Group Shot & Red Couch Photo Enlarged

For those traveling to China...

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 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 go hungry.) 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 I 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!

Out and About with Miss Jaina

We are finally home! We arrived Saturday morning at 2am and I worried Ed might fall asleep at the wheel after 24 hours of traveling, but we made it safe and sound.

As we checked out on the morning of the 25th, the clerk at the front desk of our hotel inquired as to the whereabouts of a plastic tissue box and an old, rusty bottle opener we had borrowed from housekeeping one night. It never ceases to amaze me what the Chinese find important. (I guess I might accidentally walk away with them and if I do, I know a charge might appear on my credit card for said articles.) I told them that the bottle opener was left in the room and the box of tissues was in the wall holder where it belonged. Funny, they have a wall holder and don't use it. I kept finding it out on the counter and I kept placing it in the wall, and they still couldn't find it. I hear things were the same at the White Swan hotel. If you accidentally take a towel from the pool area, you get charged for it. They keep track of everything.

On our last day I took more photographs of Shamian Island to remember the sights. I wonder if I will ever go back? I would like to but I know Ed is not much of a traveler. The girls refuse to make such a long trip again and who can blame them? The recovery time is about three days and we are almost there. But one day Jaina will want to visit her country of birth and I have to take her there. Maybe they will feel differently in a few years.

As we landed on U.S. soil, Jaina immediately became an American citizen. The girls clapped and she clapped along with them. Her papers were given to immigration and her Certificate of Citizenship will arrive in the mail in a few months. Little Jaina has got it made!

Our first excursion out with baby included a trip to the farmer's market. It was time to replenish our empty refrigerator. The girls bickered over who would push Jaina's stroller, so excited were they to show her off. I settled it by pushing it myself. Jaina promptly fell asleep as she seems to do whenever she is strapped into any kind of moving apparatus. The day was beautiful--the kind that is common this time of the year in this region. No more sweltering, humid weather. We were home and enjoying the dry, sunny day. We ran into friends, chatted and introduced her, as we did yesterday at mass as well.

Jaina is getting used to a daily routine now but our first day at home caused her some agitation. She went back to her sad cry from when she first came to us and I can only believe it was due to the big changes of being in new surroundings once again. She got quickly used to us and the hotel, but we couldn't stay there forever. Once again there was a new home and a new country and I am sure she was feeling the changes. Luckily, it didn't last very long and once again she is the happy baby that has blossomed in our care.

The first night we arrived Ed took Jaina around the house and gave her the tour. Then he showed her her crib, and seeing the excitement on his face as he did so tickled me. Jaina has grown very attached to Ed and that is good to see because we had heard that Chinese babies are often wary of male caregivers because they are not accustomed to having them around. Not so with Jaina. She latched on to him quickly and I can say that she has become a Daddy's girl. All of my girls are, but none more than she. If he walks away from her she cries unconsolably, even though she has three other people who are at her beck and call. Her tears are the size of marbles. Okay, I am jealous. All of this, however, is testament that she is bonding to us and we to her. She has ensnared us very quickly with her charm. She is funny and playful and her big sisters love her to pieces. I am thankful that she is with us and feel that our family is complete.

Packing Day

Our journey is almost at a close. When we first arrived it seemed like we would be here an eternity. Now it is almost over. Tomorrow we leave for the airport early in the morning to catch the AM flight to Beijing. Briana tells me that she is sad to leave the hotel room. She cracks me up. I am sad too. But the sadness I feel is due to the end of an adventure which brought us a very special gift. We will never forget our wonderful experiences here and will look back fondly to many of them--the Buddhist Temple, the Baiyun Gardens, visiting my daughters orphange, meeting her for the first time, and making new friends with people that have something very special in common. I will even remember the not-so-warm and fuzzy memories like crazy drivers, overzealous panhandlers, pushy shopkeepers and annoying, squeaky shoes. Don't ask!

The best memory will be watching Jaina tranform before our eyes. She is now a typical 13 month old baby. She squirms like the best of them, grabs anything within reach, flips herself in the bath tub to my utter dismay, smiles and coos easily and isn't shy to tell us when something is bothering her. I look at her and can't believe she is finally a part of our family. I can't express in words how full my heart is when I look at her and how I have already fallen madly in love with her. She is a joy and a comfort to hold and, when she looks for it in her Dad or me, I feel like we have truly become a family. All that is left now is to pack up and come home. The time has come to begin our new lives as a family of five.

This afternoon we went for our appointment with the U.S. consulate to receive Jaina's passport and visa to enter the country. Once we land on U.S. soil she becomes a US citizen. We swore an oath that all our paperwork was true, and that was that. The entire room erupted in cheers and applause. The adoption process was over and our children were ready to come home. A banner posted in the consulate read, "The U.S. Consulate would like to welcome adoptive parents. Congratulations!" It was a joyous day for so many adoptive parents and their accompanying families.

Tomorrow morning we begin the last leg of our journey: the flight home. What a great adventure it has been.
Jaina helps us pack!

Alina's Shots

After begging me to use the camera, I finally relented and let Alina take some of her own photographs of Guanzhou. The following belong to my budding photographer---they are of the Pearl River, Guangzhou.

More Sightseeing

A new tour guide has joined our group since adding two new families to our group. Lisa took us to Banyan Gardens, a beautiful attraction right in the city. The garden is built right into the side of a mountain and has a manmade lake at its base. Trees were cut into animal shapes, much like in our theme parks at home. The most interesting trees had had their trunks entertwined and cultivated to grow that way. A special showcase for the Olympics was created near the great fountain and many areas made beautiful photo opportunities. Our tour guide told us that each Olympic mascot's name represents a Chinese character that when put together spells, "Beijing Welcomes You". It is very clever! I think photographs will describe it best. Enjoy!

Reflections

I can't believe we leave China the day after tomorrow. Suprisingly I am sad about it, but I am looking forward to starting our lives with our new daughter. I miss home, my family and friends. I miss my daily routine and being among familiar surroundings. China is a beautiful country, but its true beauty lies in its people. I hear that the number of children born with birth defects has risen 40 percent since 2001. Pollution is the number one cause and I hope they can bring that under control and make it their number one priority. However, it is also a worldwide responsibility because the more we demand inexpensive goods, the harder China will work to meet those demands, at the expense of polluting their country. When the earthquake hit Sichuan Province the pandas were evacuated because their habitat was destroyed. A massive effort to protect their national mascot was put into place, but aren't the Chinese people more important than the panda bears?

The most promising thing is that the Chinese are hopeful and willing to help one another through this. Many people have expressed a desire to adopt children orphaned by the earthquake. Some couples whose children are grown also become prospective adoptive parents. Starting over is a big sacrifice but it is a wonderful thing to help an orphan by giving them the best gift of all--a family.

This morning Jaina woke up cooing and happy. Her Daddy got to her first, had her diaper changed and ready to start the day. When Jaina saw me she grinned from ear to ear. There are no words to express how much joy she brings to us and how glad I am that she is starting to thrive. She is a different baby from the one that was placed into our arms just a week and a half ago. She is playful and imitates everything we do. I love her smiles and her laughter most of all.