Moving day!

Well, I knew that people would be getting up soon and would want to know what is going on in China today, so I am posting without pictures for the time being.

We got up this morning in Nanchang to another day of cold, grey, nasty weather. We left the hotel at 8:00 am and went to the airport for our flight to Guangzhou, in the southern part of China. We had our first bit of trouble when Michelle left our baby wipes box on the bed in the room when we and everyone else had loaded the bus! I ran upstairs like OJ running from the law and retrieved the box and found a pair of pj's we had left of Coee's.

Our next bit of drama was when we went thru security at the airport (and no, I didn't have my knife with me) and I grabbed my backpack, but left our carry-on bag on the x-ray machine. We got to the gate as the plane was loading (traffic problem on the way delayed us a few minutes) and I had to make like OJ again and run and get the bag, luckily it was still there and hadn't been confiscated.

The flight was incredibly easy with Coee. She sat in Michelle's lap and just played for the hour flight. We fixed her a bottle to help her ears during ascent and descent and it worked great.

The last bit of drama was when we got to baggage claim and we are short one checked bag. We still don't have it and don't know if we will get it. It contained some clothes and the porcelain we bought yesterday at the porcelain market.

Oh well.

Our day changed for the better as we drove into the town of Guangzhou. It is a port city and is the 8th largest city in China with a population of something like 12 million people. It is much more modern and westernized than Nanchang and even Beijing. The people we see in the city are much more diverse culturally than in the other two cities. We have seen all nationalities here.

Our next bit of good luck came in the form of our hotel! It is unbelievable.

It is truly a 5-star hotel in every sense of the word. It has fantastic restaurants, great design, and a very sweet room that we now occupy! We have a 2-room suite and it has a separate shower and tub, bedroom with flat screen tv on the wall, living room with flat screen on the wall, a desk with high-speed port, bar area, and a great view. It is very modern in it's decor and each floor is decorated in different style wood and furniture.

The contrast of the cities that we left from today to the one we are in now is shocking. You can tell by the drive in how much more vibrant the economy is here. Although Guangzhou is only the 8th largest city in China, more than 45% of all the tax revenue comes from this one city!

We ate a late lunch at McDonalds and Pizza Hut across from our hotel. We will probably eat at the revolving restaurant on top of our hotel a meal or two.

Here is a link to our hotel:
http://www.thegardenhotel.com.cn/

I will take some pictures of our room and post them later.

Coee is doing great today, no fussing at all and is being taken care of very well by her big brothers.

We filled out our last bit of paperwork tonight (US immigration stuff) and she will be an official citizen very soon.

I will post again either tonight with pictures or tomorrow after our trip to Shiamen Island for shopping and a little adoption business.

Oh yeah, my last bit of good luck came in the form of...............................ESPN! We have it here!!!!!

And....................GO LONE OAK!!!

Talk to you soon,
Terrell