guangzhou designated a 44-acre sandbank outside the city walls in the Pearl River as an enclave for foreign merchants. The foreigners had previously lived and done business in a row of houses known as the Thirteen Factories, near the present Shamian, but local resentment after the Opium Wars -- sometimes leading to murderous attacks -- made it prudent to confine them to a protected area, which was linked to the city by two bridges that were closed at 10 every night.

The island soon became a bustling township, as trading companies from Britain, the United States, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Japan built stone mansions along the waterfront. With spacious gardens and private wharves, these served as homes, offices, and warehouses. There were churches for Catholics and Protestants, banks, a yacht club, football grounds, a cricket field, and the White Swan Hotel.

Shamian was attacked in the 1920s but survived until the 1949 Revolution when its mansions became government offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned into factories. In recent years, however, the island has resumed much of its old character. Many colonial buildings have been restored, and both churches have been beautifully renovated and reopened to worshippers. Worth visiting is Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (Shamian Dajie at Yijie), with its cream-and-white neo-Gothic tower. A park with shady walks and benches has been created in the center of the island, where local residents come to chat with friends, walk around with their caged birds, or practice tai chi.

We look forward to enjoying the next few days on the island and finalizing all the necessary paperwork so we can retun home to Colton.

Again I posted some more new photos below and the link to our hotel is also at the bottom in case anyone is curious.

The Countryside

Claudia was born in Shang Rao about 3 hours from where we are now, Nanchang. Both cities are in Jiangxi province. She was found in front of the Chatang Old Folks home. The Cha in her name comes from the finding place. The part of Shang Rao where Claudia was found indicates that her birth mother would havbe from the countryside. This is true of all of the girls in our group. In effort to attempt to understand life in such a place we took a trip to the village of Cho Xian which is about on hour or so outside Nanchang City. Life is vastly different there.
We first visited the house of a family which dated to the Ming Dynasty. The home has been in the family for generations. Its floors were made of dirt - although well swept. A stream ran through the home and pictures of ancestors hung on the wall. There was electricity but no surfeit of lamps or lighting. I did notice that the man of the house wore flip flops with "USA" on them.
The next home we visited offered everyone ice cream. The house was a little more modern with fans blowing cool air which was welcome after coming off the dry and dusty streets of this small village. Families inthe village had multiple pets which included dogs, cats, chickens and potentially the duck we saw wandering around. There is no plumbing in the village and the cooking is done by wok-like wood stoves.
It goes without saying that the people of the village showed true kindness by welcoming us into their homes. They asked nothing - although the group brought candy for the children. Obviously, we cannot read minds or speak the language, but the people of this village appeared genuinely interested in meeting us and extended hospitality one would only expect in the small towns of American fiction. One woman offered the entire group cigarettes - although nobody in the group smokes. Another family asked the group to stay for lunch. However, it was hot and humid and an air-conditioned bus beckoned us and our army of one-year-olds back to the hotel.


I have posted a new slide show below of some of the sights. Please enjoy them and try to get a feel for the life her birth mother was living.