Day - 12 Shamian Island

Today was a relaxing day.  After filling out some paperwork in the morning in preparation for our consulate appointment on Monday, we headed to the pearl market for some more shopping.  The pearl market is like a 5 story mall with store after store of jewelry, mostly pearls but also jade, crystal and other beautiful things.  We did our best to support the Chinese economy:-)
After the pearl market we headed over to Shamian Island.  Shamian Island is a beautiful part of Guangzhou and is where the US consulate used to be located.  When we adopted Kaia we stayed here in the White Swan hotel.  The hotel has been closed for two years for renovations and is scheduled to be closed for another year at least.  We ate lunch at Lucy's restaurant and it brought back good memories of 2004!  After lunch we shopped for about an hour hitting a few of the street shops and buying some local trinkets.  Since the consulate moved this area has had far less business than when thousands of adoptive families came through here each month.  Then the hotel closed and the tourists disappeared too.  The shop owners are eager for business so we were able to bargain some good deals.  Bargaining is standard when shopping in China, an important skill for every traveller.

Back at The Garden Hotel after dinner we enjoyed a nice walk through the beautiful garden grounds lit up at night.  China is getting ready for the Harvest Moon Festival on Sept 30 and their National Holiday on Oct 1 so the decorations and lanterns are going up everywhere.  They are very pretty to see.  The country will be closed down for 8 days due to the back to back holidays.  This was one of the reasons we had to get here when we did or we wouldn't be able to get a consulate appointment.  We'd like to be here to experience the festivities but will also enjoy being at home sleeping in our own beds.  The beds here are small, like twin size and hard as boards.  Try sleeping in one with a child who is kicking or hogging space.......  We will miss being in China but will truly enjoy a comfy and cozy night sleep in our big king sized bed!