Wednesday at the Zoo

Our travel group kids ...

Charlotte and Luo at the zoo ...

A real, live panda at the zoo ...

Dad and Dylan with the monkeys ...

Guangzhou Zoo ... here we come!

On Wednesday morning we headed off for the zoo. there are two zoos in Guangzhou, we went to the city zoo, right smack dab in the center of the city! Here we say many animals including a real, live panda. She was pretty small and dirty! At one time there were two in this zoo, I am not sure what happened to the other, but now there is only the one. Luo loved the birds and animals. As we would walk away from the cages and exhibits, she would wave and say "bye-bye"!

When we got back to the hotel, it was time for our group photos. Everyone cooperated ... well, almost everyone ... you know who had a bit of a melt down because she had to be held ... In the picture are 5 of the 6 children. The little girl next to Luo is a big sister to the little boy at the end of the couch. One of the older girls didn't make the picture ...

Tuesday's Free Time ...

On Tuesday we met up with another family and went shopping and sightseeing just off the islands we are staying on. We didn't last too long as the kids were getting tired and there were many, many people out. Something that is accepted in the Chinese culture is starting and touching other people's children. Luo got quite upset when a group swarmed around her and begin chatting in Chinese and touching her ... we headed back to the safety of the hotel after that!

Monday - Will we ever see the sun?

Yes! Thank God! For us sun loving (either Saskatchewan or Florida) creatures - 10 cloudy days were about all we could take! Sunny and 70 today!

We went today to Yuntai Garden - one of the largest parks in China - at the foot of the Baiyun Mountain. Here's a link:

http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_35/node_155/node_525/node_526/2008/05/13/121066113038439.shtml

The park was very beautiful - lots of stairs however. We left Mom and Luo at the bottom of Baiyun Mtn - and ventured forth. I was chugging like an old steam engine by half way up!

After Yuntai Garden, we went to McDonalds for lunch! We don't frequent Ronnie's at home - but we all (our travel group) were in the mood for McD's! The Big Mac tasted just like home, as did the fries. The Diet Coke here is called Coke Light - it has less sugar - UG! I am told the Filet -O-Fish was passable (if that is possible). Dylan had hot wings (yes - wings at McD's). Luo had a chicken nugget happy meal. Fries were a big hit (she's never had fries before) - but the chicken nuggets were dry - so she left them (can't blame her!).

McD's is on one of Guangzhou's largest shopping streets - Shangxiajiu Street. Kind of like Times Square and China Town all rolled into one! Lots of fun! Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, so will go back tomorrow for some bargains!

We ended the day by the pool, followed by a tubby, and a group dinner at the Cantonese Restaurant down the street (SUCH good food!). We all ate more than our fill!

Sunday's Tour ...

Yes, a Louis Vuitton mini purse for the girl ... got to love China!
(notice the lack of clothing ...)

Medical Exam Day ... Saturday

Today's adventure was visiting the clinic for Luo's physical. The place was packed with people and families that were adopting. There was moaning and groaning, screaming, squeaking toys and shoes and of course, screaming ...

There were three stations that we had to visit ... height and weight - all good, an ENT - where Luo was not the least bit interested in the squeaking toy as her hearing was checked. I thought for a moment that the woman was going to tell me that she was deaf and the examination - with just a diaper on ... of course taking the clothes off was the easy part ... getting them back on ... another story ... there was quite the stink about that! After becomming very crabby about having to get dressed, once we got outside there was another major screaming and wailing about what? No idea! We headed back to the hotel for some congee lunch and some clothes-less down time ...

Afterwards, Lauren and I went out to explore the island and left the boys and Luo for some bonding time!

Friday's Meltdown ...

Friday was quite the day. We went to the passport office so that the paperwork for Luo's Chinese passport could be completed. While we were there she was pretty good ... as long as her big sister was holding her ! After the passport office we returned to the hotel, had some down time and decided to venture off the island for a walk. What we found was amazing!

We started out the day with a huge meltdown at breakfast, had another one about mid-day and then ended the day with a major tantrum before going to bed ... I was exhausted!

Sightseeing in the rain ...

The Six Banyan Pagoda

The children being blessed

An artist at the Chen Academy ... fingerpainting!

Noodle Restaurant - you can see the noodle flying through the air ...

Today's adventure was a very soggy one ... stay tuned ... pics and story on their way!

So, we set out for a great day of sightseeing ... We began our journey at the Six Banyan Temple where we saw a huge pagoda and many monks. Here is where the Chinese children were blessed in a ceremony performed by the monks of this temple. There were quite a few people there praying at each of the Buddhas and also having various things blessed. We managed to dodge the rain at this first stop, just a few sprinkles here and there. The sky was looking might angry ...

Next, we headed out to the Chen Family Academy. At one this was one of the residences of the Chen family. It is now a museum that contains family artifacts and works of art. As we were standing outside of the buildings, the sky turned a pea green and got very dark. Then it opened up and poured. Fortunately, we were inside enjoying all there was to see. Just as it was time to go, the sky opened up again and it poured buckets as we were heading back to the bus. It was about a block walk back to where we had parked. We all were soaked from head to toe by the time we got on. Of course the driver had the air blasting and we were freezing!

After our tour we went to a really cool noodle restaurant where they made the noodles and cooked them right in front of you. It is a good thing we always have our guide with us ... not many of these eating establishments have an English speaking wait staff!