September 4, 2012: Day #9 with Cai Yun, Guangzhou, China

Our 9th day together with Cai Yun was one of the mostly free days we had in Guangzhou (with the exception of meeting for paperwork finalization and a photo of our travel group families).  We had heard so many adoptive families rave about beautiful Shamian Island, so we tried to take advantage of our unscheduled day, grabbed a cab at our hotel after breakfast and headed that way.  We spent a good amount of time just strolling around the island and enjoying the scenery.  Then it was time to get serious and hit what seems to be the mandatory shops for adoptive families.  With the rows of shops all stocked for us Western adoption trip tourists, this was one of the spots where we bought gifts for our long lists of family members and friends.  For Cai Yun, we focused on buying Chinese styled clothes in a series of sizes that she could grow into and little keepsake Chinese gifts for her birthdays and Chinese New Year for years to come. We did the required haggling with the shop keepers who acted like we were driving knives into their hearts.  After I do the marathon shopping, I let Max step in to get the deal.  We took it pretty easy on them as their business is way down from many adoptive families no longer staying on the island.   

As a historic preservationist, I was totally charmed by the island that was steeped in graceful architecture and iron work and laid out in a very interesting plan overlooking the Pearl River.  The island's buildings were European influenced, and although I would have loved to see more historic Chinese architecture, they were just so refreshingly to our scale, unlike the waves of modern structures that towered around us off the island.  For the three of us, this quiet, pedestrian friendly, green covered space, was a welcome respite from the impossibly congested, noisy, polluted cities that we had been staying in.

Beautiful tree lined streets were the norm on Shamian Island

A little overview of the island is described by travelchinaguide.com

Shamian, previous known as Zhongliusha or Shicuizhou, is an elliptic sandbar in the Liwan District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. The Island has great historic significance. From the Song and the Qing Dynasty, it served as an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade. The it became a strategic point for city defense during the second Opium Wars (1856-1860). In 1859, the territory was divided into two concessions, given to France and United Kingdom (of which 4/5 went to the British and 1/5 to the French). It was then embanked and provided with streets, drainage, and imposing buildings and became home to a prosperous foreign enclave. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, most of the public facilities were finished, including political buildings like consulates, cultural buildings like churches and schools, as well as commercial buildings like banks and firms. After 1949, the mansions there became government offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned into factories. But later they were restored... By the early 2000s, the island became well known by Western couples coming to China to adopt, many who stayed in the White Swan hotel (which was closed for renovations when we traveled in August 2012) that was next door to the US Consulate (which has since moved off the island and to another section of Guangzhou), one of the final places adoptive families must visit to finalize their China adoption.

I love the sight of a swaying red lantern and of palm trees!

What caught our eye when getting out of our taxi, and what seemed to captivate Cai Yun the most, were brides and grooms posing for photographs - they almost seemed like they were models posing as brides and grooms - or do the brides always wear their pink Converse under their gowns? Cai Yun taking photo after photo, caught some of the models' attention, followed by big smiles.

A shop full of all kinds of live fish and eels of all shapes and sizes

Part of the fun was discovering the many different bronze sculptures scattered
throughout Shamian Island

Another highlight for Cai Yun was making friends with two little dogs that playfully ran freely around a park area we were chilling out at

Daddy couldn't resist showing off for Cai Yun 

Back at the hotel later in the afternoon, Cai Yun dolled herself up with every hair clip I brought for her and her lovely Chinese dress, a gift from her orphanage

Our CCAI travel group photo...eleven newly expanded families 

Since the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island was closed, the infamous "red couch photo" shots taken by most adoptive families in China had to be replaced by the China Hotel's grand stair case photos

And now we are three!!

Cai Yun with our gracious and hardworking Guangzhou guides, Kathy and Grace

We tried to capture a few good "family" photos, but Cai Yun had had enough of it
and got sillier and sillier:

Then it was back downstairs to our hotel's Food Street, China's first restaurant with an open kitchen, our fallback lunch or dinner option while staying in Guangzhou.

Eating always made Cai Yun happy!  Pour on the malted rice vinegar!

Eating also seemed to give Cai Yun more energy to ramp up to new heights of silliness...
(do you see her perplexed daddy?)

...alternating with the dramatic (do you see her tired momma in the background?)

(Her play hysterical sob face!)

No matter how many mismatched hair clips and accessories you wear
or how silly or dramatic or ridiculous you are little girl, we've got you babe!

September 3, 2012: Day #8 with Cai Yun, Guangzhou, China

Today the primary agenda item for the families in our group was having our newly adopted child's physical exam completed.  This is a requirement of the US government relating to immigration.

While each of the office's waiting areas were bulging with many Chinese people, who looked like they had been waiting for awhile, our group was able to seemingly walk to the front of the line with our little ones in tow.

Cai Yun enjoyed experimenting with and snacking on and barbecue flavored Pringles (I can't even tell you how happy Max was when he found these at the Guangzhou airport!) while she waited for her turn name to be called.

 

Then it was Cai Yun's turn to go through all the stations.  Her temperature was taken while she was on the scale to be weighed...

...and blood pressure read while she was asked to read something for part of a vision test.

You don't tend to see this type of vision chart in the US!
Can you see which way the hands are pointing on the bottom row?

Cai Yun did her best, but "failed" the vision test.  She was right, she needed glasses.

Then a doctor examined Cai Yun from head to toe.  

He asked her many questions and we just had to stand and watch, not really knowing what was being said.

The final step was a TB skin test.

Later that evening, the guides took the interested families in our group on a boat tour of the grand Pearl River.

Our river boat

Cai Yun was up for an adventure on her first big boat ride!
This was a dinner cruise and our guides skillfully and forcefully made sure the families in our group were at the beginning of the buffet line.  It was a lot of pressure to have a crowd of people pushing behind us while we were trying to determine exactly what we were spooning on our plates!  :)
Next time, I would skip the dinner and just enjoy the sights!

Through the crowds pushing on the boat's outer decks, were able to see glimpses of some cool structures along Guangzhou's skyline like the 600 meter/ 1969 foot high Canton Tower, which was opened in 2010.  Briefly holding the title as the tallest tower in the world, it is still among the tallest, and was the second tallest in China when we visited.  One of its uses is a TV tower...and I think it is still considered the tallest TV tower in the world!

The buildings were wonderfully illuminated and it created a magical effect visually on this steamy and sometimes hazy evening.

In between rain downpours and Cai Yun's fluctuating mood (she was obviously very tired), we were all able to enjoy watching the colorfully lit buildings, bridges and other boats pass us by.  Even China has party boats...but theirs have dragons!

September 2, 2012: Day #7 with Cai Yun, Guangzhou, China

Our seventh day with Cai Yun, our first full day in Guangzhou, was on a Sunday.  Our group had the option of spending the morning visiting three sites.  The first stop was the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, a Buddhist temple originally built in 537 but rebuilt several times since (originally the Changshou Temple, meaning Longevity Temple, the name has also been changed several times). 

The laughing Buddha greets visitors as the enter the complex

Offerings to the different gods include bottles of water and fruit

Our guide, Grace, tried  in vain to tell our group the temple's history with her portable microphone - everyone just scattered!

Also rebuilt several times, what is now called the Six Banyan Pagoda stands tall on the temple grounds and holds relics.  Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this structure is starting to lean, so visitors are no longer allowed to climb it.

Many incense sticks are burnt around the temple

Beautiful clay tile roofs

Characters were carved into the stones outside the halls

  

In the main hall of the temple, rest three Buddhist statues that symbolize the present, past and future.  They are the biggest and among the most ancient of their kind in the Guangdong province. 

Several members in our travel group had their newly adopted children blessed by the Buddhist monk

Another monk sits peacefully by the tree

Cai Yun enjoyed watching the colorful fish in a small pond

Back on the bus for stop #2!

We then visited the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, which is famous for its exquisite craftsmanship and was originally built during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The colorful, intricate carvings on the roof caught our eye as we walked toward this complex of multiple buildings, halls and courtyards

Detailed scenes depicted life in old Guangzhou in the blue etched glass

Historical rooms were set up with traditional Cantonese furniture including this bed with the porcelain block pillows - I'll stick with my down version thank you!

Different artisans were working at different points along the Chen Family complex.  Cai Yun was very captivated by this older gentleman working on a large paper cut art piece.  When they got to talking, he in turn, was charmed by Cai Yun.  We were happy to purchase several beautiful pieces by him.

At our third stop of the morning, we went to an arts and crafts store that our guides insisted had the best quality merchandise at good prices.  Tired from the morning's stops, Cai Yun spent the most time watching the artisans, especially the ink painter who used his fingers to create the detailed landscapes...

...and the chop (seal) carver.

Back at the hotel we were finally able to relax a bit in our room

and in the lovely rooftop pool that had an awesome view of the cityscape around our hotel.

As with the previous days, Cai Yun came alive at night.  That evening we enjoyed some great Chinese cuisine at the Food Street restaurant in the hotel.

'

Into food and cooking like her parents, Cai Yun did her best to capture the cooks on camera

and the wait staff!



After dinner ended with fun on the play equipment placed in a peaceful courtyard of the hotel.  We were glad to see Cai Yun finally able to enjoy being a kid!