We arrived at the Nanjing airport with plenty of time to check our bags and board the bedlam plane which was carrying at least nine babies that we knew of but probably more. Guangzhou, our destination is where the U.S. consulate which processes the U.S. visas for all adopted children from throughout China is located. I had checked with Air China about the ticket for Elizabeth and was told we could purchase it as we checked in. Wrong. We were first sent to counter E which was on the other side of the terminal and after some pantomime and explanation by two people, she and I, who did not understand each other we were sent back to the other side of the check in counter. Here we found an office door and knocked. A young man answered who spoke perfect English, although he was carrying a lit cigarette. I explained the situation and he said we needed to go to counter E. I told him counter E sent us here. He took us and his cigarette back to counter E and began to tell the same woman I had first tried to communicate with that we needed a ticket but he did it in Chinese which worked better than my pantomime. After I paid the 168 yuan he and his cigarette took us back to the check-in counter and to the front of the line where he climbed a desk and took over a computer and began to make out a boarding pass for Elizabeth. He handed it to us and took his cigarette back to his office. We were ready to get on the plane and with no time to spare. This was to become the modus operandi for us during the rest of the trip.
The bedlam flight to Guangzhou never happened. The flight was amazingly quiet. All the babies slept and the worried parents fretted to themselves. Guangzhou was on the horizon. For those who know their Chinese history Guangzhou is Canton. This city is more than two thousand year’s old and is located on the Pearl River upstream from Macau and Hong Kong. This modern city of ten million people is one of China’s wealthiest taking advantage of its location, special tax privileges, and economic development starting in the early 1990's. Guangzhou is a blend of the very old and very new. It is also the city where I saw the very rich and the very poor.
We were greeted at the airport by this tiny transport van hardly large enough for one family much less nine families and their luggage. The agency the kids used was wonderful; the travel agency they recommended, David Tamm Travels was horrible. This compact van was his doing and it took many trips to get all of the people plus the luggage back to the hotel. Our problems with him escalated during the week and it turned out he was angry at us for not booking the Air China flights plus our Beijing arrangements with him. Since the only arrangements which were correct were the ones we did ourselves I am very happy we did not use him for Beijing or Air China. He probably would have had us staying in Formosa and commuting each day. With the internet and on-line travel services the need for people like David Tamm is no longer necessary and I would encourage anyone doing a similar trip to make your own bookings and arrangements. Now let me get the White Swan off my chest while I am on the subject then I can get on with Guangzhou.
The White Swan is where new parents of adopted Chinese children have stayed while in Guangzhou because it used to be located next to the U. S. Consulate. However, I have since found out that many of the agencies are now booking their parents in hotels closer to where the consulate has moved thus avoiding the White Swan. I have stated before that Rachel and David’s agency is wonderful and they were blessed with their choice but this agency did force the kids to stay at the White Swan saying the experience would be a value to them. Here’s the experience: The White Swan is a fancy place which at one time was in very good repair. Today it is a facade of gilded gold and glitz covering an infrastructure which is falling apart. You will have an attendant on each floor waiting at the elevator to point the way to your room as the door opens and then to push the elevator button for you when you wish to leave the floor. But the toilet may not flush properly and chances are your mattress will be worn out. There is also an attendant in each public washroom tidying up each little spot but the carpets in the hallways are so worn out they are almost dangerous to walk upon. Our Travel agent David Tamm got our room requests all screwed up and put us in the smallest rooms in the hotel. When I looked at the mattress and saw it could double as a bathtub with its sinking middle I knew this closet masquerading as a hotel room was not going to work for the week. The kids had the same type room and they needed to put up a crib and cot for Sam. There literally was not enough floor space to walk between the beds and the walls much less put up a crib and cot. So we marched back down to the desk and asked what could be done. Of course we were told this is what our agent had reserved for us and we said it was not acceptable. They offered us the exact same rooms only with different room numbers. I demanded to see a manager. When she eventually arrived, I explained in a much tired and angry voice what I was feeling about the hotel rooms and service up to this point and demanded better rooms for both of us. She took David and me to a room which was the same size but only this one had a king size bed, which also could double as a bathtub, and to her a nicer view out the window. The birds outside the window were able to hear what I thought of her choice of a solution to our problem. She got on the phone and told us there was a room which just happened to open up by some coincidence and she would show it to us. By this time I was really mad and tired and told her I would pay no more than what I had originally agreed regardless of what room she put us in. She hesitated and then agreed. We then went up to the 23rd floor and she took us to a suite with two bedrooms and a separate living room. This is exactly what I had asked David Tamm for in the beginning and was told it was not available. The beds were still worn but better than what was on the lower floors. We agreed to take the suite but again made it clear we would pay no more than the single room rate. I have since found out she did not give us a deal. This hotel has no regular published rates they go on a per day basis depending on the occupancy and they were at a low occupancy when we were there. Next came the crib. They brought up a crib which was broken. Here is a hotel which has babies staying all the time and they said this was the only crib they had left, a broken crib which Elizabeth was unable to use. The following day I spoke again with the manger and they brought up an array of cribs for us to choose from. One was a blow up children’s swimming pool. It appears that to get any type of service from The White Swan you needed to get a little hot and call the manager. The next problem was when we found out our agent David Tamm did not arrange for Sammy’s breakfast and we were going to be charged $48.00 a day plus a gratuity for him to eat at the morning buffet. Once again I hotly expressed my feelings to the management. The charge was removed. Throughout the week our toilet did not refill and continued to run. The management could not get it repaired even though they insisted they replaced the parts. I gave up and just kept lifting the lid to work the fill mechanism manually. Guangzhou has many wonderful hotels and we saw quite a few of them as we traveled around the city, The White Swan is not one of them. If you have to stay here do not accept what the management says is all they can do because they can and will do better. You just have to get a little hot under the collar.
As for the attendants standing by the elevators waiting to push the button when you walk from your room? This became a challenge for Sammy and me to see if we could sneak up without her knowing we were coming. We never did. As for the mattresses? The people in the room across from us must have been complaining quite loudly since almost every day the poor cleaning ladies were trying to move out the giant king-sized mattress which they could hardly budge. This became a regular chore for David and me to help them push a mattress to the freight elevator. So much for the so called five star hotel.
The hotel is located on Shamian Island which is not really an island but a place separated from the city of Guangzhou by a moat and one usable bridge. This is an area given to the French and British in the 19th Century by the Qing Dynasty. The buildings are all European colonial style and the place screams of a former period of imperialism. The island is anchored on one side by a restored Roman Catholic Church and the other by a crumbling Protestant Church. In between are the old colonial European looking buildings, a nice park, and a riverbank. The story is that the Emperor moved the Europeans here for their own protection and closed off the bridges at ten each night. Before arriving we were warned not to leave the island at night, it may not be safe. I don’t know if this warning is true. We left the island at night and did not feel threatened. Walking along the tree lined streets it was hard not to imagine myself in Nassau. On that corner is the Starbucks and on this corner is the former British Trading Company building now housing a glitzy souvenir shop. Beads anyone? Each of the souvenir shops has taken on the name of an American child like: Nancy, Susan, Jennifer, or Mary’s. That was my first impression but after a week on the island I made some interesting discoveries and found a hidden gem. Since the week’s goal was to get a U.S. Visa for Elizabeth and permission to bring her back home all of our sight seeing was to be planned around the schedule set to accomplish this goal. Further since we were on the island and there was really no where else to go without taking a cab making the best of Shamian Island was the order of the day.
Being as it may on the first day I wanted to go out and explore so we took off to find the exit out of the White Swan. This was no easy task. The first try found us on the main floor by the reception/ check in desk. Here was this large door which led outside and we went through it. Immediately several uniformed men asked where we were going and motioned for a cab which sped to greet us. I said we are just going for a walk and they said we could not walk here and had to go back inside. Feeling trapped we walked toward the back of the hotel to find another door which led to the outside and this time to the swimming pool. But before we got to the swimming pool we had to pass by a large grassy area posted with serious keep off sign along with a uniformed guard and another keep out sign which lead to the pool. Being careful not to step on the grass or venture into the keep out area we made our way to the pool area only to find that there was no way out and could only turn back. We returned to the building, wandered down another corridor and onto the lower level and there past the elevators was a door leading to a street on which we were allowed to walk. We had spent the better part of the morning finding this door and it was not that spectacular but I did enjoy the rush of freedom as we walked outside.
I walked down one end of the island and then up the other. On this first discovery tour I found a Protestant church in very bad repair but open for services on Sunday, if we had known we could have attended this being Sunday. I also noticed that many of the buildings had plaques on them stating what they used to be during their imperial times. Many of these buildings now housed Chinese government agencies. There were a few new buildings but most were the old colonial looking things. What I did not find were crowds of people walking on the streets. There were a lot of people but in China terms there were not very many. There were even fewer cars driving on the streets which made crossing much nicer than in any other place we had been. Scattered throughout the center section of the island are bronze statues depicting life as it was and as it is now on the island. These are quite whimsical in nature and were fun to track down and read the fractured English captions. At one of these statues of a modern Chinese woman I found a city street cleaner sitting on the base resting. I wondered which one was really the modern Chinese woman? My final discovery of this walk was the river. The Pearl River borders one side of the island and there is a lovely river walk and park area along its banks. In the park this morning there were people exercising and doing Tai Chi, I would learn that regardless of the time of day there would always be people here exercising and practicing Tai Chi.
That afternoon we were to go on a tour of the Pearl Market. All of us thought this was a place where people were diving for pearls or at least doing something interesting with the pearls but it was not. The Pearl Market is a collection of many shops, all the same, which sell pearls and other stones, threaded on strings. Do I sound excited? To tell you the truth I am not a real jewelry fan. Sammy and I took off down the aisles of stalls looking for something a little different or entertaining. I stopped at a stall and sat down to chat with the young lady stringing some beads or pearls at least they were round. She somehow knew I would never be a customer and did not try to sell me anything. Sammy sat down across the aisle and started looking through a case containing hundreds of pendants. He found a penguin and asked me if he could have it. I told him he had to bargain for it himself and the fun began. The lady I was with spoke English and asked me if that was OK and I said yes. The woman at Sam’s stand spoke no English and was quite confused with a six-year-old bargaining for this pendant. My lady said something to Sam’s in Chinese and she and Sam started. She pushed in the price on her calculator and Sam waved his arms and shook his head no, grabbed the calculator, erased her price and put in his price. She shook her head and put in her new price. Sam was more animated this time waving his arms back and forth and pointing away like he was going to walk. He put in a new price which the lady shook her head and put in another price. Sam held fast with his price and the stares started. My lady got up and went over to see his price and I did too. It looked good to me and Sam was determined, waving his arms and motioning like he was going to go to the next stand if she did not give him the price. She gave in and we all had a good laugh. I have no concern she made a nice profit. My concern was that when Sam returned to the U.S. he would stand in Target waving his arms saying "no, I can get it at K Mart for less, I’ll give you three for it." That was the only purchase in the Pearl Market, so much for jewelry.
That night we did not want to eat at any of the very expensive White Swan restaurants so went on a search with some other couples for a place to eat. We found a nice restaurant but of course no English on the menu. Since we were in a new city they had new foods and we had to try some out. First was pigeon. The Chinese serve most food whole, which means you get all of the animal to eat. The pigeon was no exception. The bird arrived at our table along with its head. This is supposed to be a delicacy and who are we to argue. The pigeon was excellent except there was not enough of it for the entire group. We could have eaten several of the birds. Guangzhou also offered more fish than the other cities so we started to order fish. This was adventure fish since we had no idea what type of fish other than not too spicey would be served to us. The only thing certain was that it would be whole. This was fine with me since I found out I really like fish heads. We throw away so much good food and have a lot to learn from other cultures.
Rachel and David had appointments with Elizabeth most of the following day so we took Sammy on a field trip to the Museum of the Nanyue King. The guide books state that this is not one of the top ten museums in the world but one of the top eight museums in the world. How could I pass up a top eight? This museum is built on the original tomb site of the second Nanyue king, not the first. The tomb was discovered intact in 1983 undisturbed since 200 B.C. More than ten thousand relics were found along with the earliest and best preserved jade garment sewn with silk which covered the dearly departed King, the second Nanyue, not the first. Along with the tomb relics the museum has a collection of other relics and treasures from China’s ancient history. There is also a display of ceramic pillows which was donated by a Hong Kong couple. This is a superb museum, one of the best I have ever seen. The English used throughout was perfect. Fortunately I had read about the welcome video that was available before exploring the museum itself. They will not tell you about the video. I asked for it and they took us into a room marked: "English" and we sat on comfortable stuffed chairs to watch a very well done overview of the museum and its history. We followed the route suggested by the video and soon were in the first room of relics. I was overwhelmed by the dates on the cards. Here were delicate bronze pitchers, and bowls in near perfect condition from twenty three-hundred years ago. I showed them to Sammy and explained the date. He then started to go to each of the relics and exclaim: "look here this one is from 1957", or "this one is really old it is from 1985." Well, I tried to impress him. Of course he became the rock star and with a group of elderly women watching him instead of the exhibits.
The ceramic pillow exhibit was very interesting. First, I did not know these things even existed. Next was the wide variety of design and shapes they came in. The only common thing they shared was a dip in the middle for the head or neck to rest while the sleeper slept. Many of them had a saying of Confucius or a poem written on them. Maybe this is where pillow talk came from? The museum has a collection of more than four hundred ceramic pillows. This is claimed to be the largest collection of ceramic pillows in the world and I am not going to argue with them. What I am to argue is how comfortable these could be? I have tried to find out if they were covered with something soft but can find nothing saying they were. As far as I know the people laid their heads on the ceramic pillow to sleep.
We found a room of interactive computer games for children which Sammy took to right away. All of them were in Chinese but that did not seem to slow him down. I wandered into another room filled with pottery and porcelain sitting on tables out in the open and was grateful Sam and Fran were playing computer games. This room lead me into another room filled with more interesting porcelain and bronze objects. Each object had a card with a long number written on it and I assumed it to be the museum’s identification number. A woman who spoke perfect English came over and began to explain each of the pieces to me. I thought this was great to have a private guide and was really enjoying the tour. After we had covered several shelves and I had
actually touched and held a few of these things, against my better judgement, but she insisted. She mentioned that they will hold anything I purchase until I bring in my own appraiser. I said, "what?" She added that all items would be shipped back to the United States at their expense but I could oversee the packing. I said, "What?" She then added that some of the prices written on the cards could be negotiable. I said: "WHAT?" She said I was in the antique division of the museum and these items were for sale. I said: "NO WAY" I had held in my hands a vase worth one million five hundred thousand yuan. Let me remind those who have forgotten and those who do not know I have involuntary muscle movements, which cause my right side to shake and my hands to sometimes drop things. Those long numbers I thought were serial numbers were actually the prices. I thanked her and agreed they were lovely and backed away slowly and then ran out of there as quick as I could.
I was gone for a long time and Fran and Sammy had tired of the computer. They went outside to explore the tomb and then sit on a bench. Two events happened when I was not there so these were told to me second hand by Fran. The first was when she and Sam had found the body of the King. He was in his jade and silk robe. Fran called him a mummy and Sam corrected her saying was a dummy that mummies’ were wrapped in toilet paper. The second was a more prophetic. Somehow Sam realized that I was in trouble. That morning he discovered that the mini-bar had a mini-bar tool set with a small can opener and a cork screw contained in a plastic case. This was too good for a six-year-old to leave alone even after a grandpa said to put it back, it went in his pocket. Fran and he were sitting on a bench outside the tomb area as Fran was wondering where I went. Sam then pulled out the cork screw held it high and proclaimed that I had "fallen in with bad company" and needed to be rescued. Somehow he knew I was in that antique store. I caught up with my rescuer and we descended into the tomb. We were joined by a tour group from France and enjoyed the Chinese explanations of the tomb in French. The tombs were really spooky and we had fun playing Raiders of the Lost Ark. The spookiest tomb of all was for the concubines. These women were buried alive to keep the dead king company. I can only guess at what their final conversations were like but that would make a great subject for a short story.
The tomb exited into a gift shop. I don’t think this was the original design two thousand years ago but today there is a gift shop. Unlike some other gift shops we had ventured into this one was very nice. There were no hard sell clerks only helpful people explaining the various items in the store. In one corner was a young man painting with his hands, fingers, arms, elbows and fingernails. His work was beautiful and the clerk explained that he learned the skill from his father and grandfather whose work was also displayed and on sale. He certainly gave a whole new meaning to the art of finger painting.
We left the museum with directions to a close by city park and we also wanted lunch so we were on the lookout for a place to eat. There was a large Middle Eastern hotel and several Middle Eastern restaurants in the area none of which appealed to us. Sammy spotted a McDonald’s and we agreed. McDonald’s makes it so easy for the Americans to order food. Besides the menus being almost identical to what we have at home they also have an English picture menu which the counter person pulls out and all we have to do is point at the Big Mac. The food is not cheap. You
can almost get a full meal at a regular restaurant for what you pay at a McDonald’s to feed the same number of people. However, at each one we stopped at, it was crowded with young people. During a conversation I had with a Chinese person she blamed McDonald’s for the children becoming overweight and having bad skin. Now we are being blamed for obesity and acne, what is next telling them Santa Claus is not real? After lunch Sam asked for the hotel pool over the city park so we cabbed back to the White Swan.
That evening Fran and I walked along the river walk and found that they played music from several loud speakers and accompanying the music was a light show across the river. The lights were coming from several of the buildings along an area of about twenty to thirty blocks long. I am only guessing that if we were on the other side we would see the same from that river walk looking this way. The music ranged from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite which was accompanied by a lazar show to popular Chinese opera. Along with the light show many of the buildings on the opposite shore were lit up or had changing light displays on them. The river walk itself was alive with people. There were many young people holding hands and sneaking kisses in the shadows. Under an overpass was a group of people doing Tai Chi. They had a variety of props from fans to swords and their precision as a group was perfect. Many families were down here watching the lights and the gaily decorated boats go up and down the river. Fran and I sat in a gazebo and watched the lights, boats, and people. Since we were the only available Americans, we were fair game for the people who wanted to practice their English. We needed to keep reminding ourselves that in China my space is everyone’s space. What was so much fun about this park and the river walk was that even on a week night at 9:00 there were people out enjoying themselves. Back in Milwaukee on a similar pleasant evening we could walk the length of our river walk and not meet a single person. The Chinese have not learned how to cocoon, they appear to enjoy each other. We returned to the river walk each night and enjoyed the people.
One of my regular entertainments on these river walks was reading the English on the clothing the people wore. I think that the manufacturers of the bawdy, rude, and off color sayings on clothing have found a ready market for their excess goods here in China. Just as we would buy a Chinese written T-shirt without knowing what it said they purchase the English written T-shirt with no idea of what the saying emblazoned on the front or even worse along the backside of the shorts said. Often these sayings would describe, in unflattering terms, the part of the anatomy they were covering. Imagine how this looked on a woman who is maybe 50 or 60 years old? Then there was the young mother who was proudly proclaiming to have attended the S & M University. And I really wonder if the young lady understood what she was declaring with her shirt which stated she was a bitch? Some had very long sayings and I must admit I cannot remember; however, I was grateful for the Chinese custom of space so I could stare at the shirt, or shorts and read the saying without appearing rude. The lesson here is never purchase anything unless you are certain you know what it says.
Most of you have heard of the bird flu or bird virus that has been going around. Guangzhou is famous for that sickness. It is here, in their Qing Ping market that one of the first recorded cases of the disease jumping from the bird to a human was recorded. If that was not exciting news for me to discover imagine my excitement when I found out this market was just across the bridge from the island? I had to go. The scariest, gooeyiest, yuckiest, market in all of China was right across that little moat. Here is where they butchered dogs, cats, racoons, and sold scorpion, lizards, and other tasty things. David was worked up as well and we decided to make the trip as soon as we finished lunch. Joining us was a new dad of Chinese heritage who understood the markets and what they were selling. The market was where it was supposed to be and we immediately saw an entire stand of nothing but snake skins right next to the guy who had a sidewalk full of seahorses. We walked down the line of dried things for this is what was still available during the afternoon hours. I was to find out that the really spooky stuff was out in the mornings. But what we saw was interesting enough. I was happy to have someone with us who recognized a lot of the dried things and could tell us what they were used for. We passed a row of ginseng stands and I stopped in to check if they had any from Wisconsin. They indeed did. It was packaged in fancy boxes, some even in glass enclosed wooden boxes and was priced up to $100.00 an ounce. I have been told there is even more expensive ginseng to be found and that grown in Wisconsin is the most priced or thought to be the most potent. Viva Viagra We did not find the Fido or Tabby butcher shops but we did find anything you could imagine dried and stacked or bagged. There were bags of flower petals, all types of spices, leaves from trees, and the bark. Mushrooms of any color, size, shape or odor were dried and offered for sale. We saw rooster feet, rooster crowns, and rooster tails, all dried and on display. From the sea and the lakes were fish, snails, slugs, frogs, shrimp, lobster, crabs, and seaweed. The smells were actually quite nice, potent but pleasant particularly around the spice stalls. We walked out of the market area and into a shopping area which I put in my memory to return when we had more time to explore. On the way back we found a snake wine maker where they were making up to twelve snake wine which meant the bottle had twelve snakes inside. The Qing Ping market is a real slice of life from Guangzhou and we would walk through it several more times on our way to the newly discovered shopping area.
There was a restaurant at the end of the island we had seen on one of our walks that was always filled with people. This whole restaurant was outdoors. Some of the tables were under canopies but I did not see any which were inside a building. Even part of the kitchen was outside. Each time we walked by, the tables were jammed with people eating and having a good time. The noise could be heard from a block away. I had to go there for dinner. Several couples wanted to join us at what I named the crowded restaurant and we were seated at a large table along the river walk. The menu was extensive and parts of it were in English and those which were not had pictures. Each item had numbers next to them so we made a list and handed it to the waiter who whisked it away and soon returned with our first dish. The food here was definitely Cantonese with some Malaysian, Thai., and Vietnamese items thrown in which we did not try or maybe we did and did not know it. There were several seafood and fish items so we were able to get some good fish. Everything they brought out was absolutely delicious. This became our favorite Guangzhou restaurant and we returned here for other meals. The menu was like a phone book so you were not afraid of ordering the same thing twice.
Fran and I wanted to see the river from the river so we decided to take a boat ride. We caught a cab at the hotel and it dropped us at the boat dock. We inquired about tickets and were told there were there were three levels. Level one was the most expensive and was on the first deck, or lower deck in a private room with some windows to look out. Level two was next and was on the second deck this was a semi-private room also enclosed with windows. The least expensive was the top deck which was all open, had tables you could sit at and enjoy the view from any angle. This made little sense to us and we bought the cheap tickets and happily walked up to the top deck to enjoy the 360-degree view. Joining us on the top deck was some families, a few other couples, and some businessmen. I could not imagine who would pay more money to sit alone on the first deck. Then I realized this is China and that would be a real treat to sit in a private room apart from other people even for a short time in privacy. The boat ride was lively. There was music being played on the boat as well as music played on the river banks. The city was lit up like it was Christmastime. Each building had a display of lights flashing more brilliantly than the next. Along the banks of the river itself the city had installed green lights which appeared to be rolling along with the boat. Each bridge had both the approach and underneath gaily lit. We enjoyed seeing the park area where we sat each night watching the boats. We could see the gazebo we sat in and the people watching us as we would watch the boats. The White Swan was decorated with its name, what a surprise. We went down river toward Hong Kong and Macau for about an hour and I was amazed to see that the buildings never stopped, the city just continued on. I wonder if there is any break to the metropolis along the river before reaching Honk Kong?
When we returned to the hotel we walked back to the gazebo and the park, the area was filled with people dancing, necking, and practicing Tai Chi. It was well past 10:00 and still people were out even on a weeknight. Fran was cornered by a young lady who wanted to practice her English. I watched as the two of them sat in the gazebo. The Chinese woman was talking to Fran and Fran was politely trying to understand anything this she said. We are going to miss these nightly walks and talks along the river.
Our last day in Guangzhou and Rachel and I went shopping. She had been complaining that she had not had time to go shopping so I suggested we could go to this area of shops where she could shop and I could just roam. Well we were not gone more than thirty minutes when she decided that she had been away from Elizabeth long enough. I said no way we are going on. So I dragged her on through the Qing Ping market past the gooey stuff and into the shopping area. Well what we discovered again were these stores sold clothing in miniature. If they were in the U.S., it would be doll house clothing and not for real people. There was a display of men’s shirts which looked nice and I inquired if they had my size. The clerks, when they finally understood what I wanted, only laughed and then one picked up two shirts and motioned I would have to sew them together. Was she being sarcastic? Rachel and I walked on down the line of shops finding nothing to interest her. And then I saw it.
There was a food market. A line of stands cooking and selling street foods of many varieties. I ran over and bought a stick of octopuses. These squirmy, chewy things were quite tasty off of the stick and Rachel grabbed her camera to shoot the shot of her dad eating the squid. We went deeper into the market and found some little round things on a plate which we shared. This was topped of by a soda and another something on a stick. I was in gluttony heaven. Next to the food market was the jade market and we went in to find many stands making and selling jade jewelry and other items of jade. Unlike the pearl market where each stand was just a pile of pearls, here people were actually working with the jade and creating items to be sold. We walked through and admired many of the different things. I was able to find some bracelets for Bridget, my daughter-in- law and use my new acquired bargaining skills taught to me by Chang Chang.
Buying in these markets is an art and I now thought I had learned how. We bargained, insulted, stared, I walked away and walked back. I acted disgusted, and she did the same. She put the bracelets away, I acted as I did not care until she pulled them out again and we started over with new insults. Finally I really did walk away and Rachel stayed at the stand and the lady told Rachel I could have the price and Rachel called me back. After a session of bargaining, I either feel I got cheated or I feel like an idiot. The seller holds all of the cards. They will not sell if they are losing money and you have no idea what is a good price. The buyer guesses and the seller acts like that is way below their cost even though they may be making five times the cost of the item. So after this hard bargaining session where the lady acted like I was taking bread from her starving child’s mouth you would think she would simply throw the bracelets at me and grab my money, no. She carefully wraps each one individually and puts them into an expensive looking box. She smiles and chats happily and thanks me. I felt like an idiot who had just got cheated. On the other hand I knew what I paid for two nice bracelets for my daughter-in-law and she at least said she liked them when I gave them to her so it was a good deal. I think I like price tags better.
I made my best island discovery on our last day in Guangzhou. On the far northeast corner were red lanterns hanging over the sidewalk. I had not walked down this far and since Fran and I were just out walking we decided to investigate. You might remember from part two that red lanterns were to mean a restaurant and we were curious if a restaurant would be so far out of the way. What we found was a Chinese health and massage center. Fran was not interested in a massage but I was ready. The price was sixty eight yuan for 90 minutes. That is about $9.70. What they offered was an acupressure foot massage. The young lady escorted me into a room by myself which was a big surprise. A young man came in carrying a wooden bucket with extremely hot water mixed with some kind of aromatic stuff. He placed it on the floor and motioned for me to place my feet in the water. I did and swore I heard my skin sizzle as my feet settled to the bottom. Oddly enough my newly deep fried feet did not hurt but felt good soaking in that mixture of water and smelly stuff. A lady walked into the room she was between the ages of ten and thirty-five, less than four feet tall, and weighed about the same as the stack of towels she was carrying. She put down the towels, reached across me and closed the blinds which were next to me. The room was small and with the boiling water became very hot. I was outside walking in the 90-degree weather so was hot when I came in and was sweating, now I was really sweating. She walked behind me and started on my neck only to find a wet mass of sweat. She said something in Chinese which I took to be, "you’re a sweaty pig" I agreed. She tried to dry me off with a towel but that had no effect. Then she started the air cooler which helped a little. When she had her back turned, I opened the blinds, feeling a little uncomfortable with them closed. She walked back and saw them open leaned over and closed them again. So much for comfort. She then began in earnest and right away discovered the problem with my shoulder. She began to probe with fingers stronger than the Governor of California until she found the cramp deep inside. Next she grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm up above my head in a position I never thought humanly possible and began working her fingers down my arm toward the cramp while holding the arm in the unnatural position. Now we are in this small room and the only sounds which can be heard are my joints cracking, my agonizing groins, and cries of pain. I am also certain I heard her ignoring me. When her fingers reached the cramp her hands let loose of my arm but it was frozen in that upward position so she pulled it down. My shoulder felt better than it had for months. She continued her magic on the other shoulder not finding anything unusual it got the normal treatment. I was amazed at how strong this tiny person was. She then excused herself and the young man returned to take out the bucket of still steaming water. I again opened the blinds and when she returned she at once reached over to close them. I was not going to win this battle. Her next discovery was the cramp in my calf which she was more gentle with and instead of contorting my leg over my head wrapped it in a warm towel. She gave special attention to my right foot which has almost no feeling due to nerve damage from my back surgery. After she was finished, the foot was actually tingling for the fist time in twelve years. The oldest cramp I have is in my thigh and it is also the deepest but this did not stop her from detecting it as well. She kept stretching the area until I started to feel relief. The room had cooled off, I had stopped sweating, my shirt had dried and I was totally relaxed. The massage was over. She collected the money from me and I offered to take her home with me which she thought would be a good idea. Then I remembered that Fran was using the spare bedroom as her office so maybe that would not work so I gave her a tip. I wish I had discovered her on my first day here and not my last day but at least I had the best massage ever if only once.
The day had come to leave Guangzhou and that also meant to leaving China. We had decided to break up our trip home by staying in Shanghai overnight and then flying home from Shanghai. Our flight today was going to take us first to Chengdu then to Shanghai. Throughout our trip we had met many enterprising Chinese people, several of them we plan to keep in touch with. However, when we arrived at the Guangzhou airport there was probably the most enterprising of them all. We were met at the curb by a midget. This man stood no more than three feet tall. There were two families on the bus from the hotel and as the luggage was put out on the sidewalk he read the tags separated it into two piles and loaded them onto carts for us. He did this so quickly and efficiently that even if we wanted to do it ourselves we could not have gotten in between him and the carts. This man lifted suitcases which were taller than him over his head to stack neatly on the rolling carts. He then made it plain that we were to pay him for the service. We were happy to pay him just to watch him stack the suitcases.
When we checked in at Air China, the clerk informed us that one of our pieces of luggage had grown in weight since the last flight and was now overweight. She took my boarding pass and ripped it up then handed me a bill for 1120 Yuan which had to be paid only in cash at a different counter. Now we went in search of an ATM machine since we had let our cash go down being the end of the trip. David and I each found one which was out of service. However, I did have some U.S. money stashed away and I keep a bill hidden in a special place just for emergencies and if need be would take off my pants. We got up to the counter and between the two of us found enough U.S. dollars so I did not have to remove my pants. Now I had the receipt but still had to get back in line for a boarding pass. Fortunately the boarding gate was first in line and we just made it to the plane in time.
When we arrived in Chengdu, we wanted no trouble getting on the plane for Shanghai so we went right to the next gate for our two-hour wait. Sammy and I played games in the large open area and the time went quickly. The first boarding call went out and we were first in line. I handed the lady all of our boarding passes and she stared at me with a frown. She told me we did not have a transfer stamp, and I said "a what?" Well, it seems that in China you need permission from the Chinese to transfer from one plane to another plane in the same airport and our first plane had neglected to tell us this and now we had to "stand over there." The lady radioed someone and began to let everyone else onto the plane while we stood "over there." The line of plane boarders ended and we were still standing "over there" while a few stragglers ran up to the gate and were allowed onto the plane. The lady continued to radio someone and we continued to "stand over there." One last straggler breathlessly ran up to the check-in counter and was let on and the lady walked into the big aisle with her radio while we continued to "stand over there." Then we saw a man walking very slowly and deliberately up to the check in counter. He wore a badge which declared him as Mr. 92741 so he must have been important. He asked for our passports. I walked over from the "stand over there" place and handed our passports to Mr. 92741. He then dialed the phone and began to talk to someone on the phone without looking at our passports or boarding passes. The lady with the radio said something to Mr. 92741 and he looked at his watch, then opened up the first passport slowly turning each page. Mr. 92741 did this with each of the five passports then repeated the same with each of the five boarding passes. Next Mr. 92741 laid them all down and looked at his watch again. He then picked up a stamp and began to slowly ink the stamp and stamp each boarding pass making certain he inked the stamp between each boarding pass. Mr. 92741 then with, grand authority straightened the pile of boarding passes and passports and handed them to the lady. She almost threw them to me as she and another lady pushed the five of us out of "stand over there" and up the ramp to the plane. We took off five minutes later. To this day I still have this mental image of my hands wrapped around the neck of Mr. 92741 and his face turning a sickly color of purple.
We arrived in Shanghai and found our shuttle to the hotel without incident. Even though we spent the night in Shanghai, this will not be a city added to our list. We arrived late in the afternoon and had an early afternoon flight out the next day. I had found out that it was quite some distance from the airport to the city and we decided not to make the trek. This was a good decision as it turns out since by this time we were all tired and ready to go home. However, we did meet some folks in the hotel who were even more tired and more ready to go home than us. They were from New Zealand traveling from Japan and their pilot got sick. They had been in Shanghai since Wednesday and this was Saturday waiting for him to get better. It appears Air New Zealand has only a few planes and pilots. We did enjoy talking with our New Zealand castaway buddies and the hotel was nice but we were happy to be on our way the next day.
American Airlines arranged for us to sit in the bulkhead area. They hung a bassinet on the wall which Elizabeth just fit into. She slept for almost the entire flight home. The flight attendants and crew fussed over her the entire way and presented the kids with a bottle of champagne. The fourteen-hour flight went quickly and seemed like it was no longer than fourteen hours, I liked to check on the screen to see the progress of the airplane. You look and see we are over the Pacific Ocean and then next time you look and you are still over the Pacific Ocean. After waiting for what seems like an eternity you look again and you are still over the Pacific Ocean. That was really exciting for me. Eventually I looked and it said we were over Wisconsin and then they said we were going to land. Each of us were somewhat nervous but none of us were talking about the next and final step of this odyssey. Once Elizabeth was cleared through U.S. immigration, she became a U.S. Citizen.
We are living in the post nine-eleven United States where officials are no longer happy with their jobs, themselves or with you. My experiences with U.S. customs and border crossings since nine- eleven has been anything but pleasant. This is not true with any of the foreign countries we have visited but seems to be the rule here in the U.S. I did not expect this process to go well. The kids had an envelope from the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou which was sealed and in a plastic pouch, only to be opened by immigration at the port of entry here. We were all very careful as to what we brought back with us and how we documented it. Even me. I always bring back a stolen plant cutting from wherever we visit and grow it either in our yard or home. We have cuttings from around the world and I was tempted many times on this trip but resisted and took nothing. The first check of passports went smoothly and we went to collect our luggage. The line we needed was for alien residents. Fortunately, it was a short line. Rachel gave a gentleman the sealed package and was told to sit down over there. None of us sat. We watched as he opened the envelope’s seal took out the papers sifted through and hardly glanced at the contents. He stamped one of the papers and called Rachel to give back the envelope. He pointed at another window which said customs. Elizabeth was a citizen of the United States of America. We walked over to the customs clerk who told all of us to go to door E which was the exit. We were done. But before we left that area I kissed my granddaughter and congratulated her on becoming a citizen of her new country.
This is not the end but the beginning of the life of a beautiful little girl who by a miracle was matched with her family. Her stories continue from here. China remains as a happy memory for us, this was a trip of a lifetime. The kids talk about returning in ten years if Elizabeth would want to go back. I certainly would love to return to see the changes in this quickly changing country. It is hard to imagine what China will be in ten years. I read what it was ten years ago and cannot believe it has changed so much in the past ten years. Somehow though, I think the people will be the same. There is a certain gentleness to them which is so appealing, a warmth which made me happy to be with them. This is something I do not think will ever change regardless of how many old buildings are torn down and new ones are built. I know that long after I forget how many buildings were inside the Forbidden City or the exact name of a certain park I will remember the cab driver who drove us across the Yangtze River Bridge. When the memory of the last museum has faded my friends in Nanjing, will still be a highlight of this trip. There will come the time when I will have trouble recalling the daily events of this trip, however, the faces and the warmth of the caretakers at the orphanage will always be with me. A miracle happened in China.
