I'm really glad we spent the first week in Beijing. Rocky took us all over the city ... Showing us, teaching us, and feeding us the culture. We visited the government run Jade Factory where they taught us how to distinguish real from fake jade, the silk workshop where we dropped plenty of cash, and even said he thought I had spent enough money and saved me from going to the pearl market! ... wise man. He brought us to Tian'anmen Square, where we couldn't get within a mile radius without being asked to show our passports on multiple occasions (that whole 25th anniversary thing had people a bit tense) ... He brought us to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, dropped us off at a Tea House for a Chinese Tea ceremony, etc etc ... LOVED all of it.
Then we got to Fuzhou.
Awesome, of course, because this is where we got James. But wow ... we've gotten little taste of the culture ... but the culture got plenty of tastes from us... The mosquitos are horrendous. Any adoptions in the Fujian Province must go through the capital - Fuzhou. The adoption center/office here has only two women, Maggie and Ring, who act as guides - and one driver. ...for all of the Fujian Province adoptions. Accordingly, they have little time to play guide, as they are busy taking care of all the necessary paperwork to make the adoption final before we leave the province. There was an attempt ... Panda World ... at sharing the local flavor. It included about 6 pandas, several red pandas, and about 402,931 mosquitos.
The next day, Margot's family went (we flip flopped Panda World and orphanage trip days ... as their daughter was from a different orphanage) ... Anyway, they told us they asked Ring if there was anything else to see, and she brought them to Old Fuzhou, which they loved. So we asked Maggie, and she brought us today. It was really cool, and we told her they should add it to the list of things they do with families while they are in town. Not sure how she took our unsolicited advice ... But hoping she seriously considers it.
She also said Fuzhou is known for its gardens - it would have also been nice to visit one of those. But again, with only 2 of them, I get it's hard play guide and organize paperwork all week.
While in Beijing, I felt like we were learning the culture and enjoying everything around us. Fuzhou (until today when we toured Old Fuzhou) feels more foreign ... The fact I couldn't understand anyone, and they couldn't understand me felt more emphasized here. There is a beautiful boardwalk near the hotel, but you can walk it with a 2 year old, only so far. And the stares ... some with smiles, some with scowls, did begin to tire me.
Tomorrow, it's onto Guangzhou, where I hope it will be more like Beijing - things to do.
We get James' Chinese passport tomorrow afternoon at 3:30, then make the hour drive back to the airport. It'll be James' first time on a plane. Fuzhou is where he officially became our son. In Guangzhou, (location of the U.S. Consulate) he becomes a U.S. citizen and we get his exit visa.
Margot and her family head to Beijing, where the Dutch Embassy is located. Since we've been here, we made a wonderful friend in Rocky and now Margot and her family. It's a shame Beijing and Holland aren't all that close to Virginia :). ... Guess that's what Skype, email, and Facebook are for ... right?
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