Our Adoption Experience

DAY TEN: Guangzhou

OK, this trip is starting to feel long. We really miss our 3 boys at home in Scottsdale...we almost feel like we're cheating on them going on vacation with a strange kid and leaving them behind. After today, though, only THREE MORE DAYS in China and then we go home. Woohoo!

Today was our last sightseeing day. The next two will be medical exams and interviews with American officials to complete all the final details to be able to bring Shane Fu home. There were two major events for us today. First, we took a bus ride to White Cloud Mountain, a very cool little "paradise" spot at the top of a nearby mountain. Thankfully, we didn't need to climb this one, like we did the Great Wall and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen (sp?) mausoleum. There was a bird aviary and just a nice peaceful and well-manicured tropical setting. We saw a bird show (see below) and lots of nice scenery. It was a Sunday, so there were lots of people there.

Later in the afternoon, there were 8 of us in our group that wanted to go visit the "free market" in Guangzhou. We were the only ones to bring along our child...probably wouldn't have been a good idea for babies and THANKFULLY one of the other families let us borrow their child backpack which allowed Shane to ride more comfortably and "in control," while keeping Dad's back from breaking (although just barely). The free market was an incredible experience and you'd have to see the video to really appreciate what we saw. Lots of live animals for sale and many sights that would turn a weak stomach. Two things -- we're glad we visited AFTER lunch and we were so glad it was December and not a steamy hot July or August day. We couldn't imagine what the smell would've been like. Again, being a Sunday afternoon, the marketplace was packed and it was unlike anything we'd ever seen before. It is so fascinating how this method of selling "fresh" food mixes in with all the various "classes" of Chinese people. Just amazing.

We walked the marketplaces and shops and streets for a couple hours and Shane rode like a champ. After that, though, and given the previous night's dining experience, we decided to stay in our hotel room for dinner tonight. Someone had informed us of a restaurant that delivered that served Italian food and so we placed an order with Danny's Bagels and we soon took delivery of a sausage and mushroom pizza and a tin of lasagna. It wasn't melt-in-your-mouth, just-like-home taste, but it was pretty darn good under the circumstances. Unfortunately, it seemed to be Mama's turn not to feel well, so she didn't quite enjoy it as much as she might have.

Well, another day in the books. Tomorrow, Shane Fu gets to get a quick medical checkup (required at this point of the process for all adopted kids) and we think the rest of the day is open so we'll probably try to get some shopping in.

Today's Pics:

	<- Mom and Shane Fu in the lobby of the White Swan Hotel (Dad's favorite picture so far).
In China, even the birds ride bikes! ->
	<- This was cool. During a bird show we were watching, there was a segment where they had two parrots that flew into the audience to snatch money that was held up by audience members. Supposedly, they knew the difference between the smaller bills (Chinese Yuan) and the larger denominations. Here is Shane holding up a 10-Yuan (about $1.25 US) and having a bird fly over to him, light on his hand and take the money and fly back to the stage. Shane thought it was fun - and so did we!
The three of us at the White Cloud Mountain park ->
	<- Scorpions for sale (for fryin' and eatin'!) at the Guangzhou free market.
Bunnies for sale...and this ain't PetsMart. ->