Paperwork Pregnant Delivers!

Around Guangzhou - Shamian Island is an island in Guangzhou city. This was our final stop as the US Consulate is located here. We stayed at the White Swan Hotel which is used by many of the adoption agencies. We were no longer a spectacle but part of a majority now. Shamian island covers an area of 24,000 sq meters and is a gazetted historical area that serves as a tranquil reminder of the colonial European period, with quiet pedestrian avenues flanked by trees and lined by historical buildings in various states of upkeep. (Yep... I totally copied that verbiage from the website referenced above!!)

Various bronze statues are scattered around the island which depict life as it was during earlier periods on the island, as well as from more recent times. The one right below references China adoptive parents.




Every side street was picturesque....



Here is a shop we visited twice... they gave Gracie the cutest tambourine/rattle... she loves it! Josh bought a finger painting of the Great Wall from this shop. When I say fingerpainting... it isn't in the sense we are all familiar with. Rather, the fingers are imprinted on to a page to create a beautiful scene. There is an art to it and the work is beautiful!




We met this newlywed couple on the walk back to our hotel after Gracie's physical exam. They gave me permission to photograph them!



This was a common site... dinner hanging in the window...



Many of the shop owners lived behind their stores... this is behind one such storefront...


The parks are not only for children... here is a section built just for adults. All equipment is actually exercise oriented. This woman was working on a machine equivalent to a ski machine. There were stair climbers, rowing machines, step machines.... and they all looked like children's playground equipment!



Shamian Park is right next door to our hotel. We watched many people ballroom dancing (there were lights and speakers up in all the trees)... it was quite a pretty site. This park is also on the waterfront so that really added to the ambiance. We also watched fan dancing and hackey-sack playing.