China: Part III

We arrived in Guangzhou on Friday, March 2. The flight from Kunming was borderline hellacious. Joel was terrified...understandably so. To him, these crazy people who he just met four days before were abducting him and putting him in a giant metal tube that went up in the air and did scary, shaky things. He cried and screamed for a large portion of the flight. It was definitely a loooooong flight for being our shortest of the six.

As we were leaving Kunming, I was pretty overwhelmed with emotion. We were taking our boy away from the only city he had ever known. Granted, Gaungzhou is still in China, but I knew that these cities were likely very, very different. Even the language was likely different as Mandarin is the primary spoken language in Yunnan (the province where Joel was born and lived), but in Guangdong, the majority of people speak Cantonese. It hit me just how little choice our little guy had in all of this. Everyone around him was making these choices, hopefully with his best interest in mind, but he was slowly but surely, one day and one flight at a time leaving everything he knew and understood.

We arrived in Guangzhou and exited the plane to a wall of humidity. I live in Georgia, so I'm no stranger to heat and humidity, but whoa. This was unreal. It was the first time I understood what people from dryer climates experience in Georgia...the change was dramatic. I instantly felt hot and heavy. Good thing I had 23 pounds strapped to me and we had four backpacks and four suitcases to carry through the airport. We met our guide, Simon, who graciously took our overabundance of luggage in stride and helped us load into a van for a ride to our hotel. I was DESPERATE to get out of that van and into the hotel and just be done for the day, but thanks to the traffic of Guangzhou, it was a fairly long ride.

We walked into our hotel to jaw-dropping beauty, and a smell I'll never forget. The smells in China are something I can't quite describe. For someone with a very sensitive nose, it was kind of an overwhelming experience. Having experienced less desirable smells on many occasions thus far, I totally understand why our hotel was pumping in the perfumed air, but WOW. I wish I could provide you all with a scratch and sniff sampling.

The lobby of our hotel.

On Saturday morning, Joel had to go in for a medical appointment. It is a required step to receive a visa and be cleared to leave the country and travel to the US. It was a really rough day. I'm not sure if what we witnessed was from medical trauma or if he was simply terrified, but the visit with the doctor was excruciating. Joel had experienced a series of really rough days at this point...first the visit back to the orphanage, then the travel day, and finally a visit to the doctor. We finished the morning off with a visit to have Joel's visa issued. His photo from the visit sums up his feelings on the last few days.

On Sunday, we went to visit the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family. It was a really interesting place, but unfortunately both kiddos were not in the mood to chill and quietly explore art. Within the Hall there are several places to shop for traditional Chinese items such as chops, silk fans, and scrolls. We purchased some items to give to Joel over the next few years and enjoyed looking at all the beautiful artwork and the incredible craftsmanship. After that we went to to a local market to shop for pearls and jade. I purchased a beautiful jade bangle...80% because I loved it and 20% because I was afraid they'd have to saw my hand off if I asked them to take it off.

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family

Market where we could buy pearls and jade

On Monday, the group went to the Safari Park, but we decided to opt out. It is supposedly amazing, but it makes for a really long day and we felt that the boys were wiped out physically and emotionally. We decided to hang around the hotel and explore another shopping opportunity to get a few more items to give to Joel over the next few years. Our hotel had an incredible garden within it and the boys loved it! It had hills for the them to roll down, ponds of koi for them to watch, and lots of grassy spaces for them to throw and kick balls. We spent lots and lots and lots of time there. It sort of became my sanctuary. It was a way to get fresh air and sunshine without worrying about the boys or needing to hold them the whole time.

On Tuesday, Sam, Joel, and I went to the US Consulate to complete the last bit of paperwork. Two days later we'd be able to leave China with our son if everything was approved. It was a stressful morning in that there was a good bit of waiting and security measures, but Joel did far better there than at the medical appointment. We were thankful to complete all of the necessary steps and leave without any complications. The clock was officially ticking. Joel's visa was the last thing we needed before we could go home.

Outside the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China

View of Guangzhou from the Pearl River Cruise

Pearl River Cruise entertainment

First sword fight. 

On Wednesday, the group traveled to Shamian Island. This place is filled with a lot of history for the China adoption community because until 2013 the US Consulate was on the island. As every adoptive family is required to go to the Consulate, many families stayed on the island. The hotels and statues and even restaurants have become places for families to seek out and snap some photos. Shamian Island has definitely catered to the adoptive families over the years by becoming a shopping destination for all kinds of gifts and souvenirs. Even though the US Consulate is no longer there and the families aren't required to visit the island, most do in order to shop and walk the famous streets that they've heard so much about.

Joel's feelings on Shamian Island and the bus ride there were NOT joyful.
My face pretty much sums up these last few days in country. Fix it, Jesus.

The Red Couch is a famous sofa in the White Swan hotel in Shamian Island
where many adoptive families stayed when the US Consulate was in Guangzhou.
It became so popular that most adoptive families make a trip to the hotel for this
photo opportunity alone. Joel's feelings about this special moment were indicative
of our last days in China. All heads turn toward the screaming kid in the corner.

Thursday was a free day as many of the families were making plans to leave. This was one of the hardest days for me. We ended up with flights out on Friday, so Thursday was literally just a day of waiting. We received Joel's passport back with his visa inside at about 11:00 a.m. The following hours were pretty slow and long as I was becoming more and more desperate to get home. If I had it all to do over (or when making recommendations to other families), I'd suggest leaving the first day/night that you can or scheduling some kind of activity for the day. It was a day that I could have really used something to do to make the day go by just a bit faster.

On Friday, we were up bright and early to take a van to Hong Kong. Most families leave China via the Guangzhou or Hong Kong airport and we found cheaper tickets out of Hong Kong. I would have preferred leaving via Guangzhou (because Hong Kong is a three hour drive and an additional trip through customs), but it was neat to see the area as we drove in. It's definitely a part of China that I would want to return to if/when we make it back one day.

All of our feelings as we boarded the plane for Hong Kong to
Seattle. God have mercy.

American Citizen...poor buddy was so sick with a gross
respiratory infection and lingering pink eye. I look rough and I look
far better than I felt waiting for the last flight home.

After a bit of a wait in the Hong Kong airport, we finally boarded the plane back to the US. This was quite possibly the longest day of my life. Thanks to the magic that is the rotation of the earth and time zones, we left on Friday, March 9, at 11:45 a.m. and flew for 12 hours only to land in Seattle on Friday, March 9, at 7:59 a.m. What the actual F? By the time we got to Seattle I was DONE. And apparently so were the boys because our wait there in the airport and the final flight home were EPIC nightmares. God bless each and every passenger on that plane. We finally landed in Atlanta after flight delays and maintenance issues on Friday, March 9, at about 9 p.m. And we were home. Our journey to China and back again was over, but the real journey was just beginning and life as we knew it was forever changed by the gift of our son.