Kaia's Quest
Friday, June 06, 2003
Last post from China! More details tomorrow when we arrive home, sorry for shortness of post. We are moments away from departing and all is completed and well. Looking forward to giving everyone more details at length. Mostly shopping and cleanup last two days, there's been some rain. See you all soon! Chuck Amy & kids.
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
==Tuesday:
Woke up early for the trip to Guangzhou - much less hectic than the original leg from Guangzhou to Changsha. Arrived in Guangzhou around lunchtime, everyone hot and tired even though the trip was short. Met by Maggie, same young girl who met us in Guangzhou originally to get us on the Changsha flight. She provided a wonderful overview, map, and itinerary for the next few days. Some trepidation getting to the hotel - the bus was having engine problems - but we managed to limp along and arrived unscathed... The hotel is a very impressive place, filled with jade statues, urns, screens and embroidery both for display and for sale. Ground floor has an impressive array of stors ranging from jade to photo supplies to books to clothing of all kinds. You could shop yourself to death and never leave the hotel...
But we did anyway, wandering down several of the nearby streets. The pace in this area is much more relaxed than in Changsha - it almost feels like a Chinese version of Bermuda. Many many small merchants selling jade, clothing, artwork. Lots of western-style stores including a 7-11. Found the kids more Yu-Gi-Oh cards (arg). Late afternoon meal for just us 5 at Lucy's, a cantina-style restaurant which features a healthy selection of Mexican food, of all things... excellent chili. Gotta figure chili's a safe thing to eat in China, right? Right? Actually, it was quite good and proved very safe - nobody got sick... Arranged for laundry service - nearly every place does laundry, and cheaper than the hotel. Hotel prices in general are about 25-50% higher than in Changsha, but street prices are the same or less, and the access is better. The streets are much safer and smaller, not to mention they're not being torn up.
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==Wednesday:
AM meeting for the beginning of the end of the paperwork. Photo session across the street, then a 15-minute walk to a local clinic/hospital for the babies' physical exams (no shots, though). No problems or complications, except we got started late and had to be escorted by another guide, Jason - Maggie needed to take one of the adults (marsha schiff from new york) to another hospital to check a problem; she was examined and is OK for the duration - she was out doing paperwork and shopping later.. We also did some light shopping (ice cream and drinks!) after the clinic visit. I did afternoon paperwork preparation for the consulate with Maggie while Amy and the kids got lunch. Afterwards, I took Jason and Kaia for a walk while Alex and Amy rested more (she had slight stomach bug in AM, is OK now). More shopping in the evening with whole family, finally getting on the net tonight... Looks like we missed the dragon boats - we were trying to find out about them but we have heard conflicting reports including one that says they went by already, on the other side of the river. Nuts.
Monday, June 02, 2003
==Sunday:
AM trip to the "Ancient City Wall", a preserved section of fortifications from several hundred years ago. Good location at high point in city, some excellent picture views. Followed by trip to a cultural center, which had representative artwork from Hunan and other provinces. Group lunch, Cantonese again with some excellent fried crab. Visited a local tea shop, finally found green tea candies! (You'd think they'd be easier to find in China, but nooooo...). Pasted the boys at snooker before bedtime - doesn't hurt that we're making up the rules... Lil Miss Kaia Jade Qian-Qian is in excellent spirits and gets more comfortable with us each day.
==Monday:
AM trip to Hunan Provincial Museum, home of the infamous "Female Corpse", a 2000-year-old "soft mummy" who gives Mr Smile no end of joke material for us... very impressive exhibit of artifacts from the 3 tombs in Changsha, excavated in the mid-1970s.
Followed by trip to Martyr's Park - a huge park complex, mostly walkways and gardens but nooks with shops, rides, picnic tables, even an animal store scattered within - and the Tianxin Tower, showing an array of war veterans from the past, in the center of the park. On the way back, we picked up an extra suitcase in case we do any shopping in Guangzhou (like we could be stopped...) Spent most of the late afternoon and evening packing. Folks are well ready to make the move to Guangzhou, and all the paperwork seems to be in order - the babies' passports came today.
