China Trip Day #11 – Arrival in Guangzhou

Our car blowing a tire on the highway on the drive from the airport to our hotel wasn’t enough to deter my excitement for being in Guangzhou.  Located in southern China It’s warm, it’s green and colorful (flowers are in bloom in January! – a novelty for this Minnesotan) and it’s relatively clean.  I’ve only been in Guangzhou a few hours and I’m already loving this city.  As for the flat tire, our driver hailed a taxi for us and Matteo, who had fallen asleep on Chris’s shoulder once we pulled away from the airport, snored his way through the whole thing, and we were soon on our way again. 

At breakfast this morning, we said goodbye to our Italian friends who were departing for Beijing, where they will be the next two weeks.  All adoptions by Americans are finalized in China’s southern city (and third largest in the country with nearly 13 million people) through the American consulate here.  I loved Beijing, but given that it’s winter, I’m very happy the U.S. decided to locate a consulate in the south.  We also move things along a lot quicker than the Italians.  If we weren’t adopting Kiera, we’d be flying home next Thursday.

Our flight to Guangzhou went well, and as Matteo’s first plane ride, it was also a milestone for him.  We flew China Southern (it was Air China last time) and although the airline gets horrible reviews, the plane was really nice, it left on time, their flight attendants were nice (one spoke English than anyone we’ve met here, aside from our guides) and they served us lunch.  When’s the last time you got lunch on a two-hour flight in the U.S.?  Better yet, I snagged the only vegetarian meal onboard. 

With Matteo’s typical two-year-old self emerging, we definitely had our hand’s full on the flight, but overall he did very well.  We had hoped he would take his nap, but I guess he was too excited to sleep.  You aren’t permitted to use electronics on domestic flights in China, so we relied on old-fashioned entertainment for him.  Stickers and coloring were his favorite.  And so was unlatching his tray and/or pushing the seat in front of him. 

After our unexpected cab ride, our guide Kelly met us at our hotel, The Garden.  This is probably the biggest, most luxurious hotel we’ve ever stayed in.  While Chris tried to get Matteo to resume his nap once we checked in (no luck with that), Kelly gave me a tour of the neighborhood surrounding the hotel.  Unlike in Hefei, there are so many restaurant options and Kelly helped me vet a couple for their vegetarian options.  She pointed out other useful destinations for our week-and-a-half stay, including the stand across the street that sells bottled water, a grocery store, an Aeon (described by some as the store you’d get if Target and Nordstrom had a baby) where we can buy a stroller and clothes for the kids and a park with a playground.  She also secured us a stroller on loan from the hotel. 

Back at the hotel, Matteo, Chris and I played together before dinner.  Matteo’s transformation in under a week is amazing.  It almost makes me sad to think back to Monday when he was practically lifeless in comparison to the spunky, devilish little boy he shows us now.  The boy whose eyes twinkled and mouth smiled broadly in his referral photo is emerging!  While a calm and obedient two-year-old was easier to parent, what we saw earlier this week is not normal for a kid that age. He’s now starting to get himself into everything and we’ve discovered it’s easy to get him riled up.  At one point he was running around our hotel room squeaking (very loudly) the rubber ducky in his welcome basket from the hotel, playing hide-and-seek and throwing his stacking cups in utter glee.