Guangzhou

July 4, 2007

"Emily wake up..." was the first thing I heard when I opened my eyes today. "Do you want to go to the pool?" Dad asked. I saw Becca was already out of bed and putting her swim suit on. I said "no" and attempted to return to sleep. After being woken up at 7:45 in the morning and trying to go back to sleep after you've already seen the sun is pretty difficult. I could not go to sleep and I slowly walked out of the bedroom and into Mom and Dad's room. I found mom awake and watching TV. We got dressed and met and Dad and Becca downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast we met Elsie at 10:30 in the lobby ready to go eye glasses shopping. We took a taxi to downtown Guangzhou and went into "Eyeglass World." Dad, Rebecca and I all picked out new glasses, they were very inexpensive. We had our eyes examined and were told that we could come back @ 4:00 to pick up the glasses.

After we placed our eye glasses order we walked around downtown Guangzhou and did lots of shopping. We returned to the Hotel and Dad, Rebecca and I went swimming in the waterfall pool. At 2:00 we went out to see if our stamps were completed. The shop owner recognized us and immediately got out the stamps. I went down the street to see if my purse had arrived yet, unfortunately, due to traffic the purse wouldn't be in until later that day. We returned to the hotel and met Elsie in the lobby again at 4:00 to go back to "Eyeglass World" and pick up our glasses. After 30 minutes we returned back to the hotel, all with new glasses. Elsie told us that we should meet back in the lobby around 7:00 for our sea cruise! We walked to Lucy's Bar and Restaurant, the one place that was just like a Johnny Rockets, and Pasta House all in one. After lunch we hung out in the hotel, then when 7pm rolled around we walked downstairs to find Elsie waiting for us.

We had an amazing time on the cruise. We had dinner and ice cream. We even went on the top roof of the ship and saw Guangzhou wonderful buildings, lights, and sights!After an incredible cruise on the South China Sea we so tired. We took a taxi back to the hotel and once we were in our room, we slept!

Off to Guangzhou

June 3, 2007

We headed downstairs for breakfast, all packed and ready to go. Surpizingly a Chinese girl came up to us at breakfast. We thought that she was just practicing her English, but she ended up being from the same orphanage as Rebecca! Her name was Daisy and she was 21 years old. She was from Novia Scotia, Canada. Her parents adopted her 10 years ago in 1997. She was 11 years old and told us that she probaly held Rebecca when they where both at the orphange. When she came home from school everyday, she would help care for the kids; hold them, feed them, and even change their diapers! After a very ironic breakfast we met up with Elsie and went to Rebecca's finding village. We arrived at a very small town. We went to see a small statue in the middle of the village. After walking around the village for less than five minutes, being stared at constantly, a very elderly man and middle aged woman met us at the gate of the towns' local temple. They spoke very little English. They were the town officals. They took us on an exclusive tour of the village. We saw the towns' temple and the towns' "museum." After an unexpected surprise at Becca's village we had about one and a half hours until we had to be at the airport. So, for a fun little thing to do we had a WONDERFUL foot massage. It was something very different than American foot massages. Instead of having just your feet massaged we had what felt like a full body massage. We had our back, arms, legs, neck, and finally our feet massaged. After a very relaxing morning we drove to the very small Zhanjiang airport to fly to Guangzhou. Our flight was fortunately on time! We landed at 5 pm. Our driver took us to the White Swan Hotel, one of the finest hotels in the world! The White Swan was "BABY CENTRAL!" There were small Chinese children with American parents everywhere. We checked into the hotel, and met our new neighbors. Our neighbors were a single mother and a small 11 month old girl. After that we hit the streets for a quick shopping spree! Becca and I ordered stamps with our Chinese zodic on them. On the bottom of the stamp were our Chinese and American names, and a yin-yang. We kept walking and I spotted a store were you could buy a knock-off Coach purse. (JUst what I was searching for on this vacation!) I ordered one and I could pick it up tomorrow. We kept on walking and Dad and I spotted a STARBUCKS. We stopped in and found my favorite chocolate Frappachinos! (It was the closest thing to a double chocolate chip frappachino). We all got the Fraps and after the little pick-me-up we kept on shopping. After about an hour of shopping we bought 2 t-shirts for Becca and 5 fans for me. At the same shop I bought my fans, Becca got some neat toys. We returned to the hotel around 9:30pm, loaded up on new neat items. After an exhausting day we went to bed looking forward to our crazie tomorrow.

Zhanjiang

July 2, 2007

After very long plane rides yesterday we were exciting about the big day today, seeing the orphanges! We had a very good buffet breakfast in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. We met Elise and our driver downstairs at 8:40am. We drove about 30 minutes before we reached big gates, and we knew we were there. Mom and Dad said that they reconized the well fare home from the big statue in the front. we met the director and we talked with him about the well fare home. from everything to the kids, the nannies, and the building itself. after the brief orientation we traveled upstairs to a play room to play with the kids. the infants were all under the age of 2, except for one little girl that was almost three (she was the directors adopted daughter). After having a very fun time with the children we toured the building a little more. After a very exciting morning packed back into the van for a short ride to Elise's sister's school (were she taught Engilsh). We saw her teach then Elise's sister, Cindy, introduced us to her students. They were all very excited to see Americans that spoke Engilsh. They all had questions for us, all 50 of them! After answering questions Cindy announced that class was over and the students all rushed up to us with pens and paper asking us for our autographs! After being mobbed by 50 kids we quickled walked to the teachers lounge were we were "safe" from the kids. They even followed us upstairs. Some of them even had "gifts" for us, the gifts were Chinese paper books and pens. After a very adventureous morning we were invited to Elise and Cindy's apartment were we met their father. They said that there mother was away. She was helping the older sister with her new born baby. Since it was almost lunch time, Elise and her family took us out to a Chinese seafood Resturant that they thought was very good. after having a very intresting lunch (some dishes were 'Sweet and Sour Squid' and 'Earthworms with Soy Sauce'!!!) we dropped Cindy and her father off at the apartment. After going to the hotel for a couple minutes to put our swimsuits on we drove to the beach! We arrived at the South China Sea and had fun playing in the sea and building sand castles! After an exugsting day we finally came back to the hotel for a quick meal then SLEEP!!! Tomorrow we have planned to go to the finding place and then to the airport for a 4:00pm flight to Guangzhou.

Travel

July 1, 2007

After sleeping in until 9:00am almost missing the breakfast (that ended at 10:30) we were ready to pack up, check out and met Elise and Christina downstairs in the lobby. Driving to the airport, leaving my hometown, and returning to Rebecca's. After saying "good-bye" to Christina and going through airport sercuity we waited for our plane to arrive (to go to Guangzhou). Fourtuntly, thia wass our first flight that was on time!!! After an hour flight we had to wait three hours for our next plane, or so we thought. Instead of leaving at 4:15pm we ending up leaving around 6:45pm! After a day filled with traveling we finally made it to the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Walking into the hotel we relized that the hotel looked exactly like the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou! Resting up tonight for the big day tomorrow, seeing the orphanges
(HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA MAX!!!)

Last Day in Wuhan

June 29, 2007

Today we were up and ready, bright and earily. We met Elsie and Christina downstairs in the lobby ready to shop today. Our driver took us to a small village in the middle of Wuhan to do silk fabric shopping. We picked up a lot of Chinese print silk fabrics. Dad even found a very neat Chinese shirt that he liked (hand made). Because it was a little smaller than intended we couldn't buy it. We even asked if we could buy a few Chinese buttons that were on the shirt, but the owner said that they were handmade! She said that there was a very "simple" knot that we needed to learn. It took around 10 minutes just to get the first part of the knot. Even though the knot looked very complicated it was actually a very simple process! After the wonderful shopping experince we had nothing on the itinerary today. So Christina suggested that we go to the Wuhan Preventional Museum. The museum was dedicated to the history behind a lost tomb of an emporer. Part of the tomb had bells that the emporer had owned. The bells were in very good condition even though the tomb was floded. They had the original bells in the museum. They also have a copy of the bells that we saw in a performance of playing of the bells. After a very educational morning we returned to the hotel around 12:00 after seeing the hotel that Mom and Dad had stayed at for the adoption. Hungery for lunch, Elise pointed us in the right direction for a very good resturant. After a very confusing ordering (no one spoke good English) we finally got chicken, noodles, and dumplings at the 'T House'. After a VERY apitizing breakfast we enjoyed playing in the pool! When 7:30 came around we head out to the park across the street to watch a water/light show. The show was complete with music and VERY bright and colorful lights in the water. After walking up and down the streets of Wuhan, China trying to find a decent place to eat (that wouldn't gross Becca out) we finally ended up eating at the hotel! After a very fun and exahuging day we were glad that we could just...SLEEP!

Welfare Home Tour

June 29, 2007

Today was the day that we would go back to the welfare home. After a day of travelling we had a Chinese style Western breakfast. We met Christina and Elsie down stairs in the lobby - we carried our 2 big bags of donations, a present for the director and a picture collage of me throughout the years.

We arrived at the orphanage after a 15 minute drive. As we got out of the van we saw another family entering the orphanage. They were also here for a homeland trip to visit their orphanage. We met with the assistant to the director at the door and told her my Chinese name, Bao Lixian. Christina told us she said that she had remembered me because of my big eyes. We went into a conference room and met with the director, Mr. Chen. He told us about the orphanage and how it had been rebuilt in 1997. He showed us upstairs to a play room where the special needs children were playing. We even gave them some of the toys we had brought. We left the room and went to another section of the welfare home where the babies slept. We played with more kids there. We toured the rest of the welfare home and they had gifts for us. It was a silver coin with the front of the welfare home engraved on it. We went next door to where the welfare home use to be, but is now a kindergarten. In the kindergarten there are children from the welfare home and from the neighborhood. Ironically, Christina's son goes there.

We left the orphanage and drove to a close by village to try and find my finding location. Since China has modernized so much, it was difficult to find the exact street. We finally found a street. There were railroad tracks, small apartments, stores and a gate at my finding place.

We returned to the hotel and and Dad & I walked in search of a McDonalds. After walking about 10 blocks, we finally found it. We had spicy chicken wraps, quarter pound BEEF burger and french fries. Lucikly it tasted like home.

We went to the pool andon the way we found a place to get a foot massage. After a very relaxing day we had dinner and went to sleep.

(Elsie had called the airport and had discovered that there will be no morning flights on July 4th, the day we were suppose to leave Zhanjiang for Guanzhou. So we will be leaving a day earlier, July 3rd in the afternoon).

Flying Day

June 28, 2007

Waking up early in the morning to catch a 10:30 flight. We quickly had breakfast so we could go upstairs and pack. After a quick packing job we went downstairs and met Elsie in the lobby. Tom drove us to the airport about 30 minutes away. We arrived at the airport at 9:30, so we had 1 hour to go through security. We were in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before Rebecca and I started getting hungry. Dad walked us over to a close by coffee/deli shop. We got "Chinese Subway Sandwiches." When it was finally 10:30 we started to line up at the gate when we realized that people were coming off the plane! Elise told us that the flight attendant said that people had to come off the plane and the plane had to be cleaned. It was 10 minutes later that we could now board the plane. We got on then shortly after we all boarded the plane we took off. Then 2 hours later we landed in my birth city, WUHAN! After going through baggage customs we met up with a travel coordinator that would be with us for our time in Wuhan, Christina. After driving for only 10 minutes we could see the Yangtze River. Christina informed us that because this is, at the time, the only brigde that is available to cross over the river there was a special law. On even days only cars with license plates ending with an even number may cross the bridge, same thing with odd numbered days. After driving for another 40 minutes we arrived at our hotel, The White Rose. After checking in and meeting the manager, Mary, we arrived in our room with our luggage. After resting for 1 1/2 hours, we met up with Christina and went sightseeing in Wuhan.

We drove about 15 minutes and arrived a the Yellow Crane Tower. The Yellow Crane Tower was built by an emperor over 1500 years ago, who had made money by having a rare yellow crane sing and dance. After a year of doing this, he had made a lot of money. He decided to build a tower in honor of the bird and called it The Yellow Crane Tower. We toured the tower and went up all 5 levels. You could see all of Wuhan from the top of the tower. You could even see my welfare home. On the 4th level, when we went outside to look around, there were 2 Chinese people who asked Dad for a picture of him with them. After they saw Mom they asked for a picture with her too. Later after they left Christina told us that the reason why they wanted pictures with Mom & Dad was because they looked so different. They don't likely see Westerners in Wuhan. On the 2nd level there were models of the Yellow Crane Tower at different stages of time.

When we got back to the hotel, we put on our swimsuits and Elsie joined us to go swimming in the indoor swimming pool. After swimming, we took quick showers and met Elsie again to go to a local shopping center called Carefore. We bought lots of soda and chips (and underwear). After an exhausting day we finally went to bed.

Chang Cheng (Great Wall)

June 27, 2007

Today we would climb the Great Wall. We woke very early, 7:00am, to meet Elise downstairs, not at the usual 10:00, but at 8:00. After eating breakfast very quickly, we rushed downstairs to find Elise already waiting for us. Tom drove us 2 hours to the Great Wall at Badaling. We walked north words, climbing very high steps and very steep streets. After walking for over one and a half hours we met up with Elise who didn't feel like climbing today.

We then drove to the Dragon Restaurant. We had sweet and sour beef, soy sauce chicken, tofu with sweet sauce and fried rice with a lot of meat. After a very big meal, Tom drove us to a small village to learn about Chinese paper cutting and artificial flower making. The teacher had a student (all of the teenagers there had special needs), that demonstrated the art of paper cutting. She made two butterflys for Becca and me. Then we helped the teacher and the student make an artificial flower out of wire and silk fabric for us to keep. Then we walked to their warehouse where they store all of the hand made products. They make slippers, purses and of course paper cuttings. They had everything from small fish to huge cuttings of butterflys. All hand made. We bought 4 cuttings from them. Tomorrow we plan on leaving Beijing and going to the airport to fly to Wuhan at 8:30.

Kuaile du Rizi (Fun Day)

June 26, 2007

We woke up bright and early at 8:30 after going to sleep at 1:30am. After an exhausting day in Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City, we were glad that we weren't climbing the Great Wall today. Once we had a very fulfilling breakfast we met Elise down int he lobby. We went on a 30 minute drive to go on a Hudong tour. We met our tourguide Kathy. We walked across the street to the Drum Tower. It ws a very nice building, very decorative. The drums were very high up so we had to climb 79 steps up on a straight incline. Mom got very scared going up. We reached the top at 10:45. Kathy told us they had a drum show at 11:00. We learned that the drums were used to tell time. We even got to see the largest drum in the world. We went outside and walked around the outside of the drum tower. We got to see the Bell Tower across the street that was also used for time telling. We also saw part of the Foribidden City and many houses from the top. After the drum beating show we carefully walked down the very steep steps. We got on a rickshaw (a bicycle driven taxi kind of thing), and toured China.
We went to see a kindergarten with kids ages ranging from 3 - 6 years old. We were not able to personally play or talk to the kids, but we saw them eating their food. We even had a child come up and personally greet us.
We got back on the rickshaw and rode to a family's house. We saw Mr. & Mrs. Wei's (pronounced Way) house. We learned that grashoppers are very common pets. A "sport" that men gamble on is grasshopper fighting. After seeing and learning a couple more buildings, we finally met up with Melody from CHI for lunch. We even visited Melody's home and met her youngest daughter Angela.
After visiting Melody's house we drove over to the CHI's Beijing foster home. We got to play with the kids. Sadly most of the kids had a disability, but ALL of them were VERY cute! (Grandma, we met a blind girl that LOVED your tag blankets!)
After the very memorable evening, Elise and us went to the Chinese Acrobats show. Flipping, turning, and balancing! Amazing! After the show, Tom drove us to Melody's house. We picked up Melody, her husband Kevin and two of thier 5 kids, LeeAnn and Angela . We had a very nice dinner. The main dish was "Beggers Chicken". Begger's Chicken is wrapped in a lotus leaf and cooked in the ground with mud for a very long time. All in all, today was VERY busy, but VERY fun. Today was a Kuaile du Rizi.

Kuaile de Rizi (fun day)

1st Day in China

June 25, 2007

After a very long plane ride we arrived in our hotel, the Radisson, in Beijing, China. Getting use to the new time zone we went to sleep around 1 am China time, then waking up around six o'clock am. A sleepless night. We slowly trudged down to the breakfast buffet. We had a very western meal that included fresh cooked omeletes, bacon, toast, fresh fruit and at least eight different types of juices. After a very good breakfast we walked down to the locl strip mall. We went into a 7-eleven and bought fresh clean water. Next door was a friendship store (like a mall). After our CHinese shopping we met up with our Chinese coordinator Elsie. We arrived at CHI's Beijing office. We met some of the 20 full time staff that work there. Including our travel coordinator, Michelle. Elsie even had an adoption orientation presentation for us to watch. After we got finished with our CHI tour it was almost noon and we were ready for lunch. We walked across the street to the King Duck restaurant and had fresh steak, chicken and carved duck. The roasted duck was cut right in front of us. We made duck tortillas. Our driver Tom drove us to Tiananemen Square and the forbidden city about 30 minutes away. Walking through the Forbidden City while it was 93 degrees is not fun. Rebecca got so tired we had to cut our tour short. Tom drove us back to the hotal and we took a short nap. We woke up hungry for dinner and we walked to KFC. We had crispy fried chicken and Pepsi. When we left KFC we heard thunder and lightning and then it started raining. We quickly ran into the local supermarket, it was kind of like Walmart and Sam's. After buying some snacks for later, we returned to our hotel. We put our swimsuits on and walked over to the indoor swimming pool. After swimming we turned on the TV and laid on the bed. Around 11:30 we all started to get hungry. We decided to get room service. A Chinese version of Western food was served to us. Hamburgers and spaghetti came to our room. Tomorrow we plan to meet Melody at a Beijing orphanage, visit a village in a rickshaw (a bicycle powered taxi) and see the acrobatics show. (Our plans have been changed from what was on our itinerary We will see The Great Wall on Wednesday).

Flying to China

We flew to Chiago from St. Louis at 9:00am on Saturday morning. When we arrived in Chicago, we found we had a 2 1/2 hour delay on departing to China. After waiting almost 3 hours, we boarded the plane in high hopes to quickly fly to China (in 13 hours). As we approached Beijing we found that there was a severe thunderstorm around the area, and the airport had been shut down. We circled the airport waiting for air traffic control to tell us we could land. Unfortunately we found ourselves on a 1 hour flight to Taiyuan about 300 miles away from Beijing. Instead of sitting on the plane for 13 hours, we were on the plane for 15 hours and hadn't even arrived in Beijing. After sitting in Taiyuan for over 2 hours, we were allowed to fly back to Beijing. We were on the plane for over 18 hours. After we went through quarantine, immigration and baggage customs, we met up with our CHI coordinator, Elsie. Because we were hungry, we quickly ran into a KFC only to find that it was closing and no food left. Next door, we found a Starbucks (my favorite) and ordered a sweet croisant, chicken sandwich and apple juice. Surprisingly, the apple juice tasted like watermellon jolly ranchers! After an exhausting day we arrived in our new home at midnight Beijing time.

Waking up to a new enviornment, we headed down staris to a western style breakfast buffet. After eating, we headed out to busy Beijing in search of clean water. We went to a 7-11 and stocked up on bottled water. After that we went into a Friendship store (like a Chinese mall).

Today we hope to visit the CHI Beijing office. Then we will be off to Tienamen Square and the Forbidden City. Later we are going to watch a Chinese Acrobatic show and have Peking Duck for dinner. Hope to be in contact the rest of our trip.

Legacy of an Adopted Child

When my adopted mom found out that I was going to be a part of her life she started to sew this for me...
Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember. The other you call your mother.
Two different lives shaped to make yours one. One became your guiding star. The other became your sun.
The first gave you life, and the second taught you to live in it. The first gave you the need for love, and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. One gave you the seed of talent. The other gave you aim.
One gave you emotion. The other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smle. The other dried your tears.
One gave you up, it was all that she could do. The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.
And now ask me through the years. Heredity or Environment - Which are you the product of?
Neither my darling neither - Just two different kinds of love.

Returning to China

I am twelve years old and was adopted from Wuhan, China at four months. I have a ten year old sister that was also adopted from China. My sister, Rebecca, was adopted in Zhanjiang, China when she was nine months old. Growing up my parents always told us stories of adopted families that had adopted children just like our family. My mom and dad also told Rebecca and me that we would soon return to China to discover what our homelands looked like. In just two weeks I am planning to return to China with my family. In just two weeks we will get to go to the cities of Wuhan, Zhanjiang, Beijing, Guangzhou, and to Hong Kong. While we are in China we will get the opportunity to sit down with a Chinese family and have a full Chinese meal. We will also visit a Chinese school, an elementary school for deaf children and even visit Rebecca’s and my orphanages. To prepare for this trip Rebecca and I have organized a toy drive for our orphanages. Along with collecting toys my mom and grandma have been sewing tag blankets. Tag blankets are small pieces of cloth that are sewn together with pieces of ribbon in between. These tag blankets will be given to the small babies in the orphanages.