Day 11: Hello Guangzhou!

Last night was our final night in Nanchang.  We enjoyed another yummy meal at the East Restaurant with the England family, which Anna Kathryn wiggled through.  As we walked the 4 blocks back to the hotel, this was the sight which we enjoyed:

The Tengwang Pavilion at night.

Last night and this morning I felt a little emotional about the fact that these were the last few hours Anna Kathryn would spend in her home province.  Most Jiangxi people never travel beyond its borders.  In just one short week, she has been through so many changes and experienced so many completely new things.  She has handled the adjustment really well, overall.  She is just thriving on all the love and attention we are so happy to lavish on her.  I don't know when or if we will ever return to Jiangxi, and it wasn't always easy to be there in such a foreign place with a new baby, but I am so glad we got to experience our time there. 

Today we traveled to Guangzhou, in the southern part of China, at the mouth of the Pearl River. Guangzhou is also known by an older name, Canton (like Cantonese food).    Guangzhou is a huge city, especially after being in Nanchang.  Our guide kept saying that Nanchang is just a little town, and despite just having been all over Beijing, it really didn't feel all that small.  But Guangzhou is very urban.  

Our new digs are at the Asia International Hotel.  We continue to be impressed by the niceness of the hotels we have stayed at, and this one has very soft beds by Chinese standards.  Woo-hoo!  I am hoping that I will NOT wake up tomorrow with my usual neck cramp. 

We are up on the 33rd floor of the hotel. It has 45 floors, and the top one is a revolving restaurant called the Sky Cafe.  We splurged on the buffet dinner there tonight, and enjoyed the view as much as the food.  

Check out the view from our room!

But I am getting a little ahead of myself.  We got up way too early and were on our way to the airport by 8:00 AM.  Anna Kathryn was excited about her first plane ride, in between spying on the other travelers and charming everyone around her. 

Here we go to Guangzhou!

She did really well on the flight: ate a bunch of digestive biscuits that were the in-flight snack, played the drop-the-toy game (especially fun in Coach seating), and was basically cheerful until the last 10 minutes.  Then she wailed until I fed her some Puff snacks.  When I tried to put away the Puffs, the wailing resumed.  The Puffs reappeared.  Final score: Baby 1, Mom 0.  I would love to think that the flight home would go that smoothly...

This was the other, VERY welcoming sign for slightly homesick and weary travelers.  Guess where we ate lunch?

And it was delicious.  My dessert, a peach sundae, was particularly tasty.  The fries were nice and salty, too. Yum.  

Anna Kathryn introduced herself to a new friend:

I took a major nap when we got back to the hotel after lunch.  So did Anna Kathryn.  When we got up, it was almost dinnertime.  As I said, we enjoyed the amazing city views from the revolving restaurant.  My camera wasn't able to capture the city lights at night, but it did capture this shot of Anna Kathryn trying chocolate ice cream for the first time.  

Apparently she is not a fan.  Not yet, anyway.  At least we didn't give her the sesame flavor. (Which was not bad, by the way.  Mark asked what it tasted like and I said there is really no comparison.)

There were a few extra kisses to make up for the torture of ice cream.  

Our fun dinner ended when I realized that when AK squirmed around on my lap, and ended up on her tummy, she spit up the aforementioned chocolate ice cream into the front pocket of my Vera Bradley hipster purse.  Which I discovered when I reached into the pocket for the room key or something.  Nice.  Thank goodness for baby wipes.  They can get practically any stain out.  I think the purse will survive relatively unscathed, fortunately.  I love, love, love it, even after wearing it daily for two weeks.  But seriously, I really couldn't be too upset-- not with that grin.  

Tomorrow is our paperwork party, where "we" (me) get to fill out and gather all the paperwork and stuff needed for the US Consulate, to get AK's travel visa for the trip home and her immigration papers in order.  Fun, fun.  It's going to be great when we are FINALLY done with the paperwork.  After that, not sure of the schedule... sightseeing and shopping, perhaps? 

Good night from China!

PS-- Susannah (pictured in the blog button in the sidebar) and her parents and grandmother are flying home to the States tomorrow!!  We are so thankful and relieved, and praying that the long flight will go well for her.  Mark, AK and I got to visit for a few minutes this evening with the family and it was great to see Susannah looking so cute and feeling better.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!