Day 1, City of Guangzhou, Guandong Province

Today we said a poignant goodbye to Michael and David in Nanning. The guys thanked us and told us they'd really miss us. We'll really miss their incredible, personal service. They hugged Emily and all of us and then we were on our way to Guangzhou via plane. The Chinese passengers were staring as usual, and were fascinated as 8 sets of parents boarded the plane with 8 Chinese babies. They laughed as the babies screamed on takeoff. Emily was fine, although she threw up formula, and I caught it in my hand! It was a very proud moment, and I wasn't the least bit squeamish. Kevin calmly helped me clean myself off. Diane, one of the seasoned moms, smilingly informed me that we didn't want to be feeding a baby on a moving plane since any turbulence could upset their tummies. Oops! This parenting thing isn't easy.

Guangzhou as a city is very different from Nanning. Ten million people inhabit this city, versus 1 million in Nanning. It's absolutely amazing to watch the calm way so many people negotiate traffic--on foot, bicycle, motorbike, car and bus. You pretty much all push your way into the traffic. It's very nerve wracking, and yet noone gets hurt! Amazing.

The Guangzhou architecture has a very British influence since Guangzhou was occupied by the British in the 19th century, when it was known as Canton.


Guangzhou building


Downown Guangzhou.

This apartment in Guangzhou should give you a perspective on the immense size of this city, and the sheer number of dwellings required by so many people. These sized buildings were all over Hong Kong, to fit the millions of Chinese residents in.

Guangzhou isn't as green a city as Nanning, but the Chinese do like to garden.


Roof top garden

The White Swan Hotel is huge, and filled with a mixture of Chinese patrons, American families with their Chinese babies, and businessmen. It's quite a difference from the more personal Nanning hotel, so we had a tiring day negotiating space in the elevator with our strollers that were loaners, compliments of local shopkeepers.

And the hotel is gorgeous! Take a look at these photos.

White Swan hotel waterfall










White Swan Hotel Lobby.

This ship is carved out of jade. It's gorgeous! There are silk prints everywhere, with birds and flowers on them. For $2,000 U.S. dollars we could bring one home.

The shopping in Guangzhou is amazing--the shopkeepers cater to the adoptive families. It's kind of overwhelming, since the customer service is so personal you usually have 3 sales people following you at once. We bought several pairs of squeaky shoes (the Chinese use them to keep track of their children) and silk Chinese outfits for Emily. The shopgirls fell in love with Emily, who was hilarious with them, giggling, squirming and shouting crazily.


Shopgirls with Emily

We ran into Russ and Cindy Bolton from Orlando, and finally met tiny Abigail, who can down a bottle of formula in 30 seconds flat! It was great to finally meet her. She and Emily are pretty similar in size, although Abigal is only 9 months old.

We've also been hanging out with CJ and Linda Vocu, a great couple who live only a few minutes from Reading, PA. We can see them and their adorable daughter Lia on holidays! We call Lia "the little ringleader" of our group of babies since she's so active and takes charge of facing each other and communicating, and it's believed that Lia began the communications.


Lia Vocu

Not too many photos of Emily today since we were travelling, but here she is after her bath, which she loves. We'll post more photos tomorrow.









Naked Baby

Take care,

Caroline