Catching up....

So many things to catch up on!

Dinner on Monday night with Jennifer and Dana, friends of mine from the Rumor Queen adoption website, was fantastic.  They both have fantastic families, and it was so nice to chat (in American english!) with other families about the highlights and the challenges of our newly adopted children.  We took a couple of taxis to Tekila, a Mexican restaraunt near the Garden Hotel, in the business district of Guangzhou.

Yes, that's Matthew on the right, with the miniature sombrero on.  Can't take him anywhere.  :o)

Mi nino nuevo no te gusta la comida Mexicana.  Tenemos una problemo pequeno cuando reunir a los Estados Unidos.  Mi familia comer muchas comidas Mexicanas!

April, Dana, Jennifer

Elliott and his new little buddy, Cameron LinFong Edmondson.  Cameron is 4 years old, Elliott is only two.  Elliott was more interested in playing near Cameron than playing with Cameron.  I think part of that is just his age.  Cameron is a beautiful boy with a smile that could melt butter, and a family that also just adores him!

Tuesday

This was the sign at the bottom of the Bai Yun San, the "White Cloud Mountain" that we climbed up the next morning.  Since we are the only family that Jack is helping this week we had the flexibility to adjust our schedule.  We were origonally going to see the Chen Clan Temple today, but decided that we needed some exercise instead.  We got just what we asked for!

Locked and loaded, and ready to go!

A little history on one of the tombs we passed on the way up the mountain.

The tomb is behind us.  Kind of creepy.

Tired Mommy, tired Elliott.  We're about 1/3 of the way up the mountain at this point.

There's a cable car that will take you up about half way.  But that's cheating!

We stopped a couple of times to rest our legs and have a snack.

Check out that view!!!  The smog cuts out half of the city, but it stretches back as far as the eye can see.  Guangzhou is H-U-G-E!  We were glad to get out of the smog for the day.  My nose was much happier.  I usually have to carry Kleenex because my nose gets so plugged when we go out walking.  I totally understand why some people wear face masks when they go outside, although I can honestly say that I can't detect a smell to it.  But as you can see, it's certainly real.

April and Jack.  (See how steep these steps are?!?!)

After about an hour and a half, we got to the last climb: the Moxing Summit!

The Bai Yun San is huge, and because of the rapid sprawl of Guangzhou, it's now completely surrounded by city.  It has several different parks and hiking paths to different peaks.  We went to the highest one.  (Go big or go home, right!?)

Just past the gate to the summit there was a small buddhist temple.  This tree is covered in red ribbons.  It has nothing to do with the buddhist religion, but instead was started by couples making wishes together and tying their fortunes to the tree.  Each one has writing on it.  As you can see, the trend really took off!

Baba took a turn carrying our little panda bear at the summit.  My legs couldn't carry that extra thirty pounds any further. 

At last, we arrived!  And it was SO worth it!

Imagine this going all the way around: 360 degrees!

Beautiful little pagoda just below the sumitt, with the city below it.

Look at this huge hill in the middle of the city.  It looks like the city just swallowed it whole.

Ta-dah!

Heading back down was much faster, but not much easier.  Instead of my calves burning, it was my quads.  And we were getting hungry.

Jack knew a pretty scenic trail on the way down.  I got some amazing pictures!

 There were a few really old buildings hidden in the mountain that we went by on the way down.  Check out this gorgeous stained glass window with the hand-painted glass insert in the middle!

So peaceful!  I loved hearing birds again, and the sun felt SO good!

Guangzhou is in a tropical climate.  The plants were so different!

Following Jack down some carved steps in the rock of the mountain.

Our path actually took us through this cave.  So cool!

There were Chinese characters carved into the side of the mountain in scenic little spots on the back pass going down. 

the Beresford boys! 

Best Guangzhou guide ever!

We went through an area that had these Chinese poems carved into slabs of granite.  I don't have to know exactly what they say to think that this is one of the most beautiful and serene spots in this part of the country!

We found a little vendor selling drinks bacvk ong the main path.  This photo explains why some of the people here think we are weird.  :o)  I think he was trying to make Elliott laugh.

This was part of a wall fountain.  The detail was amazing.

Those are dollar bills floating in the water.  In China, you can get fifty-cent and ten-cent paper money.  Coins aren't used nearly as much here as they are there.

I was so intrigued by this scultpture/carving.  It's a nine-dragon tower.

Are you seeing the theme here?

This is where we sat down for lunch.

The view from our table was the perfect shaded birds-eye view of the city!

And this was the view behind us.  Win-Win!

Little panda bear was hungry, too!

These beautiful lanterns were hanging from the banyan trees around and above us.  Those strings you see hanging from the trees are actually roots: they grow down to the ground and then seed themselves in, and become part of the trunk.  That's what gives the trunks unique appearance.  Many people trim them so you can walk under them, as they have here.

Mmmmm!  Tasty!

(That's the kitchen behind me)

I could have sat for hours with this view. 



On the road again, with full bellies....

Ni de mao zi!  (My hat!)

Waterfall.

Pink tropical flowers, blue sky: it's a good day!

There was a unique sidewalk next to the cement pavement that was quite pretty to look at.  Jack says that it's for walking on without shoes.  Ouch!  I trust him that it's quite painful, but there were some brave folks trying it.  I don't care how smooth those rocks are, it has to hurt!  And I don't care how good it is for reflexology, I'm keeping my shoes on!

 

 

The drive back to the hotel was a quiet one.  Elliott fell asleep tied on my back during the last 45 minutes of the walk down, and woke back up as we were getting in the car.  We were all exhausted!  What a great day, though.  It's one I will always remember.

Elliott wouldn't take a nap again when we got back, so we went up to the pool again.  Elliott is getting braver with each experience, but it isn't helping us with bath time.  I have no idea why the bathtub scares the daylights out of him.  Our neighbors in the hotel must think we are torturing him.  He screams like we are sawing fingers off.  And we've tried everything to find a solution that makes him more comfortable.  I'm not sure how to get around this one.

We ate at a Chinese-Italian restaraunt for dinner, on Di Shi Fu Road.  (Fun fact I learned today: this area has 10,000 individual market shops!)  It wasn't good.  It was cheap, yes, but made the food at OCB look like the 1913 room at the Amway Grand.  I'm still on Cipro, so I figured I was bullet-proof.    I'm a little disappointed at myself for seeking out familiar comfort foods so often, but I'm on day 14 now so I am having a little grace with myself.  It's been a long journey!

Time for bed now.  Tomorrow is our last full day in Guangzhou, and we have an early appointment (8:30am) at the U.S. Consulate to make Elliott a United States citizen and our offically adopted son!  I can finally see the end of the paper trail!