we made it to Guangzhou (at midnight)

We left Xi'an on Friday. So let me set the scene. It is 5 pm and we leave for the airport- the kids haven't really napped because we had a late lunch with the other family. We get to the airport, check in and find our gate. To get on the plane we have to get on a bus, drive out the the airplane on the tarmac, and walk up the steps into the plane. We have 3 kids, 7 carryons (one with our paperwork that we can't put in our luggage just in case), 2 strollers and a car seat- all that has to get on the bus and up into the plane in a crowd of people. We don't know exactly when we are going to be getting on the bus so I can't start to feed D (cause once she has the bottle there is NOTHING that can get it away from her), there is no place to eat for the boys AND then the flight was an hour late. OF course, speaking no Mandarin made it hard to find out what was going on so we just had to wait in the gate until the plane boarded. I realize that the agency scheduled our flight out late in the day to ensure that D's passport was finished- they weren't sure if it would be finished before the end of business on Friday. But who schedules a flight for 3 kids under 7 at dinner time???? We didn't get to Guangzhou until 11 and didn't get to the hotel until 12:15- ugh!!!!

Guangzhou (or at least Shamain Island where the hotel is) is so totally different that anywehere else we have been - There are few cars and the island has a European restort feel to it. I like the slower pace, but am glad we got to see other parts of China as well. Plus there are American families with Chinese kids everywhere- it is kind of an amazing sight. All these little ones and their new families. On Saturday, D had her visa photo taken and her immigration medical exam. Both were fairly quick and easy- although D didn't like the medical exam. It is nice to be in a group with other families also. We had a group dinner at a Chinese restaurant and it was some of the best food we had. the kids were excited to get rice again. In Xi'an they don't eat rice as it is too dry in the area to grow it. Dumplings are a mainstay there and the kids aren't big fans of dumplings. They were very excited to see fried rice on the table.