Going to Guangzhou...and the dreaded doctor appointment!

So, after a few days in Nanchang, it was time to begin the last leg of our trip-- we were on our way to Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.  Our first time in China, we had been part of a wonderful group of 9 families, and I had loved it.  I wasn't sure how I would like being all by ourselves for much of the trip this time, even though I was looking forward to the time with my hubby.  It turns out we did really enjoy being the only family in our group this time around.  It was fun just being the three of us, especially remembering that when we got home there would be more than twice that many again.  But I was happy to meet up with other adoptive families that would make up our group when we got to Guangzhou, too.  :)

The flight to Guangzhou was pretty uneventful, and that was a welcome surprise.  Corrie had shown us in Nanchang that she does not like to sit still.  She just really loves to be moving all the time!  So we were not expecting a super easy plane ride, even though it wasn't a very long one.  And I wasn't very thrilled when it turned out that we were separated from each other on the flight.  Corrie and I were in a row, and Scott was in the row ahead of us in front of Corrie.  Somehow I kept her occupied, and thankfully there was food (they fed us a meal on every flight, no matter how short it was!)   It really did go very smoothly.  The child's meal was spaghetti, and I had no bib for her, so it was not easy keeping sauce from getting on everything, but we managed, and she loved it! 

 Getting ready to leave Nanchang.  Corrie made sure we had the snacks!

 

 At the airport!  Interesting thing about airports and stores and things in China...  they don't turn on the overhead lights when they don't need to or run their air conditioning much, probably to conserve resources,  But it was so hot in there!  I guess I'm thankful for AC in America, although we probably should conserve our resources more, too!

 

 Our guide.  I really liked her!  She was very down-to-earth and helpful.

 

 In the oven--I mean airport.  ;)

 



First plane ride, as far as we know!

 

We arrived at the China Hotel in Guangzhou.  It was very nice, and very best of all... the bed was so comfortable!  After the previous one I felt like I was in heaven!  The room was interesting.  You could look from the bathroom right into the bedroom through a big glass window. Very interesting! 

 

That window did have an electric shade!  Good to know, right?

 

Anyway.....we settled in and met some of the other families in our group right away.  There were three other families and us.  Such a wonderful group of people!  I was so happy to meet them and get to know them.  It turns out that two of the families live in the same city, and their sweet girls they adopted actually came from the same orphanage, and get this--lived in the same room!  I think their beds were even very close!  And they had no idea ahead of time.  Amazing!  Only God does these things!!

 

One of the first things we did in Guangzhou was the medical check up.  It's not much of a big deal--just checking eyes, nose and throat, and Corrie being over two had to have a TB test.  Well, it didn't seem like a big deal to us, but to Corrie, it definitely WAS.  For some reason, the children had to get their picture taken while we were there for their passports or visas.  And Corrie was already not liking this place, with the shiny tile walls and floors.  She started crying, and by the time she saw the doctor, she was really upset.  She clung to Scott for dear life, and was terrified and crying almost the whole time she was getting examined.  She did calm down briefly, and then there was a short wait...and then it was TB test time.  That was an absolute nightmare.  For her, and for us  even more than her!  They have a policy that they take the kids away from the parents into a different room to do the poke.  They had to physically pry her away from Scott as she screamed and screamed.  It was horrible.  :(  After they brought her back, she wasn't even interested in a sucker to help her feel better.  I was so heartbroken for her, and so upset that they take the children away from the parents when they are afraid.  It was very hard.  Thankfully, she bounced back pretty quickly, poor baby!

 

 

At least we got that over with pretty quickly, and we could enjoy the rest of our time in Guangzhou.  I really love that city!

 

Pictures from the park in Nanchang

So sorry to have taken a hiatus just when I was on a roll on here.  Not only have I been exhausted every night, but my mom had open heart surgery last week, and I went to see her for a few days!  What a crazy few weeks it's been around here!  (My mom is doing well, by the way.)

I forgot to post pictures of the beautiful park in Nanchang last time...

 This man was practicing calligraphy, writing with water.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

 Ladies practicing for a fashion show :)

 

 This man was playing an interesting instrument. 

 

 Goldfish pond. :)  Corrie wasn't too interested in them, though.

 

 

 

One more little story about this day.  It was hot and humid, so we were tired of walking, and it was lunchtime.  There was a restaurant right next to the park.  We went in, and our guide was going to help us order.  Of course we couldn't read the menu, and there were no pictures.  I said "You know the Chinese restaurants in America that serve some rice, meat, veggies and sauce?"  She knew what I was talking about.  "If they have anything kind of like that, that's what I'll have," I said.   She looked at the whole menu and said, "No, they don't have anything like that."  So, there you have it.  The proof that American Chinese restaurants don't serve Chinese food!  lol   We weren't really that hungry, anyway.  :)

Around Nanchang

Scott and I really enjoyed our time in China.  I loved being there the first time in 2009, and I loved it again.  We were so blessed to be there during the fall and spring, when the weather is nice!  Well, Scott thought it was often too hot.  But he would live in Alaska if he could.

Being in Nanchang was very interesting.  It's the capital of Jiangxi province.  Our hotel was right in the city, in the thick of the masses of people again :)  It was similar to Beijing in ways, but not really.  Beijing seemed much more like an American city to us.  In Nanchang, you knew you were in China. 

Chinese cities are fascinating to us.  There are skyscrapers and neon signs blinking, fancy hotels and shopping malls... and then streets lined with little shops that you would never see in the U.S.  They are sort of set up in sections.  You will find the "corner store" section--a row of little shops all selling things you might find at a 7-11.  But they are all selling the same things.  I wonder how they stay in business.  Then there is the manly section of the street with shops selling automotive parts, hardware, people fixing bikes, and stuff like that.  There are bathroom fixture sections, carpet sections... and mostly they are all selling the same kinds of things.  I will post a picture if I can find one.  It is all so interesting.  It is also different to see the fancy buildings next door neighbors with much older ones.  Interestingly, it is really safe to be out and about there.  Even at night in a downtown area, you  don't have to be afraid of getting mugged or anything.  The crime is very low.  I loved that part!  Scott and Corrie and I would stroll down the street and take in all the sights and sounds.  The people are very into exercise there, and you often see them, especially retirees, out doing tai chi or aerobics.  One night we walked by a group of ladies having an aerobics class with music, right out on the sidewalk.  It was fun!  

I mentioned before that there are tons of people.  Well, there are also tons of vehicles!  In Nanchang our guide told us that they have a law now stating that depending on what number is at the end of your license plate, you can only drive your car on certain days!  Say, if your plate ends with a 7, you might not be able to drive on Tuesdays!  I don't think that would go over well here...  Our guide in Guangzhou told us that they tried that same rule there to reduce the number of cars on the roads, but it backfired on them.  With the improved economy, the people were simply buying second cars (with different numbers on the plates of course)... so it didn't work, and they did away with that little bit of legislation there.  Anyway, there are many, many cars and motorbikes, cabs, bicycles, and buses.  And the rules of the road are loosely followed.  The interesting thing is, they don't really have road rage.  People are much more patient with each other.  Also, safety is not much of a priority.  People pretty much don't wear helmets on their motor bikes, even with all that traffic everywhere, and you will even see little kids riding on the bikes with no helmets, too.  They don't have to ride in car seats, either.  Seems so strange to us, but to them it's just the way it is.

In China they have some different rules of etiquette, too.  One of them is that it really isn't rude to stare.  Well, they did quite a bit of staring at us, anyway, and our guides told us it was perfectly polite there. So, I did my share of staring back at them. Well, not staring...but definitely watching!  I tend to be a people watcher wherever I go, so of course I was curious about what the people in China are like.   Well, one fun thing about them is that clothes do not have to match.  Really, they do not!  I thought it would be rude to take pictures of random people on the street, so I don't have examples, but ladies there would be wearing maybe a blue skirt, black nylons, and yellow shoes.  I kept thinking I wished we could just put any colors together and be good to go here in America!  Loved it!  Also, those people LOVE their phones.  Now, I know the people here have some pretty strong attachments to their phones as well, but seriously.  Almost EVERYONE was staring at their phones...everywhere. I'm probably exaggerating, but not much.  Many ladies wore very short skirts and very high heels.  They had some interesting shoe and clothing styles, too!  Some things I had just never seen the likes of in the states. They looked very suave with their clothing ensembles, manicured nails and their phones.  I felt pretty dumpy in my t-shirts and capris!  Okay, the funniest thing that kept us laughing was the English words on people's shirts.  I don't mean to be disrespectful in the least, but really, it was funny.  Many people had English phrases printed on their shirts.  Sometimes the phrases did make sense, sometimes there would just be random words in a jumble.  Or sometimes a phrase would kind of make sense...but then not at the end. Something like "Pretty cat often."  It made me think of all the Chinese writing we see on things in the states, and really it could say anything and we wouldn't have a clue!

Let's see...  one of my favorite things about China is their amazing parks!  We went to one in Nanchang, and one in Guangzhou.  They are so thoughtfully planned out and beautiful!  Flowers and trees, bridges and water and winding pathways.  Truly lovely.  I would go there every day if I could.  The interesting thing was that we did not see any children's play equipment at them like we do in the states.  There is exercise equipment for adults, though, that looks like kids' playground equipment!  With things kind of like monkey bars and such, but including people-powered exercise bikes and ping pong tables.  The one we saw in Guangzhou was packed with people when we were there.  I wish that trend would catch on in America! I would love to hop on an exercise bike outside in the fresh air in a beautiful park...chat with a friend and not worry about getting hit by cars or having to ride uphill!

What they did have at the parks for children were amusement park-type rides!  I guess they figure kids don't need the exercise like adults do.  They run around enough as it is, perhaps.  Nope, they had rides like you would find in the kiddy section of Six Flags or the local carnival when it comes to town.  Lucky kids!

I could go on and on and on about my fascination with China!  The very fresh chickens hanging to choose from in Wal Mart, the Chinese restaurants that don't really serve the kinds of "Chinese food" we have here in America,  the adorable children (I don't know how many times I said "oh my goodness, that little girl (or boy) is soooo cute!)  And oh my, how they are just as fascinated with little blonde children.  There were some blondies in our group when we got to Guangzhou, and those kids were stared at and sometimes scooped right up and hugged and even carried away  (a short distance) by a sweet, well meaning Chinese grandmother to be shown to someone else!

So, in short, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Nanchang.  Our hotel was lovely, we ate every day at the nice western restaurant inside, and walked down the busy streets and the lovely park with all the local people, not minding being stared at at all. :)  We and sweet Corrie were stars!  Well, she's so precious, how could anyone keep from staring at her, anyway? 

The view from our window

 

 The ice cream at KFC.  It had beans in it!  And some little gel-balls that we had no idea what they were.  :)

 

 One of the "corner stores" where we always bought our drinks.  There was a really adorable little girl in this store all the time with her grandparents who run it .  :)

 

 Our hotel

 



The building next door to our hotel