Flight to Chengdu

Today we flew to Chengdu via Guangzhou. I'm not sure why we had to do it this way as there was a direct flight from Nanning which would have saved us a lot of time. But when we made our booking that flight may not have existed, hence the more complicated route we ended up taking.

We made a private booking with the van driver who had taken us around Nanning to take us to the airport. We needed a van because we didn't think that 4 people and 4 suitcases would fit into a taxi--well, at least not comfortably enough for a 40 minute ride. We may end up testing this out later though. We arranged for a wake-up call at 5am so that we had enough time to get ready, finish our last minute packing, check the rooms for any lost items such as recharger cords and styluses (for DS's) and get downstairs to check out and meet the van at 6. The drive through darkened Nanning streets was a bit eerie. When the driver started going down dark back streets I asked him in Chinese which direction the airport was from the city. He told me it was south and about 35 kms. That made us feel much better as we had been wondering if he was going in the right direction. When we got to the airport I paid him the agreed amount and Jade gave him a pack of cigarettes that we had been given in lieu of a discount at the restaurant in Guigang. The cigarettes were double happiness brand, I noticed. The driver was so shocked and surprised when Jade gave these to him but I could see he was very pleased too. Once inside the airport we didn't have any problem checking in--which had been a bit of a worry as this was our first time doing this in China ourselves. The check-in clerk spoke English and told us that we had to collect our bags in Guangzhou and check in again there for our second flight. Maybe this was because we were flying with two different airlines but I'm not sure.

Nanning Airport

Our first flight was with Shenzhen Airlines and was in a Boeing 737. As with the Hong Kong Airlines flight we were separated into two groups of two and put in successive rows in the window and middle seats. Because I'd been sick on landing in Nanning I took a Dramamine and this made me really drowsy. About half way through the hour flight we started experiencing a lot of turbulance and I was very glad that I'd taken precautions. I was fine, thankfully. In Guangzhou we had about 2 hours to collect our bags, check in and then wait for the next flight which was with Sichuan Airlines. I was feeling a little more iffy about the safety of this airline and was also a bit worried about another landing situation. Once on board it didn't help that the woman sitting next to me grabbed the sick bag from my seat pocket and clutched it in her hand. I wondered if she knew something that I didn't! Our plane was an Airbus and seemed a little bit old but not too bad. When it raised its landing gear, however, it made a heck of a noise which sounded like someone was below us in the cargo area drilling something! The flight was fine, however.

On landing we collected our bags and were met by our guide Vivian, driver Mr. Shu and a van and they transferred us to our beautiful 4 star hotel the Yinhe Dynasty. We're going to be here for only two nights, just so that we can visit the Panda Research Center. Vivian gave us our train tickets for the next stage of our journey--a soft sleeper train to Xian. By the time we got to our rooms it was 4pm so we decided to rest for an hour then go out and get something to eat. We ventured out at 5 to very busy crowded streets. Luckily our hotel is just a block or so from a busy shopping area. We ate dinner at a Chinese fast food place Miloko. It was OK but not a place we'll go back to. Then we tried to find a supermarket (chao ji shi chang). We asked a couple of people but they didn't understand us or didn't know where one was. We wandered into a department store and I happened to spot a sign which said "超级市场入口" which means 'supermarket entrance'. I was so excited to put my language skills to practical use! You see, I've been studying Chinese for 9 years now, beginning in 2000. This year I just finished a Graduate Diploma in Chinese which is an undergraduate major equivalent. Yet, this is the first opportunity I've had to actually use (and try to improve) my Chinese skills in a practical setting. I am in my element! This is the experience I wanted to have in China and this is why we are doing more and more on our own bit by bit.

Tomorrow we are going out early to see the pandas. We are going to take a taxi and asked the hotel if they would book one for us. The concierge later rang our room and suggested we hire a car and driver for the day for Y200. That was not what we wanted. We just wanted a simple taxi ride and we'd find a taxi and come back when we were ready. So they've now booked a taxi for us. I'm only expecting the fare to be about Y30 or so. Hopefully it won't be more because the hotel booked it.

Happy New Year everyone from Chengdu!

A stroll the People's Park

Today was our last day in Nanning and finally the rain stopped so we could get out and enjoy it! We walked to the People's Park behind our hotel. We'd been there on our last trip but hadn't seen the whole park and we wanted to explore it a bit more. We fed the fish. The kids loved this!

Feeding the fish

Then we walked across the zig zag bridge and into a pavillion. One man was there with his violin and I asked him if Jade could play it. Since it was a full size violin and hers is half size she had trouble hitting the right notes.

There were a lot of rides and amusements which were empty because it was a Tuesday morning during school time. Some of the rides were being serviced. Jade wanted to go on a ride but the rest of us didn't. They were not very inviting after Disneyland. Jarrah had seen a sign for a skating rink so we kept looking for it and asking and finally we came across it. We paid for the kids to rent skates and off they went.

Jarrah had just done a few weeks of roller blading as part of his school sport curriculum so he was quite comfortable but for Jade this was her first time on skates so she spent a lot of time hanging onto the bar at the edge of the rink and slipping all over the place. By the end of the 45 minutes or so that they skated she was off the bar and starting to get the technique.

We returned to the hotel and had lunch then rested and showered in preparation for our early start tomorrow. At 5:30 we went down to the lobby to meet Michael who was the guide on our adoption trip. It was so good to see him again. He took us in his car to a lovely restaurant and we caught up about our lives over the past seven years. Tomorrow we have a wake up call at 5am and the van is coming for us at 6.

Guigang in a day

Lanterns in the trees in Nanning celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Guangxi Autonomous Region


Today was the day of our scheduled visit to Guigang. We made sure we got up early enough for breakfast then met our guide and driver in the lobby at 8:45. The drive took about 2.5 hours including a rest stop. We had a city map of Guigang from 7 years ago which showed the location of the orphanage but the city had changed quite a bit and the driver got lost. Our guide had to phone the orphanage a couple of times to get directions on which way to go. Finally we pulled up at the gate to Guigang SWI and the orphanage director and one carer Qin Feng who had cared for Jade were there to meet us. We were not allowed to even enter the courtyard of the orphanage as we had last time but had to park on the street. After introductions and some photos we handed over our gifts to them from the back of the van in the rain. Jade wanted to hand the things over and I was a bit nervous about this as there was a medium-sized puddle full of black dirty water in the street at the curb and I was afraid that some of the gifts might accidently be dropped into it. Thankfully none were!

The gates of Guigang SWI--closed

Director Liao, me, Jade, Paul & Jarrah

with East Lake in the background

The director was especially excited about the knitted clothing we gave her and the memory quilt with photos of Jade. She was also very interested in the framed photo of Jade and her batchmate from Guigang. We asked a few questions and then were getting ready to leave as we had been told that the director was too busy to join us for lunch. Then our wonderful guide Allen told us that he had asked the director if she could take Jade into the orphanage so she could see where she had lived and the director had agreed. This was an initiative on his part and was agreed to by the director as Jade 'did not have a foreign face'. I am so thankful to Allen for even thinking of this as Jade had been disappointed that she couldn't go in and I think it is important for her to see where she spent the first few weeks of her life. She was only shown the courtyard area and not inside any of the buildings but that was enough for her I think.

When Jade and the director came out we prepared to go but then Allen told us that she and the carer were going to come along in the van and show us where to go for lunch. (He also asked me on the side if it was OK if they came to lunch too.) Evidently they had changed their minds and I think that may have been because they were pleased with the gifts. We were very happy that they could come out to lunch with us. We went to a very nice restaurant (do I need to say it was Chinese?), went into a private room there and had a lovely lunch. We learned that there are about 10 other adoptees from Guigang SWI in Australia who were adopted in 2003. I was surprised to find this out as we know nothing about these children. It is a shame that their parents don't seem to be involved in any of the adoption support groups. We were also told that we were the fifth family to return to Guigang SWI and the first from Australia. Director Liao was curious about Jade's life and asked us about her activities. She also asked what Jarrah's activities and hobbies are. She asked us about our trip too. All of this was in marked contrast to the lack of conversation we'd had with the foster family the day before!

At lunch in Guigang City

We asked the director in general if she'd ever had contact with any birthfamilies and she told us she'd been at the orphanage for 20 years and in all that time she'd never heard from any birthfamilies. We asked about what the children did when they grew up and she said some studied high school and university, some went to work in Guangdong province and some had even joined the army. So it sounds like they've integrated fully into Chinese society.

After lunch we parted ways and returned to Nanning. Coming into the city from the East we pass through the new part of the city with many beautiful and tall buildings. Allen says this area will soon become the new centre of the city.

Court Building

Pretty gold building

The tallest building in Guangxi Province

After coming back to the hotel Allen went with me to the nearby post office to mail the gifts we'd received from the foster family and a few other extra things we were carrying back home . It was a relief to get rid of the extra weight! We're also glad to no longer have the big carry bag of gifts.

It's a shame that every day we've been in Nanning that it's been raining--but I guess that's winter! We are glad that the gifts we've brought to the two orphanages are very seasonal and needed. At Mother's Love we saw that the buildings are not heated and the children and carers wear their outdoor clothes all day. We imagine it is much the same at Guigang SWI. Even during our long van ride today the driver didn't use the heater. I guess the Chinese are used to being in unheated buildings. Even the restaurant today was unheated. When I initially sat next to what I thought was a heater I was told it wasn't turned on unless it was hot outside. Then it was explained that it wasn't a heater but an air conditioner!

We are getting really used to China now and beginning to know our way around Nanning. We'll be a bit sad to move on but we're also a bit short of things to do here in between our arranged meetings so it will be good to be in a more touristy city. Tomorrow we meet Michael, the guide from our adoption trip, who was unable to guide us this time because he was away in another province. We look forward to seeing him again. Jade is enjoying meeting all these people and tonight she counted out how many people she's going to be seeing in China. She included some pandas in the count as well!

A rest day then an eventful one

I didn't write anything yesterday because we decided to have a rest day at the hotel. After breakfast we went back to our rooms and read, watched TV and used the internet. The kids wrote in their diaries and played their DS's. Everyone was tired from being on the go for a week and the rainy weather wasn't conducive to walking around town. In the evening we went to dinner at the local restaurant next to the hotel. Yes this is getting to be a habit.

Today we had a free morning. We walked down to the large Ethnic Minorities Square which was beautifully decorated for celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the proclaiming of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. We had visited the square on our last trip and I wanted to see it again.

Three views of Ethnic Minorities Square

Across the street from it a very modern exhibition building was holding an exhibit with details and sketches of plans for the development of Nanning up to 2020. Many people were examining the photos and maps. I'm sure they were most interested in how the areas where they live will change. A short walk down the street on the other side of the square is the Guangxi Provincial Museum. We were granted free admission and walked around the gardens and looked at the displays of ancient pottery inside. The museum shop had a nice selection of Guangxi love balls, an item unique to this province, so Jade and Jarrah selected some to bring home. Jade, of course, went for a green one and also chose a light blue one. Jarrah chose a dark purple one.

Guangxi Love Balls

Across the street from the museum is one branch of the Dream Island Department Store and we decided to go in there and have lunch at Pizza Hut. We didn't particularly crave Western food as we'd had pizza just a few days ago in Hong Kong. It was just that it was an easy choice and one which we knew wouldn't give us digestive problems. After eating we walked through the department store, which is more upmarket than the Nanning Department Store we went to a couple of days ago. There certainly isn't any shortage of consumer goods in China! I was in the market for a replacement charger cord for my electronic dictionary (which was bought by a classmate for me in China) and thankfully I was able to get one. It wasn't cheap at $A50 but, since I couldn't find my charger at home and couldn't use the dictionary because it was totally out of charge, it was money well spent. My next task is to try and get a hold of the user manual in English and I'm hoping to be able to do this in Beijing or Shanghai.

We took a taxi back to the hotel for a very inexpensive 7 Yuan then regrouped and prepared for our meeting with Jade's foster family. We'd arranged to meet them and Allen in the lobby of the hotel at 3:30. They came as scheduled and the foster mother had an emotional reunion with Jade. We had planned to take them out for afternoon tea at the little restaurant near the hotel but then we found out it didn't open until 5pm so after some discussion with Allen we piled into 3 taxis and went to Pizza Hut (but a different one from lunch). Pizza Hut here in China has an extensive menu--way beyond pizza and pasta. We let the foster family order and they really went overboard. There was so much extra food! The bill came to 600 Yuan--and that with Allen's discount. Wow! Anyway, we had a good visit and it was a one-off so that's the way it goes. Allen said that they had never been in Pizza Hut or that shopping centre before. I think our worlds are quite different. Even though we had an interpreter they didn't ask questions about Jade but were quite happy to sit and eat and just enjoy being with her and us. They asked about us visiting again and we said maybe in a few years. They absolutely showered us with gifts. We are going to have to post them home as we don't want to lug them all around China. We gave them our gifts but I was embarassed that they'd brought an extra person along whom I hadn't known about and so I didn't have a gift for her. I really enjoyed the experience of being out with locals in their city--piling into taxis, seeing them order easily in a restaurant and just seeing them in their environment. I think events like this really enrich the travel experience. I will keep writing to the foster mother. I now have her daughter's email address so I can send them photos of today. They didn't bring a camera--they probably don't have one--so they have no record of our meeting.

Meeting the foster family at Pizza Hut in Nanning

A trip down memory lane

Today we took a trip down memory lane starting with breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We were seated in the fairly small non-smoking section, which is a raised area without any barrier between it and the main part of the restaurant. All the better to catch the rising smoke, I guess!

Our table was one that we're sure we sat at 7 years ago. There was a wide variety of foods available but no French toast, to Jarrah's chagrin. He still fondly remembers the French toast he had in our hotel in Beijing in 2001. Jade was adventurous and tried a variety of things from the Chinese breakfast buffet. She decided she liked the cherry juice, fried dough, sliced ham (which didn't look anything like ham to me) watermelon and the boiled egg. The rest of us stuck to cereal, eggs and toast. I tried some congee as well but found it bland.

After breakfast we gathered our things and met Allen and our driver in the lobby to go to Mother's Love Orphanage. The trip to the orphanage is through a very undeveloped and poor part of Nanning. The road has no curb and there are no footpaths to speak of and the buildings either side are very third world. The orphanage is as I remembered it up a very narrow hilly driveway. The large building with the statue in the grounds is now a belt factory and the orphanage is in a small building off to the right.

We met Director Liu and exchanged gifts with her. I think she was quite pleased to receive the knitted blankets that we brought. We told her about Jade and two of her batch-mates getting together for the first time since they've been in Australia last July and showed her a photo of the girls on the FCC calendar. She was very pleased to see this and asked if there were other Mother's Love children on the calendar. Unfortunately, we were unable to answer this question for her. She told us that since Nanning SWI is able to care for the smaller number of abandoned babies that Mother's Love no longer has babies. Then the other director Kit Ying came and warmly greeted us. We ended up having several conversations going at once. Thankfully Paul did get the video camera out and photograph some of what was going on.

Kit took us through the few ground floor rooms and we saw the disabled children who now live there. We were told that there were 24 children all together. Some are severely disabled and others go to school at the orphanage and can read. We were shown a wall with bracelets that the children have made. Jade chose a bracelet and I took a photo of her with the girl who made it. I'm not posting this because I want to protect the girl's privacy. Jade also met one of her carers Jin Feng (Gold Phoenix) who remembered her.

bracelets made by the children

When we finished our visit we walked back to our van. Kit Ying accompanied Jade and chatted with her. Jade seems to have taken everything in her stride and is acting her usual self.

This afternoon we went out to have a look at Nanning. We walked to the Nanning Department Store and did some shopping. There are lots and lots of people out and about and we got quite a few looks. Jarrah and I practiced our Chinese on a few people and I, for one, am enjoying putting my language studies to use at long last.

We didn't see any other Westerners when we were out. I think since adoptions are becoming more rare here that there is not much reason for Westerners to come to Nanning. Tomorrow we have a free day and we are going to walk to the large square we remember and the museum which is near it. I'm also still hunting for a recharge cord for my electronic dictionary.

I thought I would show you some photos of our room. We are in two rooms with the connecting doors open. Bringing the laptop is a godsend! We have the facility to download photos and videos to it and here in Nanning our internet connection costs only 5 Yuan ($A1.25) per day. This makes up for Hong Kong where it was about $A70 for the duration of our stay. The Majestic Hotel is exactly as we remembered it--too much so. I don't think they have done anything to the rooms for the last 7 years. Everything looks a bit old and grubby. I can only imagine how many families have been united with their children and spent their first few days together in our room since we were last here. We are up on the 9th floor (the non-smoking floor) and we're pretty lonely here. We saw one American couple in the restaurant this morning but they didn't have a child with them. Jarrah says he heard crying this afternoon so today may have been the day they became a family. We'll see tomorrow at breakfast.

We are in Nanning

Today we travelled from Hong Kong to Nanning in Guangxi province. We flew on Hong Kong Airlines on the only flight scheduled from Hong Kong to Nanning--at least for today. Our plane was about half full with only one other Westerner on it. Since it wasn't an airline we'd ever heard of we didn't know what to expect. We were pleased to discover that the plane was very new and nice and we were served drinks and a lovely individually wrapped slice of pound cake. The flight to Nanning was supposed to take one hour and 15 minutes but ended up taking a bit longer because we didn't land on the first try but climbed suddenly and went around again. The pilot never explained to us why we had to do that. Unfortunately, the maneuver made me sick.

Nanning Airport is pretty small and basic. There were only two immigration officials working and when we tried to go to the desk as a family the official asked us to come one at a time. When it was Jade's turn one official said to the other 'adopted' in Chinese. I then told him in Chinese that she was from Guangxi and that this was her first time back. He smiled and was very friendly as was the other official who was then checking my passport and then he asked how long we were going to be in China. I told him a month and told him the places we were going to see. He said 'Guilin, very pretty' in English and I told him next time we'd go there. We picked up our bags and then went through the green 'Nothing to Declare' line and were met by our OCDF guide Allen Wang. Allen is a great guy. (I'll have to take his photo tomorrow.) We had a good chat on the way into Nanning. I asked about some signs I saw and he said that Guangxi province was celebrating 50 years of being an Autonomous Region. Allen's English is excellent. It seems he has several jobs--tutoring English, working as a traditional Chinese medicine practioner as well as guiding.

Allen helped us to book into the hotel and then came up to our rooms to go over what our program with him will be for our visit. It is real deja vu for us being here at the Majestic Hotel. We're on the 9th floor again--the only non-smoking floor of the hotel--but it seems a bit deserted. I don't know if there are any adoption groups here. We certainly haven't seen any. We showed Jade which room was ours last time and which room she was handed over to us in. I wonder how she feels about all of this? She seems to take it all matter-of-factly.

Since it is Christmas the hotel is hosting a huge dinner celebration in the foyer which is full of tables. We can barely get to the front desk. There is a beautiful blue Christmas tree lit up outside the hotel which I just took a photo of.

We just had dinner in the inexpensive restaurant to the right of the hotel as you look at it and then came back to the room. I discovered in trying to write this blog that my access was blocked so I had to google how to get around the Great Firewall of China. Thankfully it wasn't too difficult! Oh, and internet access using my laptop costs only 5 RMB per day! What a bargain!

It's going to be great to be able to see Nanning at our own pace this time around. The last time we were guided everywhere and we also spent so much time in the hotel that we didn't get to really get a feel for the city. Allen says Nanning has about 2 million people now--about 500,000 more than 7 years ago.

Winter clothes!

We've been hearing news reports from other parts of China telling about record snow falls and freezing temperatures so today was devoted to shopping for winter clothing. We took the Star Ferry over to Central then (after some looking around) found the bus terminal and took the #6X bus to the Stanley Market. We found a stall selling ski jackets and pants and selected what we would need. All up for 4 jackets and 3 pants we spent $A350. We would never have been able to find heavy gear like this for that price in Australia. That morning we had also picked a family member's name out of a hat so we also shopped for a Kris Kringle present for that person. Because we've already celebrated Christmas this will enable us to get a present tomorrow to acknowledge that it is Christmas Day.

Entrance to Stanley Market

After shopping we went to a 7Eleven and bought something for lunch. Jade chose garlic 2 min noodles which were made up and served to her hot. The rest of us had packaged rolls. Mine was a tomato flavour but they sure had some interesting varieties like cheese and corn, ham and tomato, bean paste, BBQ pork and others I can't remember. There were sweet ones too and all of the various flavours were all displayed together--ie there were sweet ones mixed in with savoury ones. We sat down on a park bench to eat lunch then took the bus back to Wanchai. We got off when we saw tram tracks for the double decker trams, which we wanted to ride. As usually happens there wasn't a bus stop where we wanted to get off so we had to ride the bus a few extra blocks then walk back to the tram. The tram ride was great and so cheap--$HK2--about $A0.40! We got off the tram at Admiralty and took the train back to the hotel.

Double decker tram

Kids on the tram near the stairs

Paul, always one for walking, still hadn't had enough so he and I left the kids in the room while we went out for a few minutes. We picked up my ring then walked down Nathan Rd past the shops. I'm starting to feel I've had enough of the crowds. I was wondering what was on the high area behind the shops when we came to a stairway. I remembered seeing Kowloon Park on a map so figured the stairs led up to the park which they did. We wandered through the park a bit. It's very built up with wide paved areas and buildings. We found a pond with a turtle and another with a pagoda. In a pavillion a group of people were doing tai chi.

Pagoda in Kowloon Park

When we got back to the hotel I took the kids swimming in the hotel pool while Paul took care of the laundry in the hotel's self-service laundry. Later we went out to dinner and now we are waiting to see the Christmas lights festivities that are going to take place on the harbour. The police have blocked off all of the streets in the lower part of Kowloon to allow pedestrians to walk and crowds are building up so we think it is going to be a big show. We don't know though what time it is going to start or what exactly is going to happen.

Today is our last day in Hong Kong. We've gotten the hang of things here and have started to become familiar with getting around. We've done a LOT of walking and our legs and feet are very sore. We'll be sorry to leave but on the other hand it will be good to move on to Nanning where we are going to have a couple of tours--so hopefully a bit less walking!

The big news in today's South China Morning Post is the arrival of the pandas in Taiwan and there is a very cute photo of them on the front page of the paper. Their names are Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan which together mean unification. We are looking forward to seeing pandas later in our trip.

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan

We're in China . . . but we're not

One of the concepts which keeps coming up with the kids is the understandable confusion over whether we're in China or not. We talk about being in China now but then later we mention something and say that this will be different when we're in China. For example, drinking water out of the tap. Tap water in Hong Kong is fine to drink--at least we haven't had any problems. But in China, of course, we'll have to use bottled water exclusively. We've explained the history of Hong Kong to the kids and told them that that is why things are different here. I think Jade, at nearly 8 years old, is just old enough to understand that Hong Kong used to belong to the UK but now it is part of China. It's being able to get concepts like this across to the kids which enriches the trip for all of us.

Space Mountain

Here is a report on a ride in Disneyland called Space Mountain by Jade Vella-Wright

Dad and I went on a ride called Space Mountain. I was really scared. When we got in the car we had to put the safety bar down. It was scary because the turns were at an angle, it was all black so you didn’t know which way you were going to go and because there were lots of hills on the track. I had my photo taken while I was on the ride. I didn’t see it because I had my eyes closed!!! I hade my eyes closed because I was relaxing because I was scared. P.S. It was a space ride.

Cable Car Ride to the Giant Buddha Statue

Tian Tan Buddha

Today we visited another place on my wish list--the giant Buddha statue Tian Tan at the Po Lin Monastary on Lantau Island. The statue is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha and was erected in 1989. To get to the statue we took the MTR again (our last free day to do so) and rode the Ngong Ping 360 cable car. The cable car ride lasted 25 minutes each way. We had fantastic views of the airport, the mountains and Tung Chung Bay which we crossed. The weather has turned cooler in Hong Kong and we found ourselves getting a bit chilly on the ride but up at the top there was less wind and we were quite warm.

Nong Ping Village

The cable car ends at the Ngong Ping Village, a group of shops and tourist attractions, which we bypassed. After the village there is an area which is obviously being re-developed and following this we came to the stairway with over 200 steps leading up to the base of the statue. Jade decided to use her stopwatch to time how long it took us to get to the top. Jarrah made it in about 3 minutes. I stopped a couple of times on the way up and made it in 5. We all used our cameras to take quite a few photos. The kids are sharing the 'old' digital camera. They each have their own memory cards so that they can take ownership of their own photos. Paul took a few panoramic shots with the new video camera which he's getting the hang of.

After spending some time at the statue we walked back to the village and sat at a table to have the picnic lunch we'd brought--cheese and ham rolls. We are going to try not to eat two big meals a day because I think that's too much for us and also we can save some money if one of our meals is light. You have seen that I've written about us eating our own food for breakfast in our room. That's because our hotel in Hong Kong doesn't include breakfast with the cost of the room. That won't be the case in other cities. For now, though, it is nice to be able to stay in for breakfast.

Another observation about Hong Kong--Mandarin is becoming more and more prevalent here. Many if not most people seem to speak it. Announcements, such as those on the MTR and at Disneyland, use Mandarin as well as Cantonese and English. It is probably a requirement that anything 'official' uses Mandarin. On our second day here I tried to communicate with the housekeeping lady about the kids' foldaway bed. She didn't understand me when I used English so I then asked her in Mandarin if she spoke Mandarin and she enthustiastically replied that she did so I was able to get my message across to her that way, although there was some gesturing on my part due to vocabulary gaps. After 9 years of studying Chinese it's funny that I've never had to talk about household things like sheets and towels so I had no idea what the words for those things were!

We arrived back at the hotel at about 3 and Jade totally conked out. I think we've all been driving ourselves pretty hard.

Tonight we went out and had a look at some of the seasonal lights on the buildings nearby. It was very difficult to photograph them so they weren't blurry. Tomorrow we're off to the Stanley Market with the hope of finding winter jackets to use later in the trip.

A Day with Disney

At the Entrance of Disneyland

Yesterday we spent the day at Hong Kong Disneyland. We'd been told by several people that it is a small park compared with other Disneylands and one of Jarrah's friends had told him that if we were there by 9 when it opened we'd be done by 2pm. We're still a bit jet lagged and are waking up about 4am due to the 3 hour time difference so getting out and going early isn't a problem.

We ate breakfast in our room again--cereal and powdered milk brought with us plus a few remaining airline leftovers. There is a kettle and tea/coffee things in the room as well as a bowl of fruit so we're having these as well. Then we were off to the MTR (underground/subway) which is one block away from our hotel. We used our Airport Express octopus cards which include 3 days free train travel to journey out to Disneyland, which is on Lantau Island (where the airport is). The Hong Kong underground is reputably the most efficient in the world and we are finding it very easy to use. The lines are colour coded and the platforms are sealed away from the trains by a glass wall with sliding doors which correspond with the train doors. Other cities such as Singapore and I think Washington DC have this same set-up. It's mainly a safety factor I think which prevents accidental falls onto the tracks when there's a crush of people.

The trip out to Disneyland involved two train transfers. The last was onto a spur line built especially for the theme park. You couldn't mistake where you were going on that line!

The Disneyland train with Mickey Mouse windows!

Even the overhanging hand grips are Mickey Mouse!

Despite being told that Disneyland opened at 9 we found that only the ticket booths were open and the gates didn't open until 9:30. We took a family photo just inside the park to match the one we took at Disneyland in California in January 2004. It will be interesting after we get home to compare the two photos! We wandered down Main Street USA to the end where they had it roped off and then had to wait until 10am for the rest of the park to open. We sat down on a park bench and then I noticed two Chinese women unabashadly staring at Jade. Their gaze didn't waver and I guessed by that and by the way they were dressed (very stylishly but formally) that they were Mainlanders. When we got up to walk on they followed us--all the way to the Fantasyland train station. I began to wonder if they were going to follow us all day!

Oh, I wanted to write about Disneyland. Well it is small, probably the smallest of all the Disneylands. It only has 3 'lands'--Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland--so it's missing Frontierland. It also has many fewer rides than California. Missing are Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted House, Thunder Mt. Railroad to name a few. In fact there is only one 'thrill' ride in the park--Space Mountain. Still there was plenty to entertain us for 5 hours. We rode the carousel--always my favourite ride, the spinning teacups, Dumbo, Autotopia--a drive yourself ride, the river cruise, Tarzan's treehouse, the Disneyland Railroad and It's a Small World--also one of my favourites and one which was closed for maintenance at Anaheim when we were there. There was hardly anyone at the park when we first arrived but the crowds built up over the day but it still wasn't what I would call crowded. Jade and Paul--our family thrillseekers--were the ones to tackle Space Mountain while Jarrah and I waited in the shop and scanned the ride photos to see when they were coming out.

We had lunch in the park and found the prices reasonable. Jade and Jarrah are amazing us on this trip with their capacity to eat. Normally they pick at food and graze but here they are downing meals in one go--thankfully since we are reliant on restaurants. Jade had a full adult meal of rice and BBQ pork at Disneyland. I've never seen her eat this much. After sharing a pork fried noodle dish with Jarrah Monday night and now this she says pork is her favourite meat. I guess she's going to be pestering me for pork at home now and it is probably the meat I cook the least!


We left Disneyland at 3 and took the train back into Tsim Sha Tsui where we are staying. Since it was still earlyish I wanted to tackle a couple of 'errands' and Paul decided we'd all go along so we walked to Canton Rd. to the address of the company which made my electronic dictionary. I was hoping to be able to purchase the English instruction book for my dictionary which a classmate bought for me in China a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, they didn't have it as my model is not sold in Hong Kong but they were able to give me addresses for their offices in Beijing and Shanghai so I have two more chances to try and get the book. After this I went (on my own now) to a jeweller recommended to me by a gym Mum which as it turned out was only a block away from our hotel. I've wanted a ring with my children's birthstones in it for a couple of years but, since their stones are an unusual combination would have had to special order it in Melbourne. I don't think our jewellers are really set up to make special pieces so I'd been waiting for the opportunity to have a ring made. Here in Hong Kong they also use 18K gold so jewellery is better quality than our usual 9K. It was fun picking out the stones and deciding on the style. I've gone for something very simple but which has meaning for me and will pick my ring up on Wednesday afternoon.

Breakfast in our room

We're in Honkers!

Leaving Melbourne Airport in our matching OCDF t-shirts

We had a smooth albeit long journey yesterday which took us 21 hours of travel from home to our hotel in Hong Kong. We flew Singapore Airlines from Melbourne to Singapore, then had an hour and a half transit before boarding our flight for Hong Kong. The meals were pretty good and the food was plentiful. We arrived in Hong Kong just before 9:30pm local time, which was 12:30am in Melbourne. After waking up at 5:30am we all had had a long day. The kids were pretty tired and it took some coaxing to get them through arrival procedures. We then bought airport express train tickets and took the train in to Kowloon station where a free bus ferried us and our bags to our hotel--the YMCA Salisbury.

The Salisbury is located in an absolute superb position at the very tip of the Kowloon penninsula just across the street from the Hong Kong Art Gallery and the Star Ferry terminal. We have an incredible room which is a very spacious (especially for Hong Kong) suite on the 10th floor overlooking the magnificent Victoria Harbour. The lounge room comes with a foldout double sofa bed which the kids are sharing and the bedroom has a king size bed and ensuite. I booked this room on the internet and was thrilled to be able to get anything large enough for the four of us. Most of the hotels in this part of the world are designed for the business traveller rather than families so the rooms cater for a maximum of three people. In the other hotels we'll be staying in we have had to book two rooms, considerably raising the cost of this trip.

Today we got up at 7:30. With the three hour time difference from Melbourne it seemed as if we had actually slept in! We had breakfast in our room which consisted of cereal and powdered milk that we'd brought with us as well as airline leftovers. Then we wandered outside to the edge of the harbour and took the Star Ferry across to Central on Hong Kong Island. Our plan was to do either the Peak Tram (a funicular tram which climbs Victoria Peak) and/or head to Stanley Market on the south side of the island to shop for winter gear for later in the trip. We ended up doing the Peak Tram, something I've wanted to do on previous trips here but never got around to, but then didn't have the time or energy to go to Stanley.

Kids at the peak tram

The view of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

After visiting the Peak we returned to our hotel, had about an hour's rest, then headed out again to try our luck at a closer street market--the Ladies' Market. Unfortunately we didn't find what we were looking for. Jade did score a pretty crystal bracelet which she'd admired. We had actually decided not to buy it but in the process of walking away from the stand the woman dropped her price, grabbed Jade's sleeve and wouldn't let her go! I figured the easiest way out was to buy the bracelet.

Tonight we've been treated to a spectacular sound and light show over the harbour from the windows of our room. I tried to catch the laser lights as they flashed off and on but I don't think I succeeded very well. The light show is on every night at 8pm so I've got a few more chances to get a better photo.

Jade has had a number of people today speak to her in Chinese (and expect her to understand). The first one she told me about was a kid in the playground on the Peak. Later there were other people in the crowds as we travelled around. I think they may have been trying to sell her stuff. Oh, both kids (and I think Paul too) have been quite surprised by the size of the crowds. It's almost impossible to walk anywhere without having to push and shove your way along. It has been a Sunday so maybe that's got something to do with it. Hong Kong schools are also out for a couple of weeks. We'll see what things are like at Disneyland tomorrow!

My impression of Hong Kong so far: In just one day we've witnessed Hong Kongers exercising their freedoms. At the Star Ferry terminal on the Kowloon side a group from Falun Gong/Falun Dafa have set up a huge display of photos of atrocities committed against them by the Chinese authorities. There was one Falun Gong practicioner meditating in a very busy, bustling area and another part of the display had about a 26" flat screen TV set up with a video running. From the look of it I'd say that this display/demonstration is fairly permanent.

Of course, since it is Christmas time there are lots of large Christmas trees set up. There is one in the plaza near the Art Gallery across the street from us. Yesterday there was a speaker there with a sizable crowd and evidently there was going to be some carol singing. Across the harbour at Central there was a Christian evangelical group all set up with electronic instruments and amplifiers singing Christian songs to a crowd, many of whom had matching red baseball caps and so seemed to be members of whatever group the singers were from. I noticed 2 or 3 black people in the group which led me to think that this religious group may be US-based.

At any rate, it appears that the people of Hong Kong are jealously guarding their freedom of speech and religion and I admire them for it.

Another impression is the absence of the usual courtesies we in the West take for granted. Courtesies such as letting an obvious family group on and off of transportation together without cutting in and separating children from parents. It is the typical (and I say this without judgement) Asian way of 'every man for himself'--totally understandable in a crowded society such as this. Yesterday as Jade and I were getting off of the Peak Tram she got off first and another Western tourist (I think European), seeing that she was talking to me and we were together, waited on the platform so that I could get off and be immediately next to her. I thanked them for the courtesy and they acknowledged me with a 'You're Welcome'. In that brief transaction between us I think we both realised that in offering and accepting this small courtesy we were expressing our cultural background against the local trend. Since then I've been thinking about how road rage and other rages are beginning to become all too prevalent in Western society and that we need to re-think our priorities and appreciate how precious courtesy between us is.

Hurry up and wait

Today was our last day in Melbourne. Why is it that there is always so much to do at the last minute? The day started early with me taking Jade to her final day of gymnastics training for the year. Because her club is undergoing some end of year cleaning her squad was scheduled to train at Waverley--over a 30 minute drive across town for us. Jade trained there yesterday from 9 to 1 and today from 8 to 12. Yesterday she saw the three Waverley girls selected for the Beijing Olympic team. Not bad company to be around!

We also found out yesterday that Jade is going to be competing as a Level 3A next year--skipping Level 2 altogether. I'm still kind of in shock, but pleasantly, about that one.

This afternoon has been the usual last minute clothes washing and house cleaning and tidying up. Jade also wanted to take a small photo album with photos of her room, toys, trampoline, violin and other things of 'hers' so the kids took my camera and wandered around the house taking photos. I'm now printing them off. The idea for doing this arose during another trip overseas when Jade was concerned that she couldn't remember what her room looked like. I wanted to aleviate these concerns and I think she's really going to enjoy looking at this photo album during the trip.

Tonight's dinner is pizza and cake left over from morning tea at Paul's work. Very healthy! The taxi comes at 7am tomorrow morning.

I know I'm getting carried away . . .but

For those of you who have never heard about the Harbin Ice Festival I just found this website with some spectacular photos! Have a look at this: http://www.pbase.com/thepokergod/harbin_ice_festival
And here's another one: http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/sandre/harbin_ice.htm
I know I'm getting carried away by all the ice and I should be focusing on the beginning part of our trip and not the end . . .but.

The kids know exactly what they want to see and do in China. #1 is Hong Kong Disneyland which thankfully we'll have under our belts a day or so into the trip. #2 is the Harbin Ice Festival. I am a bit surprised with how excited they are about the ice festival. The pandas, Great Wall and even gymnastics training in Beijing (for Jade) don't even seem to get a mention on the excitement scale. I guess they have visions of sliding down the ice version of the Great Wall--if that is even one of the sculptures this year. I know they follow a theme each year for the sculptures. I wonder what it will be for 2009?

The Quilts are Finished!

It's taken a couple of months from concept to completion but I've just finished making two photo memory quilt wall-hangings depicting Jade's life. Each quilt contains 32 photos or 4 from each year of Jade's life and we will be presenting them to the two orphanages where Jade was looked after as a baby. Here are the quilts:

To give details of the photos in the quilts I've prepared (with the help of a Chinese-speaking friend) explanatory notes in English and Chinese. These are double-sided and laminated and can be hung alongside the quilt by their silk ribbons.

Jade chose the colour of the quilts and the fabrics. Her favourite colour is green--after her name--and she liked the purple/violet as a complimentary colour. I offered to have her involved in the selection of the photos but she was happy to let me choose them.

Along with the quilts we have a number of gifts for the orphanages including knitted clothing made by a group of seniors which was passed to me by another China adoptive family. We also have 2009 FCC-A (Families With Children from China-Australia) calendars, artwork made by Grade 2 students at Jade's school, moisturiser for the orphanage director and Australian chocolates with macadamia nuts for the staff. So far, everything seems to be fitting into our luggage except for the knitted clothing which is in its own bag. I hope we don't have to pay excess luggage for it!

Why are we going to China now?

Well, it's Saturday morning and we've just celebrated our Christmas. Santa managed to come a bit early for us and the kids are happy now with new DS games they can take on the trip.

I've adjusted the time zone on this post so it should show Saturday's date at the top. My previous post was written on Friday but because I hadn't adjusted the time zone it showed up as Thursday.

So, why are we going to China now? It's winter, the exchange rates aren't as good as they were earlier in the year and there's a global economic crisis on. All of this doesn't sound conducive to an extended overseas tour.

Well there are a number of reasons why we've chosen to go to China at this time. Firstly, at the time we adopted Jade in November, 2001 Paul and I discussed when we would return to China. We decided to return when Jade was old enough to begin to understand her background and to appreciate the experience of travelling in a different culture. We felt that age 8 was old enough for this. As a corollary to this, our son Jarrah would be 13 at that time--still young enough to want to go away with the family.

Secondly, in 2001 China had just won the rights to host the 2008 Olympic Games so we felt that once the games were over, any crowds would be gone yet the infrastructure which had been created for the games would all be in place.

Thirdly, we decided that we wanted to visit many places in China so we needed a large block of time to do this in. This time of year is good for this because Paul's work closes for mandatory holidays for 10 days or so around Christmas, the kids are on summer school holidays and I'm on a break from my job at a university and have finished my studies for the year. An additional consideration which we now have to take into account is Jade's gymnastics training schedule, which thankfully includes a short break at Christmas.

Fourthly, December and January are great times to travel because tourist numbers are down and this makes visiting popular attractions, well, more attractive to us. A few years ago we went to the US and visited Disneyland in January. This was my third or fourth time there so I was quite prepared for the long lines to get onto the rides. We were just amazed that there were no lines at all and we just walked on to every ride! Fantastic! We are hoping that Hong Kong Disneyland in December might be the same.

Finally, on this trip I really wanted to see the Harbin Ice Festival which is held each January. The Ice Festival features many large ice sculptures of famous buildings and structures like the Great Wall. At night the sculptures are lit from inside by coloured lights. The photos I've seen are absolutely spectacular. Have a look at this link http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/heilongjiang/harbin/ice_snow.htm. You can also google or youtube photos and videos of the ice festival. Many years ago when my sister lived in New Hampshire I saw some snow sculptures that the Dartmouth College students had made on their campus. Their tradition of making snow sculptures goes back to the early 20th century. Here is an article about this year's sculptures: http://thedartmouth.com/2008/02/08/news/sculptures/ For some reason my interest in ice and snow sculptures is one which has stayed with me for many years so when I heard about Harbin's festival I knew I wanted to go there one day.

We booked our flights in March, 9 months in advance, so that we could travel on the dates of our choice. Little were we to know then that first, the cost of fuel skyrocketed so that we were hit with fuel surcharges. Then the exchange rate plummeted and finally the global economic crisis surfaced. We were already committed to the trip so in one week at this time we'll be on our way!

One week and one day to go!!!!

The departure day for our 5.5 week China adventure is rapidly approaching! There is still a lot to do to get ready but thankfully, since we'll be celebrating Christmas tomorrow (December 13) we'll have all of the shopping and wrapping for that out of the way and can begin to figure out how we're going to fit everything into our suitcases! It's not like we'll be taking a lot, just that since we'll be experiencing a range of temperatures from +24 to -30 or so degrees Celsius, we're going to need sufficient clothing to keep us warm plus a couple of t-shirts and a bathing suit as well. In addition to our individual suitcases we have a large bag of clothing and gifts for two orphanages and for friends. It will be a relief once we divest oursevles of this extra load!

Where are we going? Well, our trip begins in Hong Kong where the kids are all excited about visiting Hong Kong Disneyland. Then we go west to Nanning in Guangxi province, where our daughter Jade is from. Following this we head north and visit Chengdu and the panda reserve, Xian for the terracotta warriors, Beijing where we'll spend 10 days or so doing a whole range of things, Harbin in the northeast of China for the ice sculpture festival and finally Shanghai. It is definitely going to be a trip to remember. Depending on time and internet connections I hope to keep this blog up fairly regularly and also to add photos.

So, sit back, relax and come with us on our winter trip to China!