So, We Went Shopping

The first full day in Guangzhou stated out with a visit to the Chen Clan Academy. This was a temple / school created by the Chen families in China. Other than that, I haven’t totally figured out it is. I was very interesting, though. The building itself was about 200 years old, and there were lots of examples of Chinese artistry and architecture.

After that we visited one of the shopping streets. A shopping street is a wide street that doesn’t allow cars, and is lined with shops. It is Sunday (ie, the weekend), and it was very busy and crowded. We went to a baby department at a store, visited a jade shop, and then went to a book store. We found some Chinese / English children’s books, and a bunch of CDs. I bought a set of children’s CD, and some Chinese opera CDs. The children’s CDs were easy to find (you look for pictures of kids, duh), but I was having trouble with the Chinese opera CDs. I found our translator, Laura, and she managed to find an opera buff in the store who picked out a few CDs for me.

When we got back to the hotel, we had a quick appointment with De to drop off some paperwork, and then we went to lunch with a few families.

After wandering around for a while, we decided on a restaurant and spend over two hours there. It was nice to relax.

After that, we went shopping. We bought a few items at a store, and then went to Jennifer’s. De knows Jennifer, and makes sure that we get a good deal there. Our stroller is from her store (it is either free, or a rental that we already paid for) and we also use their laundry service. We bought a silk jacket for me and a white dress for Gracie. Angela and Gracie are having matching outfits made, too. After those and some other items, I had no money left in my pocket and I have to stop back later to pay the balance.

We probably won’t go out for dinner tonight. It is nearly 7:00pm right now, and we are hoping to get Gracie down soon. She is currently dancing and giggling with Angela, so we will see how that goes.

Tomorrow we visit the hospital for Gracie’s physical exam. This is a requirement for her US entry visa. The amount of paperwork we have done so far is amazing. Between the paper chase, the updates to the paper chase, the Chinese adoption, and the US visa, we have done a monumental amount of paperwork. We will have even more to do when we get home to get Gracie’s US birth certificate, etc.

I think we are going to visit the Mattel playroom in the hotel.