Today was another GREAT day! We had LOTS of smiles! She's still not
very happy when we come in to the hotel, but while out today, we went
from having the most quiet baby to the loudest baby!
We started the day at the Six Banyan Temple, a Buddhist temple that is from the 7th century. It has been rebuilt, our guide Elvin said that many times if the Emperor did not believe in Buddhism, he would have all the temples torn down. They also use to allow people to climb to the top of it, but they have stopped allowing it because someone jumped off.
After lunch, of noodles in the room, we went to Shamian Island. Shamian Island is such a wonderful place. It was first settled by the British, so the buildings are just beautiful. It also use to be where everyone stayed when adopting, at the White Swan Hotel. Now the hotel is being renovated and so it is completely closed. The island was beautiful and such a nice place to walk around and just enjoy. There were some shops, I have heard many have had to close since the hotel is not open, they have lost a lot of business, there were many models, and we saw someone dressed up and being filmed......We had dinner at Lucy's, they serve American food!! Mike got his hamburger, not sure what the meat was because it didn't look like beef, but he didn't seem to care.....We ended up waiting FOREVER for a taxi to get back to the hotel, once it came, we crammed 4 adults, 3 kids, and 3 strollers in, once again had another fun adventure with our new friends from our travel group. Last night was interesting as well, trying to get back to the hotel, walking up and down stairs with 3 strollers. Lots of good memories!! So, as all my BTDT adoptive mom's have said, Guangzhou is AMAZING! We have really enjoyed it here, especially when we are missing home and the kids so much!
We started the day at the Six Banyan Temple, a Buddhist temple that is from the 7th century. It has been rebuilt, our guide Elvin said that many times if the Emperor did not believe in Buddhism, he would have all the temples torn down. They also use to allow people to climb to the top of it, but they have stopped allowing it because someone jumped off.
After lunch, of noodles in the room, we went to Shamian Island. Shamian Island is such a wonderful place. It was first settled by the British, so the buildings are just beautiful. It also use to be where everyone stayed when adopting, at the White Swan Hotel. Now the hotel is being renovated and so it is completely closed. The island was beautiful and such a nice place to walk around and just enjoy. There were some shops, I have heard many have had to close since the hotel is not open, they have lost a lot of business, there were many models, and we saw someone dressed up and being filmed......We had dinner at Lucy's, they serve American food!! Mike got his hamburger, not sure what the meat was because it didn't look like beef, but he didn't seem to care.....We ended up waiting FOREVER for a taxi to get back to the hotel, once it came, we crammed 4 adults, 3 kids, and 3 strollers in, once again had another fun adventure with our new friends from our travel group. Last night was interesting as well, trying to get back to the hotel, walking up and down stairs with 3 strollers. Lots of good memories!! So, as all my BTDT adoptive mom's have said, Guangzhou is AMAZING! We have really enjoyed it here, especially when we are missing home and the kids so much!
One of my favorite pictures of the entire trip!
She was moving so fast, I didn't get the pic focused.....oh well, she's still adorable!
6 of the 8 kids in our group. How awesome is it that these beautiful children are no longer orphans!!!
We
went to a craft market and this lacy was handpainting ceramics. It was
beautiful! Also, if you break something here, you have to buy
it...........yes, I learned this the hard way.......luckily it wasn't
one of the more expensive items.......
The notorious adoption photo!
This is a church on the island that has service every Sunday!
Now that looks like the little Olivia from the video!!! Yay!!!! I couldn't be happier for you!!! I just loved Shamian Island! It's so much fun to see all these wonderful places in China again!!!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!!!!!!!!! So glad that things are going better this week. I love seeing Olivia in pics with you!!! Miss you and can't wait to see you!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are planning the CNY Lunch Celebration -- just in time for you all to be recovered from the Jet Lag!!! Love Shamin Island - we always felt so "at home" there!
ReplyDeleteWow! Such a different child from a few days ago! The pics are just beautiful!
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