Beihai and to Guangzhou

Day 9- Friday 6/25 Beihai City to Guangzhou

We decided that since Lia had such hard time leaving the nannies and she has been missing her foster Mom so much that I would go to the orphanage and Paul and the kids would stay at the hotel. After breakfast, I met Glen and another family that had arranged an orsomehow to see the inside of the orphanage. I was fortunate enough to be there at the phanage visit. They are Canadian and have twin girls that were adopted four years ago. This family had pre-arranged somehow to see the inside of the orphanage. I was fortunate enough to be there at the right time. We arrived at the orphanage property and entered through a gate that was open. We parked and the orphanage director and several nannies came out to greet us. One of the nannies who had been in Nanning was there. It was raining and they brought umbrellas to us. The central area of the property had a garden like area with a statue and another area with a small pavilion. We entered the orphanage and other family was greeted by their daughter's nannies. They were very happy to see the girls and you could tell they cared a great deal for them. We then went to see the playroom area. It looked like the room that two the pictures of Lia were taken in. We were not allowed to take photos of the room. We removed our shoes before entering. It had a blue cushioned floor, was bright, and had many colorful poster hanging. There was also a corner with ribbons hanging from the ceiling. I met Lia's nanny from the time she spent in the orphanage. She was a kind, caring woman. She held my hand while we spoke through Glen. He explained why she did not come to the visit. I showed her picture of Lia on my camera. I was also able to have a photo taken with her. There was a little girl several months older than Lia there that was also cared for by the same nanny. She was so sweet and wanted to see the pictures too. Her name was Piaoyi (Lia's Chinese name is Piaoyun). When I showed her the pictures she hugged the camera. I think she may have remembered Lia but I am not sure. She was a sweet little girl. They told me that she was being adopted soon by another American family (hurray!) She followed me with her nanny throughout the visit and waved and said bye bye to me. There were probably 8 or 10 kids in the playroom and maybe 4 or 5 nannies. We also saw the sleeping rooms, an exercise/therapy room and a nursery area with several tiny babies. The head nanny was there during our tour so I was glad that Paul stayed back with Lia and Andrew. I feel fortunate to have been able to visit the orphanage. After returning to the hotel we packed up and met Glen a short while later. The driver drove us to the center of city. We walked around a bit and took some photos. There was a statue that represents the city of Beihai, known as the pearl city. Pearls are one of the main industries in Beihai. During the drive we went past a docking area for many traditional and very old Chinese fishing boats. Many of the boats are also homes for these families. We did not get to stop and take any photos. We also visited Lia's finding spot in front of a China Post (bank). It is heart wrenching to think about Lia's mother and this choice she had to make. In many cases the baby's mother will place her in a very public spot early in the morning and then hide somewhere to ensure that the baby is safely found. The mother will be arrested if she is caught.

After leaving, we stopped for a quick visit to Silver Beach, the main beach in Beihai. It is tourist location for the Chinese. We then headed back to Nanning to get Lia's passport and head to the airport for our final stop - Guangzhou. Glen took us into the airport and checked us in and from there we went through security to our gate. While waiting our gate was changed and we moved with the crowds to another gate. The airport was very crowded. It was a different experience as people just seemed in a hurry. There is no such thing as waiting politely for others, everyone just seems to push there way along. We boarded a bus to take us to our plane outside, maybe 100 yards away. Our flight departed at 7:55 and arrived in Guangzhou one hour later. Lia was able to sit on Paul's lap and did great on the plane ride. After landing in Guangzhou and picking up our luggage we met our guide, Helen. In the first 10 minutes we knew it would she was going to be wonderful! She asked if we were hungry and offered to stop and get us food, she told us about the hotel, she gave us the week's itinerary and explained to us the schedule for the next day. Once we arrived at the hotel, she requested extra water and towels for us and came to our room to be sure everything was okay. She even waited to be sure they brought us the extra items. We got ready for bed. Lia had a hard time with bed again (it will probably be this way for a while, she really misses her foster mama at bedtime) but Daddy worked his magic and got her to sleep.