Leaving Guangzhou

Wednesday we slept in a little, ate breakfast, bought a suitcase, packed and waited to head to Hong Kong. Here's another cool picture from the river cruise.

Our guide came at 4:00pm with Anna's passport and visa.  We took a 3 hour van ride to Honk Kong.  We stayed overnight at airport hotel  for next morning flight. 

Me and Rachel waiting. We flew from HK to Tokyo to Chicago. And then we got stuck ugh! Passport control and Immigration/Customs took 3 hours! We missed our flight to CLE so we spent the night in Chicago. :(

US Consulate Appointment

Tuesday we had our appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou. We had to be up and ready early which is stressful with 2 kids - one who doesn't understand English. You are not allowed to bring anything into the Consulate office except your passports and paperwork so here's a photo outside.

You take a number and they present you with a brown envelope for immigration. Hopefully the next day Anna gets a visa stamp so we can leave. After the Consulate we visited Shaiman Island. It is where the US Consulate used to be located and families used to stay at the White Swan hotel. All that's left now are a few shops and couple restaurants. We are at Lucy's. it was so-so 

Famous statue.

 Later we went on a river cruise on the Pear River. It was pretty all lit up.

Wednesday we have some free time then hopefully we get Anna's visa to leave.  Then it's on to Hong Kong.

GZ Zoo

Monday we went to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was pretty similar to a US zoo.   It was reaallllly hot and humid!

There are pandas but they are in a glass enclosure.

After the zoo we walked around the hotel gardens. 

I am not liking the heat and humidity. The kids like the pool. Overall the hotel is too big too fancy and too formal for me. 

Lots of other families at the pool in the afternoon.

Chen Clan Academy

Sunday we visited Chen Clan Family Temple and Folk Art Museum.  Here's us in the hotel lobby.

We saw some artwork and exhibits and bought some souvenirs. I had name chops or stamps made for both girls they carve them right there. 

And we also walked around and got a few other things. Later we went swimming. And then we tried to go to a noodle place for dinner and had a fail :( 

We did try some chilled corn juice though which is just well- weird. 

Turned into a late and tired night for everyone. 

Here in Guangzhou

We arrived in GZ (or Canton) late Friday night. Our guide Lucia picked us up at the airport. The weather here is hot and humid it feels like Orlando FL. 

We are staying at a rawther fancy hotel called The Garden Hotel. It's actually a little intimidating because it is very big and very formal. 

Saturday morning we had to take Anna for a physical exam. All the kids applying for a visa to come to the US have to pass a physical exam. After the exam we went grocery shopping at Trust Mart which is kind of like Walmart. 

We came back to hotel and had our dirty laundry picked up Yay!

Turtles for sale in Trust Mart (to eat ). 

View from our hotel room. 

Jiaxiao pavilion

Friday was our last day in province. Our guide said Guiyang is a small city (for China) but population is 3.5 million! Today we visited the Jiaxioa Pavillon which used to be the residence for rich people in Guiyang. 

We stopped at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch - our guide said it was like a chain restaurant but not like anything in the US. 

After lunch we headed to the airport for out flight to Gangzhou. I will miss Guizhou province we really liked it here. 

Provincial Museum

Today is our last full day in Guizhou.  After breakfast we went to the Guizhou Provincial Museum.  We learned about the history of Guizhou and about the different groups of minority people including the Miao people.

At the museum we bought the girls some ethnic minority dolls and I bought Anna a silver butterfly necklace. On the ride back to the hotel Anna got a little car sick and threw up.  Too many different things to eat I think.

After a little nap and a little play time everyone felt a bit better including me I have a cold. We decided to walk to Pizza Hut it's not that far but you have to take all these underground walkways to cross the street. The pizza was just ok. 

Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou. It has been so cool and rainy here. It will be hot and humid in GZ.