Another day in China begins with more or less the same routine. Get up, get ready, go to breakfast. We have nothing on the agenda today and are planning to go to a former British concession called Shamian Island. It has a number of examples of colonial architecture and for many years was the home of the US Consulate and medical exams. Hundreds, if not thousands, of children adopted from China have come through here and we read a lot of blogs before our first adoption about it.
We went downstairs to meet one of our guides before she left to return to Beijing and to have the hotel concierge write Shamian Island in Cantonese for us to give to the taxi driver. Once we were set, we piled into the taxi and a short 10 minute drive later, we were there. Cabs are cheap in China and this was 20 yuan, so about $3.50(ish). We walked around Shamian Island and right away you know how popular of a destination this is. There were are least 10 couples getting wedding photos taken in the park area and around the island. We walked to a hotel called The White Swan to take a picture on the famous red couch. The picture attached here explains the significance.
We were shopping for a traditional Chinese outfit for Blaize and found it in a store called Michael’s. We chose this store because the lady working there just said Hello. Compare that to the “Everything 30% off for first customer of the day” speel we heard from others. Haggling for a bargain isn’t my deal and it’s not Julie’s either, but it is very much a part of Chinese culture. For us, it is a reason to avoid a store, not become a patron. Either way, we found what we were looking for as well as a stamp that will be carved with Blaize’s name in both English and Chinese. The man who makes the stamps was out but they promised to deliver it to the hotel tonight so we took a leap of faith and hope they deliver as promised.
After shopping was complete, we went to Starbucks and enjoyed some cold, frozen frappuccinos. The temp was 95F with a feels like of 102F so cold drinks were nice. I met a nice Asian lady who lives in Ireland and is here for school who helped me get the order right with the barista. We sat on the shaded porch and enjoyed our drinks and caught up on the Thai cave rescue. After a bit we went to the park area to try playing bubbles. Blaize wasn’t too sure about them and after a bit we called it and walked to the White Swan to get a cab back to our hotel.
Back in the room for the day and we started to pack and organize as we leave tomorrow to head to Hong Kong for a night. We watched movies on TV and ordered dinner for the last time. While we waited for the food to arrive our message light came on the phone. We hoped it was for our stamp as we were reluctant to leave the room for fear of missing the call for it. When the food arrived, I stopped by the concierge desk and they had our package there so it all worked out. We ate our final Indian dinner in China and eventually went to bed. We were happy to see everyone was rescued from the cave in Thailand. Tomorrow we check out around 11:30 and drive a few hours to Hong Kong - we are close to coming home!
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