Sorry for the absence from posting… Lots has been going on here! I will update on that also, but wanted to continue recapping our time in China before I forget it all!
Shamian Island is famous among adoptive families. It used to be the home of the US Consulate and the White Swan Hotel, which was where all the Internationals stayed when they came to adopt. Much of the island was built in the 1890’s, and the colonial style is very evident. It’s a gorgeous place, reminiscent of Savannah, GA. Professional models were having photo shoots while we were there (many in clothing with misspelled English words written on it!), and Chinese tourists were going photo crazy with their selfie sticks all around. Because of the islands long relationship with adoption, there are many statues that are iconic photo ops for adopters, but we were not “in the know” and didn’t take pictures with them! Oh well!
The fam (minus the photographer) at Shamian Island
Even the Starbucks was photo-op worthy. Incidentally, my favorite travel souvenirs are coffee mugs, and the one from Guangzhou has a picture of this Starbucks as part of the cityscape on it!
We had only a couple of hours to spend there, and we used them well! We shopped for traditional silks for Lily Belle to wear on Chinese New Year for the next 10 years, squeaky shoes, and some more gifts for loved ones back home. We enjoyed trying our hand at haggling, which is expected by the shop owners here. Once I didn’t haggle, and the shop owner threw in double what I bought for free… I think he felt bad knowing I paid too much! This is also where you eat at Lucy’s (Real-live American food with servers who speak great English!)
After this excursion, the boys wanted to stay in the hotel while Jeff and I took Lily with us to dinner. In their words, they wanted “bro time.” (Oh, how I love that they want and need bro time together!) We made sure some of the other families were planning to stay in, so the boys could contact them in emergency, and off we went to find food! We walked about three blocks and found a schmancy German restaurant. It was clean! It was air conditioned! They served German beer! You couldn’t even smell China once you got up the stairs and through the foyer. The meal was better than the German restaurants we have here in North Alabama (not impressive unless you realize how many German immigrants live here).
We passed this restaurant on our walk. The workers were having fun goofing and dancing for us before they posed for the picture!
Lily Belle’s food was good to the last drop!
We also saw more playfulness coming out in Lily Belle this day. She had some down time in the afternoon, and she spent it “cooking” with water bottles and stacking cups in the hotel room.
On the walk back home, since it was just the three of us, we stopped at some of the roadside stands and purchased some fun things to entertain the kiddos during down time at the hotel. That was an experience! Once you bite at one of those things, they don’t want to let you leave!! They want to sell you the whole cart and “Do great price! You offer! What you pay? Come on! Throw this for free!” Not to mention the fella with the questionably obtained iPhone 6… He was chasing every foreign person down the street trying to sell that thing! Fun times!