Mike and Leigh's UnBlog

Guangzhou Day One

Guangzhou, or at least the neighborhood where we are, is wild. It is the area of the city that still has the architecture left over from British colonization, so it looks familiar. Our hotel, the White Swan, caters almost exclusively to adoptive parents (including leaving a Mattel-sponsored "Adoption Barbie" in our room). Everywhere you look, there are people from around the world, all here to finalize their adoptions. It's amazing. And because the Chinese have mastered the art of retail, the four block area around the hotel sports every imaginable shop also catering to adoptive parents. One of the coolest things is that pretty much each shop is also a laundry and if you drop off your laundry, or just promise to buy something in their shop, they let you borrow baby strollers for the term of your stay. The workers speak English, and are usually on the street trying to entice you to come in with promises of "beautiful items for beautiful baby." There really are some amazing "bargains" and everything is more or less negotiable. After a giant Western breakfast and a quick run around the stores (and, of course, a laundry drop off), we took our borrowed stroller back to the hotel for a nap and to wait for the call from our guide who had gone to the consulate to submit our paperwork. Once he called, we went out for some more serious shopping, now pushing instead of carrying Mary. We had a blast. Later in the afternoon, we went to a bonsai garden and tea room - another great experience.
Today's pictures:
Mike working Mary around town in the borrowed stroller
Leigh and Mary in the bonsai garden
Mike, Leigh and Mary in the bansai garden
Mike likely causing an international incident in the bonsai garden

posted by Michael Fresina @ 4:38 AM