We have arrived in Guangzhou. Nicole did very well on her first air-flight. She never experienced any problems with her ears either ascending or descending when the cabin pressure changed. We made sure her little mouth was occupied with "finger biscuits" to help alleviate any problems and I’m sure it helped. She fell asleep shortly after takeoff and slept for about 30 minutes. When she woke up all she wanted to do was play with the two Chinese gentlemen in front of us and a couple from our group sitting behind us. She laughed the entire last half of the flight, which was a total of 1 hour from Changsha to Guangzhou.
Guangzhou is a very, very large city. While riding from the airport to the hotel, you couldn’t help but notice the very modern architecture of many of the buildings along the way. Then all of a sudden you see the impoverished areas right next door. The same crazy driving we saw in Changsha is here and it is amazing that they don’t have an overwhelming amount of traffic accidents.
As usual, Nicole took a short nap even before we left the Dalton Hotel in Changsha. She can sleep anywhere and in any position.
The hotel we are in is the White Swan, which is a five-star hotel, and it is just absolutely amazing. The Chinese artwork scattered throughout the hotel is truly amazing. Apparently the White Swan is where every adoption group stays at for the final visa processing that we must all go through before returning to the US. There is approximately 30 other adoption groups staying here. We must have half of China’s babies in this hotel, they are everywhere! It is really neat to see.
Nicole in White Swan Hotel room.
The hotel is on the ShaMian Island, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow waterway. Our room is on the 15th floor overlooking the Pearl River, which is the third longest river in China. We also have air conditioning once again and boy is that a relief. It is quite warm (85) in China during the day, yet very cool (65) in the mornings, both in Changsha and Guangzhou so having air conditioning back again is a big releif to all 3 of us.
Today we will be taking Nicole for a baby medical exam, which is part of the process of obtaining her US visa, and filling out the various visa forms. A doctor examined her three times already while we were in Changsha due to a cold she had. Hope she doesn’t mind another exam.
Today is going to be a relatively easy day with no planned tours. We plan on touring the hotel and shopping, which will probably take a full day. Tomorrow is going to be packed with touring a Buddhist temple, the Folk Art Museum, and the Guangdong Provincial Art & Crafts Shop while our visa application is being processed by the US Consulate.
Our Internet connection is back to normal and we can now see our postings on the blog.