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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.

Photos

To Beihai

Day 8 - Visit to Beihai City (Thurs. 6/24)

We checked out of our hotel in Nanning around 9:30 am and unfortunately had to wait nearly an hour for our guide to arrive. Once he arrived we left Nanning for a three hour drive to Beihai City. This is where Lia's orphanage is located, where she lived with her foster family, and where she was found. The drive was on a very nice highway with little traffic. We passed many rural villages along the way. Some of the area was mountainous and some was farmland. It was a good feeling to be out of the city. We arrived at our hotel, the Shangri-La, around 1:30 in the afternoon. Our guide helped us check in but then basically told us he would meet us the next day at 9:30 am for the orphanage visit. We were told we would only be able to see the outside of the orphanage. Here we were in our daughter's city and left on our own. We were extremely disappointed with our guide. The hotel was older but we had a nice big room that overlooked the bay and a wonderful swimming pool next to the ocean. Since the guide did not help us to get lunch we ate some noodle dishes we had brought (similar to Ramen noodles) and then went down to the pool. There was no one else swimming. The pool even had a small waterslide for kids. Andrew had a great time. The water was nice and warm (which I liked). Paul mostly sat at the edge of the pool with Lia. I had brought stacking cups for her to play with so we took a few to the pool. We got her to start pouring water from cup to cup and by the time we left the pool she was playing on the step of the pool and had gotten quite wet. She still wouldn't get into the water or let Paul get in but hopefully we will turn her into a water girl soon enough. Paul was of course just dying to get into the water! He promised Andrew that after Lia went to bed they would go swimming together. After swimming we decided to get dinner. The hotel restaurant prices were very high so we got directions to a nearby restaurant. We walked and only had cross one section of road. It was busy but mostly with electric motorbikes. We found the restaurant and went in. After we were seated and we started looking at the menu, we tried to ask some simple questions. The waitress called over another waitress and she spoke maybe four or five words in English. Of course I forgot the translation book at the hotel so we just sort of winged it. Luckily most of the menus in China have pictures. We ordered a dish that looked like a sweet and sour dish (it was sweet and sour pork, that was very tasty but the meat had bones in it so it was hard to eat), and broccoli. We also tried to order just rice or noodles, however I had pointed to a picture of another dish with rice in it (there are no pictures of just plain rice or noodles) and that is what we got. We don't know what it was exactly, but it was some type of rice, vegetables and meat. It was not our favorite dish. Bedtime was again very hard for Lia. I took Andrew to the pool so Daddy could get her to sleep and then we switched places and I stayed in the room so Paul could swim with Andrew. Unlike daytime, the pool was busy with people. The hotel seemed to be more alive at night, with people in the lobby, the business center, and the pool. It was really nice being outside in the warm weather at the pool. Paul and Andrew had a great time together. It was a very nice relaxing setting.

Oh, and a couple of side notes: One of the pool attendants really got a kick out of watching Andrew swim. He was a very kind young man that could speak some English. Also, at one point during the day while swimming a group of attractive young women employed by the hotel walked by the pool area and also seemed to really enjoy Andrew. Later, we saw them at the hotel restaurant and one of them mentioned what a good swimmer he was. Andrew told me he saw them at the pool looking at him and he thought they were so beautiful that he wasn't paying attention and bumped his head in the pool! Andrew has been of interest to many people. Chinese people from rural areas and smaller cities do not see many western children. They are very interested in him and have also taken photos of him.

Last Day in Nanning

Day 7 - Nanning visit to Mountain Park (Wed. 6/23)

We met our guide (really only an interpreter, he did not really do much else) in the morning and went to Jiangxi (spelling) Mountain Park which overlooks part of the city of Nanning. It was a very pretty park that was fairly extensive. The part of the park we entered had a covered walkway which was recently built. It was a very hot, humid, and sunny day so it was nice to walk under a covered area. During one of the stops along the walkway I took out some bubbles and began blowing them. Lia was very excited about the bubbles and wanted to hold the bottle and dip the bubble wand. I let her and she would hold the wand for me to blow the bubbles. This was the first time that she let me play with her. It was really our first break through moment of enjoying each other. Other times she would just push me away or shake her head no to me. After our bubble time we walked some more. There was an area with outdoor exercise type equipment which Andrew enjoyed trying out and then a section of park with Chinese zodiac sculptures. Our driver picked us up and took us to another part of the park. There was a pond loaded with carp that the kids were able to feed. Both Lia and Andrew enjoyed feeding the fish and watching them. There were so many fish they literally looked as if they were swimming on top of each other, out of the water! We were also able to rent a small boat to ride around the pond. We were the only boat on the water and Andrew was the captain! It was a fun little ride although the wiring on the boat's forward and reverse switch was interesting. It got very hot as we drove the boat around. I don't think that it would have passed US safety standards. After the park we headed to McDonald's for lunch. Andrew got a happy meal and I got a double cheeseburger, fries, and a coke (diet coke does not seem to be available). Paul did not get anything and we weren't sure if Lia would like the food, but she sure enjoyed the french fries! When we returned to the hotel, Paul sat with Lia until she went to sleep. We all took a nap. This was the first day that Lia started crying for her foster Mother at naptime and at bedtime (her Di Yi). She also seemed very subdued and sad while we were in the hotel room. When we went out she was very happy and wanted to hold Daddy's and Andrew's hands but each time we returned her personality would completely shift. We know she is grieving for her loss and it is so hard. She is also very attached to the shoes she was wearing when they brought her to us. She does not want to take them off, even at bedtime. That afternoon we went to the hotel pool and discovered that Lia wanted nothing to do with getting into the water. To Paul's dismay, she did not want Daddy to get into the water either and screamed and cried when he jumped in. Needless to say, Daddy sat by the pool with Lia while Andrew and I enjoyed the water. He was able to get her to put her feet in the water sitting by the edge but that was about it. After the pool we headed out for another run to Walmart to buy some snacks and blankets to give to the orphanage. We discovered that Lia had definitely been shopping before. She picked up some children's shorts and held them up to her to see what they looked like! We bought some Chinese cookies and yogurt drinks which are very popular with children. On our way back to the hotel we picked up some dinner. Once it was time for bed, Lia got very upset. Her shoes had been off and she put them on and kept trying to pull Paul to the door. She cried and cried for her foster Mom. Everything she was doing told us she wanted to go home. She wanted to leave. It breaks your heart to know what she is going through and to know that her foster Mom is most certainly grieving too. Eventually Paul was able to get her to sleep.