During our 2 1/2 year wait for Jaina I voraciously read anything I could get my hands on that dealt with adoption. When the time came to travel, however, only those who had gone before me to adopt their children could answer my traveling questions. Therefore, I thought I would add a post for adoptive parents who are preparing to leave for China in the near future. I recommend taking anibiotics, just in case, for stomach ailments. The Chinese boil their faucet water before drinking. Luckily, none of us got sick, though occasionally my stomach did feel queasy. We stayed away from salad because it tends to be rinsed with faucet water. We never ordered drinks with ice in them and opted to order soft drinks. I hated giving my kids soda since we seldom consume them at home, but sometimes they got tired of drinking bottled water all day long. Our hotel provided us with a plug in tea kettle and it boiled water within minutes. Take children's ibuprophen and any other over-the-counter drug or prescription medication you think you might need. You don't want to have to purchase medicine's when the directions are in Chinese. I recommend packing light although your adoption agency will give you a list of things to take with you. Use your judgement on what you may think you'll need. You can get baby stuff of all kinds in China, so take only what you don't want to repurchase. We opted for taking a baby carrier instead of a stroller and it worked great. Many people who were curious asked us about it since it doesn't seem to be available in Guangzhou. Baby slings are also great, as well as Baby Bjorn carriers. If strollers are your preference, however, I would buy one there instead of bringing it all the way from home. They get beat up at the airports. Most adoption trips last about 12-15 days so take about a week and a half worth of clothing, but take extra undergarments. Just about every shopkeeper in Shamian Island will take your clothes in for laundry and at much cheaper prices than what hotels charge. Just be prepared for stiff changes, as dryers do not exist in China. Just about every apartment high rise had laundry hanging from their balconies. If you have other children and they are traveling with you, I recommend a DVD player. We had plenty of downtime when there weren't any adoption activities going on and the heat kept us indoors. Our electronics worked well because we decided to borrow a voltage adapter from the hotel rather than bring our own. I hear that the ones brought from home just don't work and you'll be saving some money by going this route. The most important decision you'll need to make are hotel accomodations. Many adoptive parents are now opting to stay at the Victory Hotel rather than the White Swan because it is much cheaper and the rooms are much larger. The Victory has two buildings, the main building (East Bldg.) and the Annex (West Bldg). We opted for the West building and were very happy with our room. It was a business room, equipped with two double beds, a small refrigerator, computer, in room safe and a small, separate sitting area. Our baby's crib fit perfectly in this space. The Victory also offers a superb western style buffet breakfast. Eggs were made to order any way you like it and each day there was a different variety of fruit juices. Tea is the main beverage and is served at every meal--anytime. Sorry, no coffee at the buffet. There was congee for the babies, assorted sweet and plain breads, fruit of all kinds, ham, sausages and a variety of Chinese dishes. Suprisingly, salad ingredients were also set out at breakfast. The best part was no lines, no waiting. All the White Swan adoptive parents spoke of having to wait in long lines for breakfast. We always found a table and ate immediately. The only thing that perplexed me was the lack of napkins. We were given facial tisssue to use as napkins and each table had a box. Many restaurants around town also offered boxes of tissues in lieu of napkins. I can only imagine it must be cost effective for them. Since we traveled in the summer we wanted to use the pool at our hotel, but its location on the rooftop was not a safe option for our children, so we decided to use the White Swan hotel's pool which overlooks the Pearl River. Now, we were told that it was open only to hotel guests, but when we asked at the pool cabana itself, we were told that we could swim for a fee of 100 yuan per person. That comes out to 15 dollars per person and doesn't cover you for the entire day. If you leave and come back, it's another 100 yuan. Babies also have to pay to "swim". Honestly, it's a racquet and the pool supervisor makes up the rules as he/she goes along, but there isn't much of a choice if you want your kids safe from the edge of a rooftop pool. The White Swan pool overlooks the Pearl River and the view is beautiful. There are a lot of great places to eat on Shamian Island. If you have picky eaters like mine, Lucy's, down the street from the White Swan Hotel, offers western style dishes as well as Asian favorites. Kids can eat grilled cheese and fries if nothing else appeals to them. There are also hamburgers, pasta, and a variety of Asian dishes like spring rolls, stir fry vegetables and rice. There is mashed potatoes or congee for baby, so the entire family is covered. Tipping is discouraged because a percentage is already added in the price of each dish. The atmosphere is very casual and offers indoor or outdoor dining, and the restaurant overlooks the Pearl River. La Dolce Vita is a pricier Italian restaurant around the corner from Lucy's, but much more elegant. The meals are delicious and it is the place to go for pizza. (Yes, there is a Papa John's, and a KFC, and a Pizza Hut, but none taste as they should.) I dined there twice and had a delicious ravioli with eggplant and ricotta cheese the first time and pizza the next. Drinks are where they get you, though. Soda cost about 5 dollars for a can. Our girls ordered apple juice and they got it in a fancy glass with some frothy stuff on top. It tasted like apple juice and they liked them so much they ordered two. The servers stand at attention and stay on hand in case you need them. It's unnerving having them around watching you eat, but after a while you just tune them out. The restaurant is decorated with large prints of scenes from its 1961 namesake, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Eckberg. For those wanting authentic Chinese food, there is a restaurant a few doors down from the 7 Eleven. The name was in Chinese so the only way to pinpoint it is by the large fish tanks as you walk in. There are two restaurants that fit this description just a door or two apart from each other, but the one you want is the one closest to the 7 Eleven. They don't speak much English and the menu is in Chinese, so go by the photos in the menu. They give you chopsticks to use, but if you need western utensils they are available. (I recommend learning to use chopsticks. When we visited our daughter's orphange, we had lunch at a local restaurant in her city. There were no forks to be had, so we had no choice but to use them or starve.) Most restaurants in Guangzhou have forks, but once you leave the city and enter the real China, chopsticks is what you get. For quicker meals the deli/bakery, conveniently called The Deli Shop, near the White Swan hotel, is the place to go. You can get a meal like Curry Chicken with rice or smaller ones like sandwiches and salads. You can also buy all kinds of yummy sweets. My favorite was the sweet bread with the peach slice on top. Yum! They also bake cakes--we ordered a cream cake for my daughter because she turned six in China and she loved it! They put some chocolate Hello Kitty figurines on top and she was in high heaven. Drinks and ice cream are also available. You can order their strange flavors. I had one with beans in it--not bad--or you can play it safe with Hagen Daas. There are several great places to shop in Guangzhou. Our tour guide took us to a department store called Grandbuy. There are over 7 floors, one housing a full size grocery store. You can buy anything you need from electronics, to cosmetics, to baby gear. Be careful with prices. Some things are not worth the prices they ask. We almost got sucked into buying a plastic baby bowl for 8 dollars! Take a handheld calculator with you wherever you go and convert the yuan into dollars before you decide to buy. There are also some must see shops in Shamian Island as well. A Gift from China is one of them. All merchandise is made by locals; some are grandmothers who could no longer provide an income for their families. They make handmade items to sell from purses, to handpainted art, to Chinese style outfits for American Girl Dolls. Clothing and accessories made of 100% silk are also available. They are online and purchases can be made from their website and shipped to your door. The shop opened in the 1990's and all proceeds made from sales go to help Chinese orphans. The store is located across from the old Polish embassy, near the park. I recommend not buying anything from streetside vendors. Most of the stuff is junk and won't last long. Many of the shopkeepers greet you because they want you to visit their shop. The more pressure they applied the more I stayed away. Jordon, store named after him, is the biggest harasser. Nice guy, but he tried too hard. We started avoiding his street after a while. Work hard to get the best deal in the shops. Much of the stuff they sell is not worth the prices they ask, so work them down. My youngest daughter asked for a keychain with an Olympic mascot on it. It was made of cheap plastic and probably wouldn't have lasted the trip. They were asking 6 dollars for it, so told her to pick something else. Most will give you a discount if you buy more than one item, so stick to your guns. Be prepared to be followed around the store. If you set foot in any shop, you are fair game and they'll try to sell you anything. It's hard to browse in peace and their constant presence can be tiresome. A Gift from China is the only shop that does not do this, so they get extra points from me just for that. That's all I can think of. I will edit the post if I need to add anything else. Enjoy your trip, see the sights, take lots of pictures, and don't sweat the fish bowl. Cheers!
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