Stargate to China

Our adoption journey to China.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The highlights from our trip to China:

Beijing:

Thumbs up Beautiful city with lots to see and do
Thumbs up The Great Wall
Thumbs up Cloisonne Factory
Thumbs up Tiananmen Square
Thumbs up The Hutongs
Thumbs up Temple of Heaven

Thumbs down Careful crossing the street. The traffic lights are not mandatory to follow and drivers have the right of way. Also, if you make an eye contact with the driver, it indicates to them that you saw them, therefore they will not stop.
Thumbs down Lots of construction work everywhere (probably related to the Olympics)

Chongqing:

Thumbs up Shayna was placed into our arms 30 minutes after we got there
Thumbs up A huge 7-story mall connected to our hotel
Thumbs up The Six Banyan Tree Temple where our daughter was blessed by a monk, and hubby was able to climb the tall pagoda to the top. Very special.
Thumbs up A Sichuan dinner with our group. The food was too spicy but the company was good.

Thumbs down We had only a few minutes after our luggage arrived to prepare for Gotcha. Talk about stress.
Thumbs down No one at the hotel or at the mall spoke English.
Thumbs down The zoo was nothing special with very few animals on exhibit, and it somewhat depressing to watch the the animals in small cages.
Thumbs down At the supermarket which was overstaffed the employees followed us wherever we went. I also got the wrong amount of change at the register. It's better to give them smaller bills. Oh, by the way, you can have your hair dyed in the middle of the aisle if you require this service.
Thumbs down Large crowds of people everywhere. It felt like walking through a busier version of Manhattan.

Guangzhou:

Thumbs up Shamian Island is beautiful and not crowded
Thumbs up Good food but expensive with not very many vegetarian options
Thumbs up Lots of good stores and good bargains on souvenirs

Thumbs down There is an attendant on each floor of the hotel. They know where you "live", they press the elevator button for you, show you into the elevator and upon return, direct you to your room every single time. We could have survived without them.
Thumbs down

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