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From China with Love
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Travel to Adoption City & Guangzhou
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On this page, I hope to capture the sights and sounds "on the road" to Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. Hefei was
where we stayed for a week to process the adoption paperwork. Sadira and other children adopted by the families
in our travel group were brought to the hotel from two different orphanages.
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A slightly older picture of Sadira, probably taken in the summer (notice the mosquito bites?), with
a nanny from the orphanage.
First Week in China - LAX to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
via Shanghai and Suzhou: Michael Han, Director of our adoption agency in Oregon, left messages all over just
to be sure that we get his message - one with a summary of our travel plans. We made our reservations for our pre-adoption
tour with Lotus Travel July 21st. We also received the official "Travel Approval" from CCAA and an updated photo of Sadira
from the orphanage on July 22nd (see photo above). It was difficult for us to tell when that picture was taken, but she looks
"tall," but healthy, with a few mosquito bites (I hope that's all it is). We decided to bring all 2-T sizes for clothes, and
#3 and #4 diapers just in case.
We left Los Angeles around 1 am Mon. 8/2/99, arrived in Guangzhou
6 am Tues. 8/3, and Shanghai at about 11 am. Our tour guide picked us up and immediately took us to lunch. Lunch? Dinner was
more like it. It was 8 pm August 2 in Los Angeles -- way past our dinner time! We checked into the Regal Shanghai East Asia
Hotel, a 5-star hotel, took a quick nap, and our guide took us to visit Peggy's aunt and cousin in the "old district." We
sent the guide away since Peggy's cousin insisted on showing us "around." We saw Peggy's "old neighborhood" -- pretty depressing!
We had vegetarian "dinner" (more like early morning snack for us) and went back to the hotel and crashed. The next day (Wed.
8/4), our guide took us on a private tour of Shanghai. We visited the Pu Dong financial district on the "waterfront," where
many foreign inventment firms are located, and where many European buildings are still standing nowadays. We went to the "Jade
Temple," the "Yu Garden," had dinner at a restaurant where, according to the guide, President Clinton and his family had their
dinner there also. On Thurs. 8/5, we visited Suzhou (where my mother was born) and had a blast seeing all the gardens and
temples. The heat and humidity made the sightseeing less enjoyable, but we survived. At about 8 pm, we flew to Huangshan City,
Anhui Province.
Continue below...
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Sadira's first bottle of diluted but cool grape juice. She was thirsty from the long and hot ride
in a car from her orphanage. She came to daddy without any problem, and went to mommy immediately. Once in our
arms, she refused to go back to the nanny or be carried by anyone from the orphanage. Amazing instant bonding with us...
We were elated!!!
Second Week in China (Part II) - First
Moment on "Gotcha Day:" Breakfast in the hotel (in a rotating resturant on the top floor with a panoramic view of
Hefei City) was great, but we didn't have much appetite though. We were to meet the provinical officials, the orphanage directors
and 7 babies at 10 am in the hotel's conference room. When Peggy and I walked in at 9:30 am, there were lots of parents, and
only 2 crying babies. Our guide, Mr. Ding, immediately walked up to us and told us that "our" babies arrived early. Instant
fatherhood and panic!!! Who could she be? A 50-50 chance of being right: there were only two choices. "Can't be that difficult!"
I was right. I recognized our daughter immediately, crying her eyes out next to her nanny!
Sadira looked so beautiful at first sight, and second, and third...
I was a bit "misty-eyed." She was crying along with the other baby. The nanny explained to my wife, in Chinese, that they
were frightened by the "strange looking" people in the room -- the well-wishing parents who were still waiting for their babies.
I offered her a bottle of cool grape juice, which she took immediately, depsite the nanny's effort to pull it away from her
(in China, cold drinks are just not given to babies). I gave her the singing Big Bird, and she was so fascinated by the toy
that she stopped crying (she was still intermittently crying with a bottle in her mouth). After 5 or 10 more minutes, she
finally came to daddy. I was so excited that I was trembling, as if I were to drop her on the floor. After 10 more minutes,
I passed her on to Peggy. Instant bonding! Since that moment, she wouldn't let anyone else carry her, not even her nanny and
the orphanage director, and not even daddy! For the next few days, she warmed up to both of us, and it was "o.k." for me to
carry her when mommy is not "in sight." Both Peggy and I were so surprised that we would never forget the week we spent in
Hefei with Sadira.
Continue Below...
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First Day (afternoon): napping comfortably in mommy's lap (waiting for more paperwork at the Holiday
Inn, Hefei).
Second Week in China (Part I) - From Huangshan to Hefei (the Adoption City):
We stayed Thurs. night (8/5) in the city due to the late hours. The hotel was located next to a river. I woke up at 3 am,
unable to sleep. I heard voices of early workers crossing the bridge on their bikes. It was dark and no street lights. I saw
shimmering lights coming from early rising fishermen in their fishing boats. At day break (Fri.8/6), we had breakfast at the
hotel, stored our luggage, and were driven to Huangshan. We took the cable car instead of hiking up the 14,000 well-built
concrete steps. At the summit, we hiked to our hotel, checked in, rested a little, and hiked all over the mountain peaks (another
4,000 steps) for the best views of various scenic spots. On Sat., 8/7, we were rudely awaken by our wake-up call at 4:30 am
so that we won't miss the infamous "sun-rise" on Huangshan. Well, the call was worth it -- we saw, for a split second, several
golden rays peeking through the "sea of clouds," followed by a bright orange sun rising immediately behind. What a spectacular
sight! Those other tourists who got up even earlier all marvelled at the sight. We finished our sightseeing on Huangshan that
afternoon, and took a twin-engine prop plane to Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui Province. We stayed at the Holiday
Inn. Our corner room allow us to have a very nice panoramic view of the city. We rested that evening. We met with
the other parents from our adoption group on Sunday, 8/8 and had dinner together with Michael Han, and talked about the next
day, Aug. 9, the "Gotcha" Day. I was too excited to have gotten any sleep that Sunday evening.
Continue Below...
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| Bystanders playing with and admiring Sadira's beautiful temperment (at the Bao Kung temple). |
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| Michael's aunt tieing Sadira's shoes, White Swan Lobby! |
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| With Michael Han at White Swan Hotel Lobby |
Continue Next Column...
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Lunch on "Gotcha Day:" One for you and one for me...Sadira had so much fun with her Cheerios that she did this to
mommy and daddy until the real food came...
We just love to walk!!! Sadira walking with mom holding on to her hand, at the Holiday Inn in Hefei.
Our Last Week in China - four days in Guangzhou: We flew to Guangzhou Sunday 8/14. We found
that the heat and humidity was worse. I was reluctant to leave the White Swan Hotel after we checked in. Unfortunately, we
had to get our daughter's passport photos done that evening, and there's no way out. It was an unpleasant 85 degrees with
90% humidity at about 6 or 7 in the evening. We couldn't decide where to eat, so a few of us ordered out -- Pizza Hut!! The
next morning, we walked to a designated medical examiner's building to complete the medical report for the U.S. Consulate.
More heat and humidity (and it was raining)! The sightseeing in the afternoon was unbearable: my shirt was soaked, camera
lens fogged up, and I was drenched. We were interviewed by the US Consulate on Tue., 8/17, picked up Sadira's exit visa on
Wed., 8/18, and we flew home that evening.
(Postscript: White Swan Hotel, allegedly a five-star hotel, did not quite live up its reputation. Grant it,
the place is like a "Grand Central Station" for babies, but the noisiest bunch was not the adoptive parents and babies. It
was the vacationers from Hong Kong and other southeast Asian countries. They were loud, and their children unruly - just my
unfortunate observation while strolling with Sadira in the hotel. May be my sore throat got the best of me and I wasn't about
to be polite. The hotel staff was, however, very courteous, and the service was very good. Items in the shops there were pricey,
not my cup of tea!)
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| At the White Swan Hote: ready to go sightseeing!! |
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| Dr. Susan took a picture of us: "Say Cheese!" |
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