Jan 13, 2012 - Nanchang Jan 13 Kady's visa

Yay - our last day in Nanchang. Same as every other day here - gray. I had some adoption stuff to do today but it was all at the hotel. First Kady needed her visa picture taken and then I had paperwork that need to be done for the embassy. Little did we all know it would take 2 hours. I had left Kady in the hotel room with Cheryl and I felt bad that I was gone so long. We waited for a couple of hours for Kady to have her afternoon nap, but when that never happened, we decided to go out for a walk. Kady fell asleep within 5 minutes of being...

Jan 12, 2012 - Nanchang Jan 12 ancient village

Today was a free day so our guide arranged for a tour of an ancient village. The bus ride was probably the craziest part of the day. I didn't expect to spend 1 1/2 hours careening down a narrow highway, horn blaring the entire way. And Kady slept through it all, while I seriously regretted not bringing the motion sickness bracelets and the Gravol. There are actually lines painted on the road and traffic lights, but they seem to be more of a suggestion than actual rules. Anyway, we made it there safely,but a little car sick. We had no idea...

Jan 11, 2012 - Visit the Temple of Teng Wang Ge

Today didn't start off too great. I won't be too indelicate but I was up most of the night with intestinal issues and when I wasn't in the bathroom, Kady was having some night terrors and woke up screaming a few times. She slept on me for a while, the bed is too small for her to sleep beside me. Cheryl did sit bolt upright when Kady screamed and I felt bad that her sleep was being disturbed, but she didn't even remember this happening in the morning. Years of experience, I guess. We walked to the the Temple of Teng Wang Ge just a couple of...

Jan 10, 2012 - Nanchang Jan 10: shopping...

Today began at 5:15 a.m. when a funeral procession complete with band and fire crackers came by the hotel. It must have been somebody important because the fire crackers were never ending. This all woke Kady up way too early (and Cheryl and I too!)and kind of threw her off for the whole day. We went to Wal Mart for some supplies and Cheryl and I thought an hour would not be nearly enough....until we got there. Total chaos. More staff than I have ever seen in any store. In the formula aisle alone there was 6 staff. All just standing there...

Jan 9, 2012 - Nanchang Jan 9

So much to tell about today. We had a lot of adoption business to take care of so we were gone most of the day. First thing in the morning we left for the Adoption Center (Civil Affairs) where Kady and I had our picture taken for some official documents and then I was interviewed to make sure that I would take care of her and never abandon or abuse her. Then we were given a porcelain cup as a momento. We then had to go to a Notary where I was asked more questions - my age,occupation, whether I accepted Kady for adoption, if I promised to...

Jan 8, 2012 - Travel to Nanchang & Meet Kady!

So, this has been one long, hard, exhausting day. Nanchang is a very poor, smoggy city. Got Kady @ 4:30pm, she cried basically nonstop for a couple of hours, then had to go downstairs so Keri could do paperwork and the "donation". It is really hard to know what the baby needs, she has broken a bottom tooth and her cheeks are bright red. It is now 9:20 and Keri has given her a bath (cried the whole time) and put her to bed. Hope she sleeps a while. She took a bottle around 6pm. We basically don't eat much at all and are totally exhausted. We...

Nov 8, 2011 - Ganzhou

Where did we find this hotel? It's very strange. They took the room deposit, in 2 transactions for each of us, the Western Restaurant only has Chinese food and the bar has no Tsingtao Beer. The hotel is enormous but only has a hanful of guests most of the people wandering around seem to be local kids. Arrived at the airport in a torrential downpour and it has hardly stopped since. We tried to have a drink in the bar after we arrived and the person in there told us it was his private bar but invited us in for a drink. He reminded me of a...

Apr 14, 2008 - Wuyuan Villages

Yes, it is tea harvesting season! Tea leaves are always new growth. Travelled from village to village here following old post roads. Wild azalea, viburnum, wisteria, iris (white with yellow throat), wigelia (sp?), osmanthus and many other unidentified plants.

Nov 21, 2007 - Beijing

Well after a great flight (we were able to upgrade to Business Class with United for a very reasonable price)we landed in a very smog filled Beijing. Our guide was there and took us to the hotel were we were turned in early. The photos above represent the highlights of our vist to Beijing which include the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square (no tanks in sight), the Forbidden City, a cloisonne and carpet factory, opera school and the summer palace. Hotel is great with all ammendities and food has been plentiful, good and interesting. After a very...

Oct 24, 2005 - Guilin to Jiujiang (daves version)

Unfortunately we had to leave Yangshuo but we are heading towards the Yangzi River to visit Mili. Mili is teaching English in Jiujiang so it was a trip to Guilin then a 16 hour train journey to see her. I am starting to realise that transport here sucks. The train was pretty bad.It goes standing, hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper, soft sleeper. Tickets are hard to come by and so we were only able to get hard seats. Not good for a 16 hour overnight journey. [DAVE MONOLOGUE BEGINS HERE] Upgrading the tickets was the main priority, a task...

Sep 12, 2005 - Hong Kong

We treated ourselves to a nice hotel in Hong Kong which was well worth it, especially since we were so disoriented from the long flight and the very crazy place that is Hong Kong. In many ways it is our worst nightmare. It is hot, humid, crowded, polluted, and all there is to do is shop. If I had responded to every offer for a tailored suit I'd have a different suit for every day of the year. And if I'd responded to every offer for a copy rolex (at least they're honest) I'd have a year's supply of those as well. We've never seen so many...

Oct 13, 2004 - Yellow Mountains & Hangzhou

Well I must say I am alittle behind in keeping up with these writings, but we had a short and enjoyable visit here. We stayed in a very nice hotel, which Paul was able to book throughout our trip here in China for pennies on the dollar. On our first morning here we went to West Lake one of 30 West Lakes in China, but Hangzhou (pronounced hung jo) is perhaps the most famous. One side of the lake faces the city of Hangzhou and the other sides are surrounded by mountains, which are often shrouded in mist. The scenery was beautiful as we sailed...