Day 12 - Tuesday, November 29, 2005 – Guangzhou

We oversleep! That is not surprising since we are so busy during the day and have been getting to bed later than we should. We have to get to breakfast before 10 am when the buffet closes. We also have a meeting at the Holt Office in the White Swan Hotel to go over paperwork (that I was supposed to have already filled out - but I haven't!) that is part of the process of obtaining Juan's Visa for travel home. We also have to get her Visa photo taken (this process has changed from Lilla's adoption - Lilla's photo was taken in Hunan Province and in the photo on of her ears had to show - now the photo is a straight on head shot and they do it right across the street from the WSH at a little shop) and then head to her Medical Exam which is done at a location a few blocks away from the hotel. The photo is no problem and we all take a nice walk on this beautiful warm and sunny day. What a change from Changchun, Jilin!
The Medical Exam is a brief physical necessary for the Visa and travel home. The doctor who sees Juan is the same doctor who saw Lilla! Lilla quickly becomes a favored girl as she sits quietly and lets him listen to her heart. He ends up sticking a toy into the back pack for her and walking through the clinic with her. Cute! J Juan is not such the model patient yet. She puts up a little bit of a vocal fuss, but is cooperative overall.
After the exam we head across several busy streets to the nearest McDonald's! Lilla is ready for her fry and nugget fix. Juan surprises us by eating most of a Chinese style wrap sandwich at this McDonald's. She has only been eating fruit, rice and yogurt for us up to this point.
After our meal at "the American Embassy" we venture out for a stroll through the Chinese Herbal Market. We stopped first at a tea shop and bought a bit of tea - green tea, we think. We're not sure. The four men sitting in the tea shop seemed excited to have our business and seemed to be taken with the girls. We stroll along the street looking at all the herbs and other items (dried frogs, dried sea horses, dried starfish and many other items unrecognizable to our eyes). It is very interesting! If we had a guide with us we would have learned more - but just looking at everything was a learning experience in itself!
Back to the hotel we go - little girls nap time and big girls shopping time! We meet our Holt guide, Eva, in the Holt Office and then head out to the Pearl and Jade Market. The taxi ride is short. We head into a big mall with too many floors! Eva takes us to a Pearl store that obviously has good prices, but they are still too high for us. We look at other shops with amber, jade, turquoise and crystals. We don't buy anything - but head across the street to the jade market. We are much more successful there! The prices seem more reasonable and the items more similar to what we saw at the Pearl and Jade Market in Beijing. We look and look and are able to find a few treasures. Eva has to leave us to go do some paperwork. We think we'll take a taxi ride back to the hotel, but when the time comes to leave we decide to walk. This is an adventure for us! We enjoy window shopping along the way and find a cute ladybug piggy bank (shouldn't it be called a ladybug bank?) along the way. We wish we had the girls with us because we pass by the cutest pink Puma shoes. Maybe we'll head back there with their feet in tow to see if they have the right sizes. We come to a big shopping area and we see a green circle that appears to be a Starbuck's sign. It isn't. It is another coffee shop! We wonder if Starbuck's knows that this coffee shop is using the familiar green circle for their sign?
We try to communicate this to the staff - but we are not successful. We did find an English speaker in the group and we order a honey ginger tea (which costs only $1).
It is good and is definitely making my sore throat feel better! We enjoy our chat with the coffee/tea wait staff and hope they didn't mind the impromptu English lesson we gave them in the pronunciation of the word frappe (frap - not frap-pay). As true New Englanders, we felt obliged to share this proper pronunciation with them.
Thankfully on our journey back to the hotel we only had to cross one busy street! Crossing a street in China can be dangerous if you don't understand all the rules. To quote one of our guides - "Traffic lights are just a guide, they are optional." So you must travel across the street with the flow of bodies and in this case, bicycles. We were definitely in the minority (on foot) at this time of night in Guangzhou! We thought about a ride to the hotel on a motorcycle (as their seemed to be many motorcycle "taxis" available), but thought better of this and proceeded to walk.
The little girls have slept the entire time we were gone! They are tired and need to catch up on their sleep. We head to the lobby to let them run a bit and then head out to find a pair of squeaky shoes for Juan. She does not have any shoes - she's been surviving in a pair of Lilla's boots that are actually too big for her (thank you Kirstyn for the blue suede boots!). We know to head right to Jennifer's Place for some good deals. Black squeaky shoes are purchased in sizes 21, 22, and 23. Lilla is now in their biggest size! Juan will be set for a while with 2 more pairs to grow in to.
Off we go again to the deli for some dinner. The meat-filled buns are delicious and the Chinese meals are just what the girls need (rice, broth and meat). Throw in a little Perrier, special bakery desserts and ice cream and the adults and teen are happy too!
Off to bath-time and bed-time we all head. Another day has too quickly passed. How will we ever get all the needed shopping done in Guangzhou?!?
Good-Night!
Lisa, Ben, Emma, Lilla and Juan Juan ><>