Shop 'Til You Drop

We left Changsha yesterday evening. We spent our last day walking around the city and eating at the Food Street one more time (Andrew just could not get enough of the place!).

We survived our first plane ride (much to my relief). I was quite anxious about how it would go, but Hannah could not have been better. She tried desperately to get the man sitting next to us to play with her, but, to no avail. She even grabbed his magazine at one point and he simply moved it further away from her. The lack of attention from a complete stranger is a new experience for her and she wasn't quite sure what to do! The best part of the flight was the snack, which was a tube of Ritz-like crackers individually wrapped in crinkly wrapping. She spent the 50 minutes playing with the unwrapped cracker package- banging them, throwing them on the floor, playing with the wrapping. She had such fun that we saved the pack for the plane ride home. Hopefully it will provide several more hours of entertainment. Despite the fact that she has an ear infection (which I am not treating since it does not seem to bother her in the least), she only cried on the plane when we landed and that was because she had pooped just as the plane was touching ground. Great timing!

We made it to the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou about 8:30 pm. This hotel is full of Americans adopting Chinese children. We all have to come to Guangzhou because this is where the US Consulate that deals with adoptions is located. The White Swan is legendary in Chinese adoption lore in the US. Practically everyone stays here. We are in good company (or at least famous company) since Queen Elizabeth, International Olympic Committee chairman J. A. Samaranch, Deng Xiaoping and President Nixon have all been guests here. It is quite something to walk around and see so many Chinese children with American parents.

This morning we went for visa pictures and for Hannah's medical exam, which are required by the consulate. The exam lasted all of 2 minutes (if you add up all the components). She weighed in a 16# 6 oz and was 69 cm. The best part of the exam was the doctor who pinched Hannah's thighs and said she was fine and sent us off to the next part of the exam!

After she had her "medical" done, Anli showed us the lay of the land. The hotel is on Shaiman Island. It did not take long to discover that the island is chock full of souvenir shops filled to the brim with Chinese clothes, baby clothes, shoes and much more. Most of the stores have very similar, if not the same, things and they are eager to make us a "good deal". They clearly know who their clientele is as it seems things are geared towards Americans who are ready to spend, spend, spend on their newly adopted Chinese babies!

It was eye opening when we left the island to walk around other parts of Guangzhou this afternoon. We walked through a HUGE traditional Chinese medicine market. Scorpions, anyone? If you fry them and eat them, they help with arthritis. Traditional Chinese medicine does not believe in curing as much as they do preventing illness. They believe that the body is all connected and basically, if you are sick, your connections are out of whack. They spend most of their time trying to keep the connections aligned, if you will, with daily doses of Chinese medicines either as soup, wine or tea.

We also went to an unbelievable pearl and jade markets. There were pearls everywhere. We splurged and bought Hannah a strand of pearls with matching bracelet and earrings for a future gift. So all you grandparents out there, you are on notice. No pearls as gifts! Other jewels are fine, but pearls are covered.

Tomorrow is a free day for us. Anli has to go to the consulate to get the paperwork started, but we get to spend our day oooohing and aaaaahing over Hannah.

Michelle