May 28 2010 Shijiazhoung to Guongzhou

We are leaving Shijiazhoung and onto Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel, Shamian Island. We said good bye to Ms. Ana the Century Hotel asst. mgr. who was so nice to us and Michael our guide and Mr. Wong our Driver.

Alex was not happy about being buckled in during the flight. Once we were airborn all was good. He had a little friend who shared her cookies and told him "bakoola, bakoola, hollar hollar".

May 25-27 2010

No appointments and no trips. Alex decided he didn't want to walk anymore so we got a stroller from the mall. When we walked the streets we were quite the oddity. Castor decided to say 'ni hao" to everyone with a big smile. They must have thought "what crazy foreigners"! But it stopped the stares. We met families with their kids, and even though we couldn't communicate we had conversations. Alex met alot of "gou" and we know he will be great with Bebo and Blossom when we get home. We ate alot at KFC and found a Mc Donalds and Pizza Hut at the end of the trip. Their menus are quite different but you can find something from "home" on them.

May 24 2010 Diyin Temple

Diyin Temple is home to the famous Smiling Happy Buddah or the Good Luck Buddah.
Outside of the city we saw blue skies. Alex did not want to go into the buildings but overall he enjoyed that trip. Mr. Wong our drive gave Alex a new "gou". We named it Bebo like his "gou" at home.

May 23 2010 childrens science Museum

This was the one thing Alex liked at the Science Museum. Too many kids, too loud.

May 22 trip to Zoo

Quick trip to the Zoo with Alex. We heard

"bakoola Bakoola" "hollar hollar" alot.

(Don't cry, it's ok). He loves the van trips though.

May 21 2010 Botanical Gardens and Amusement park

Sensory overload for poor Alex. Our daily trips were short each day. The first was to a Botanical Garden and way too much stimulation for Alex. he decided he didn't want to walk so we took a 4 person bike. Our guide Michael drove the bike. Note* he can't drive a car and we let Michael drive the bike. Apparently children in foster care do not get out much, Maybe only 1 time a month to the orphanage visit.

city walks Shijiazhoung

We spent alot of our days walking around the immediate vicinity of the hotel. Shijiazhoung is the capital of Hebei. Since it is not as westernized as some cities-like Beijing-we had a hard time so we stayed close to the hotel when we were not with our guide.