Voyage to Lexi in China

We made it Home!

2006-12-13T21:13:00.000-05:00

We have now been home for almost a week, and are almost recovered. Lexi has been amazing and Karen is starting to recover. Lexi has the requisite ear infection and cold, but her brothers love her and she has quickly become a part of the family.

To tie things up, I have some pictures and video from our last days in Guangzhou and our trip home and some video from the Great Wall that is worth viewing.

Our trip from Beijing to Chicago was uneventful, nee; even pleasant. The United flight attendants were wonderful - they made a bed for Lexi on the bulkhead and she slept for almost the whole trip. When the junior flight attendant has 34 years of experience, you know you have a sought-after route.

First - our review of the Sino-Swiss Hotel:

And our final lunch with our new friends:

And Dr. Allen:

And Candy at the Airport:

Getting ready to go:

Lexi was already comfortable on the plane:

The trip to Chicago only took 12 hours, which seemed much shorter than our trip over (maybe it was because we slept a bit). Once we landed, I stopped to retrieve the strollers which we were told would arrive at the end of the jetway by a woman who could barely speak English. I had just spent two weeks in China with people that spoke the language better, and here was an incompetent that could barely spit out the language. Needless to say, we DID NOT get the strollers and were last in line at immigration. United may have great senior flight attendendants, but their ground staff leaves a lot to be desired. As one of our travel mates said - at least things were predictable and on time in China. The strollers did finally show at the baggage claim.

We did get through immigration and customs, and Lexi became a citizen (once again - how cool is that!) and then sat in O'Hare for the next three hours, changing gates three times. That's what you get for flying through Chicago in the winter.

We finally landed at Bradley at about 12 AM - and yes - it was still Thursday. Fortunately, it became Friday by the time we walked in the door at home. After 15000 miles and over 24 hours of travel, we had made it back. And Karen has never looked so peaceful on an airplane:

In the interest of posting everything that was interesting (at least everything that I found interesting) - here are a few more video clips from the trip. The first is from early in the trip - footage from the Great Wall that is truly amazing:

And video from our Buddhist blessing:

As I process more of the video, I will put it up - I have video from the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and the Temple of Heaven.

Thank you to everyone for following our trip and meeting our daughter. It was a truly incredible, once in a lifetime experience.

On our way home!

2006-12-07T02:48:00.000-05:00

It is Thursday, December at 3:50PM, and we are sitting in the Air China Lounge awaiting our return flight to Chicago. This is the first net access I have had since our return to Beijing, so I wanted to get in a quick update.
After our swearing in ceremony, we got on a China Southern plane back to Beijing. It was a much better flight than the one we took into Guangzhou, but when we landed, we actually used the old-syle stairs to go outside (this is what we expected from China the whole time, but we have been spoiled).
We got to the Sino-Swiss Hotel at the airport at about 11:30 PM. WHAT A DUMP! We have been spoiled by the hotels of the last few weeks. As we walked in, we heard Queen coming out of the karaoke bar and many of us spontaneously started singing Bohemian Rhapsody, a-la Wayne's World. It was a riot.
We spent the day today basically waiting to go to the airport - and here we are. At the immigration check, the border guard gave us a suggestion - "why don't you try to have your own next time?" Thanks guy - why don't you work on your reproductive policies and take care of your daughters.
When we land in Chicago, Lexi immediately becomes a US Citizen. How cool is that? And it will still be Thursday...
As for the lack of multi-media content in this post - I will post pictures and video when we get home. We can't wait to get back!

Guangzhou

2006-12-05T22:20:00.000-05:00

We have been in the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou for the past two days. Aside from sleeping on a bed of concrete, we have been lucky to have nice weather and more to keep us occupied, and lots more to buy. There are multiple shops right outside the hotel with lots of people trying to sell almost everything - from suitcases to clothes. We were willing participants in this dance.
First - here is some video from Guangzhou - first a little tour of Shamian Island (note the British architecture) and then some "local cuisine"

We took a nighttime cruise down the Pearl River past our hotel. If we weren't in China, you would think we were in Epcot Center. There were some spectacular views.

The White Swan is in the background, all decorated for Christmas

Lexi doing the Brett-style back arch:

One of the big events in Guangzhou is the "Red Couch" picture, in which all the babies from the adoption group are put on a couch in the lobby for a group picture. What a riot - ten babies posing (and fighting).

The report from the orphanage had a little section that said that Lexi is active and has a strong personality, she likes grabbing other babies toys, and fighting some other babies. She is going to fit perfectly in our house:

But she does get along with her friends. Here she is having lunch with Zoe:

The video from the couch is hilarious:

Finally, we were taken to a Buddhist temple for a baby blessing. I will post that video as soon as I can unload it from the camera, but here are the pictures. This is the one place in Guangzhou that actually looked Chinese.

We love to eat!

And this is our guide, Candy. She was absolutely wonderful, and made the trip extraordinary.

This afternoon we are going to the US Consulate to swear-in Lexi as a US Citizen and get her visa. Then we fly back to Beijing, and come home tomorrow! I will try to make one more entry from Beijing.

Some Catch-Up

2006-12-04T07:55:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon after a questionable flight on Hainan Airlines. It seems that they don't believe in fliying over 25000 feet on short flights, so the upshot is the plane bounces all over the place. Needless to say this was not well received.

Guangzhou is a much nicer city (or at least it appears that way, since the sun is out). We are at the White Swan Hotel, which was billed as the ultimate hotel. It is not the ultimate hotel - it is ok, but a bit dated, and extremely crowded and expensive. The area is tailored to Americans adopting babies (since the US Consulate is here) so it is priced accordingly. Furthermore, the hotel is on an island - Shamian Island - that was built by British occupying forces early in the 20th century, so the buildings show a lot of colonial British influence. It feels a bit like Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas - tropical climate, British Colonial architecture, and lots of people trying to sell you everything. I'll add some of the video tomorrow.

Since I am catching up, here is a little more from Chongqing. On Saturday, we went to a park at the highest point in the city and climbed to the top of a pagoda to take some pictures. As it was all week, the city was socked in, but you can see some of the city:

Check out the twin girls we saw in the park:

And finally, as if this city weren't big enough - everywhere you turn, you see cranes and construction:

I will show you Guangzhou tomorrow!

A Trip to the Zoo

2006-12-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

I truly love the ability to provide multi-media in these postings. Here is our trip to the Chongqing Zoo, along with my favorite attraction thus far - the dancing bear. I have put these videos on You Tube, which seems a bit friendlier, and I hope that the bear will reach the masses!

First - the pictures. The Zoo in Chongqing was an oasis in an otherwise dank city, with all sorts of exotic animals. Leading up to the Pandas were these raccoon-like pseudo-bears (they are Red Pandas):

Then the main attraction:

And then the Tiger:

The Bear:

Ostriches:

Even the payphones are pandas:

Here is the video of The Bear - I can't get enough of this one:

And more video of the Pandas:

As we left the zoo, we passed a super Wal-Mart. It is a novelty, but it very interesting to see the most ubiquitous store half a world away. There is only one in Chongqing, and it isn't very popular.

And then it was time to eat more Chinese food (that's Lexi's friend Zoe):

And get ready for bed:

Lexi's First Video!

2006-12-01T03:22:00.001-05:00


Here is a small video clip from Lexi's first few days with us. The first piece is with Karen at the Civil Affairs Office where we first met, and then a few days later at the Chongqing Zoo in front of the Tigers. The irony of this clip is that I can't view it in China (without going through a proxy). Google Video is blocked...

One Week In Chongqing

2006-11-30T14:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog - I know lots of you are furiously clicking refresh looking for more information. We have been spending time with Lexi, adjusting to the time zone and the sleep schedule, and trying to keep sane.

Chongqing (pronounced Chong-CHing - we have been doing it wrong for a while) is a very large industrial and somewhat ugly city. Karen has aptly described it as a cross between Detroit and Pittsburgh on steroids. It sits on the confluence of the Jailing and Yang Tse Rivers and is divided by those rivers - however unlike Manhattan or even Pittsburgh, there doesn't seem to be any real city plan. There are just skyscrapers on top of other skyscrapers piled on teeming streets that seem to wind their way among the buildings. The streets are so busy, they have built fly-over walkways for pedestrian traffic. The streets are covered with a layer of dirt and the weather is perpetually misty and damp - probably due to the smog. There are 31 Million people in this municipality - a number so large it is difficult to process.

We are staying at the Hilton, which is an absolutely fabulous hotel. It is nice to know that we have an American oasis in this huge city. Since we are practically living here for a week, I promptly upgraded our room to a large suite with executive club access. Both have been a godsend.

On Tuesday, we spent a large part of the day getting acclimated to Lexi and to our surroundings. The morning was spent at the China Communications Bank making our "donation". As the teller scrutinized every bill, I wondered why we couldn't have just wired the money in and avoided the exchange rate hit (the dollar continues to weaken against the Yuan). We then went on a shopping excursion to another part of the city to get diapers and formula.

Here are some pictures - we quickly got Lexi into her new wardrobe...

We were then on to the "shopping district" Liberation Square:

You just cant avoid Oracle!

The next day, we went to lunch and a Silk factory, where they showed us the silk worm cocoons and the process to make silk blankets.
A note about the food - as you can see from the pictures, they serve all of us around a large round table and put dished on the lazy susan. We change location and the guides tell us they are ordering "something different" but it has become all the same. The food is somewhat tasty, but it gets old quickly. I am brought back to college when we had Hunan Garden takeout three times a day, then I didn't eat Chinese food for three years. The same is happening here. We have been avoiding dinner - thankfully they serve french bread and cheese and other snacks on the executive floor (our dinners). Last night, we got the guides to bring us KFC to the hotel.

Thanks everyone for their emails - keep them coming! We are trying to respond to everyone, but know that you are getting them through and that we appreciate the contact.

We saw Panda Bears yesterday at the zoo. That is coming up in my next post - along with a dancing Tibetan Bear!

It's a Girl!

2006-11-27T08:55:00.000-05:00

Even though I am ready to crash onto the computer, I wanted to shout out that we finally got our daughter, and put up some pictures. I'll do a more complete post tomorrow, but everyone needs to see Lexi. She is amazing - alert, resposive, and opionated. She has a cold and probably has an ear infection, but otherwise is perfect. And, as Darren so aptly put it this morning, Karen is in remarkably good shape for someone that "carried" a baby 10 months past due!

Here she is!

Karen at the Great Wall

2006-11-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

As I posted yesterday, we discovered that our group tour was not going to the Forbidden City. I quickly got onto the phone (who said you didn't need a local cell phone?) and called Tony, who arranged a car and driver, and got Susan to come back on very short notice. If you are going to Beijing, Tony is the best - email me and I will give you his information.
Today we had six others from our group join us on the trip we were supposed to take with our pre-paid tour - to Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, and up the Great wall. Of course Susan, our wonderful guide, painted a vivid picture the whole way through.
One of the things we have noticed coninually of Beijing is the massive scale of almost every building, monument, and temple. The buildings are enormous and sprawl along acres of land. We began our adventure walking through Tian'anmen Square past Mao's tomb (he is still lying in state - and the lines are constant to see him), past the Olympic countdown clock and under the portrait of Mao Tse Tung that adorns the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Karen under the Countdown Clock

Approaching Mao's Portrait

We learned that the Portrait is re-done every three years. Talk about keeping a fresh face!
This represents the entrance to the Forbidden City, which was used as the primary residence of 24 Emperors. To say this place is massive is an understatement. We walked through gate after gate only to see larger and larger "Halls" all along the same line with an innate symmetry that follows through the whole facility. Here is a sampling of the inside of the Forbidden City. Wach building has its own purpose, from State meetings to birthday parties. And it is all sponsored by American Express!

The Main Courtyard is still under renovation

China is truly commercializing!

The Chinese Characters above this throne say "Do Nothing"

After exiting the Forbidden City, we happened upon a group of old people taking their birds for a walk:

Then it was on to the Great Wall. After a 60 minute drive and a group lunch (all in, with beverages, $3 per person - in a private room), we arrived at the Great Wall and took a climb. Behold these pictures - they do not do the experience justice:

We made it up without much trouble - going back down was more of a task. Still, it was a spectacular view on a spectatular day - and there was even cell phone service! If it weren't 1 AM EST at the time, we would have made some calls, just to say we were on the top of the Wall. We did heed the posted warnings:

Finally, we headed back to central Beijing, and on the way back, passed by the construction of the new Olympic colesseum - which is meant to hold 196,000 people. Check out this design:

Tomorrow we will finally get to pick up Lexi in Chongqing. Our post tomorrow will show the joyous occasion and give everyone their first glimpse!

We have received all of your emails, and really like to hear from you - it helps us feel closer to home. Please keep them coming!

An Incredible First Day

2006-11-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

Our first day in China started off very early. The time change wreaks havoc, so it was hard to sleep through the night, and we were up early. Our hotel is very nice (we upgraded to a suite at the Wangfujing Grand, which appears to have been necessary) and aside from the offer of "therapeutic silk worm excrement" pillows, we find the room to be comfortable. We had a big American style breakfast then met our guide Susan.
When we say that our travel day was one of the most extraordinary we have experienced, we are not saying that lightly. Having a private translator, guide, and historian in such an incredible city was amazing.It was dark and gloomy and snowing, but we didn't notice, and it didn't make any difference.

We started our day at the Temple of Heaven, used by the Emperors for thousands of years to worship the God of Heaven twice a year. This was an intricate, multi-building temple built manually out of marble and wood. Words cannot describe, so here are some pictures:

After we moved through the Temple of Heaven, We taxied to Hutong. Taxis in Beijing are very interesting - unlike New York, they tend to refuse to bring you where they don't want to drive. However, they are incredibly cheap - no ride cost more than $3, even when we seemed to be going across town!

Hutong (which literally means "narrow street" in a Mongolian language) is best described as a village within the city of courtyard style homes along very narrow roads. There is also a bar scene and nightlife in this area. The homes were originally built for official staff of the emperors and were given out in order of importance.
We took a rickshaw ride into Hutong and through the narrow streets:

Check out this sign from one of the bars. We need this at home - especially when we have contractors in the house! (you may need to click to enlarge the image)

We then proceeded to the Drum and Bell Towers, which represent the northernmost point of the line that goes through the Forbidden Palace and Tian'emman Square, and climbed to the top of the Bell Tower - 75 steep steps (an attraction that would never be allowed in our liability-phobic country):

We then went to a local market in the Hutong and saw the foodstuffs on "display". Anyone for a side of beef or a whole pig?

Next, Susan took us to visit a local family in the Hutong and to see how the Chinese live. We sat and talked to a local gentleman whose family had owned the "courtyard" for four generations. Each member of the family had a "house" on the courtyard (actually a room that opened onto open space) and shared kitchen and bath facilities. This house was a true anachronism - it was quaint and old with all of the technology you would expect in a modern living space packed in (computer, TV)And, since he owned the land (he had to buy it back in 1966 after Mao confiscated all the property during the cultural revolution) he didn't pay any taxes! Tell that to the Simsbury assessor!

Finally, we were ready for lunch at the Winter Palace - Be'Hai park. We ate in an incredible restaurant where the food was placed before us in dazzling presentation and array and the waitresses were decked out in traditional garb.

What a day! We finished up by going shopping at the Pearl Market, where we bought some lovely gifts and got to haggle for a fake pocketbook. You can get the fakes in New York, but they aren't prominently displayed for all to see (the vendor did get a little cautious with the fake Louis Vitton, but I could buy any number of fake iPods or Rolexes).

And so - we finished off our day just as the rest of the group arrived. With their entrance came the revelation that we would not see the Forbidden City on our group tour tomorrow!

I picked up the phone and called Tony - Susan is meeting us again in the morning with a car to take us to both the Great Wall and to the Forbidden City. We will be ready for another unbelievable experience!

Stay tuned.

Welcome to Beijing!

2006-11-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

We made it! After a LONG travel day, we arrived in Beijing Friday afternoon (local time). The flight was long, but uneventful and fortunately pretty comfortable. United Airlines does a nice job, and it is good to have experienced flight attendants guiding you along (when they pull the shades and dim the lights, you pretty much know it is time to rest). We met another family traveling straight to Nanchang to pick up their daughter. They were upgraded with us, but left "empty seat" back in coach, which caused huge confusion for the folks at United. We hope they got that cleared up, even if they are Red Sox fans!

Here are some pictures from the journey:

United 851

Karen in her favorite place in the world - an airplane

Flying over the North Pole (or close enough)

Once we arrived, we were met at the airport and taken to the hotel. Our guide Tony then took us for Roast (Peking) Duck at a local restaurant - no english, just great food.

Getting Ready to Go!

2006-11-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post as we finish packing up. Karen has been obsessive about bag weight, so we bought 2 rolling duffels from EBags which are downright huge and only 5 pounds each - absolutely incredible. Our bags are officially under the 44 pound limit (lets hope the others in our group are equally dilligent).

I have the laptop packed and the ipod filled and the pharmacy ready for our 20 hour expedition to Beijing tomorrow. Thank god for Business Class - I don't know how we would do this in coach! (I'll let you know when we get there if it was tolerable). We will be in Beijing at 3:05 AM eastern time Friday morning.

We will have my BlackBerry - dan.donshik@rollcagetech.com (or use the link on the page) - which will work, so feel free to send us emails, or use the comment function on the blog. I have figured out how to post video through Google Video, and will be posting pictures as we travel. We would love to hear from you!

Welcome to our Trip Blog

2006-11-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

We will use this site to document our journey to Chongqing China to adopt our daughter Lexi.

Here she is:

She will be 10 months old when we pick her up.

While you are looking, here is a link to the rest of our family:

Our Family

Here is our itinerary (I will add it as a permanent link):

China 134--CWTS-FT061125A-Chongqing

Total Staying Days: 13
November 23: Leaving U.S.
November 24: Arriving in Beijing by United#851 at 16:05 staying in
Wang Fu Jing Hotel in Beijing
Tel: 011-86-10-6522-1188
Fax: 011-86-10-6522-3749

November 26: Sightseeing the Great Wall and TianAnMen Square

November 27: Fly from Beijing to Chongqing by HU8830 at 10:50, arrive Chongqing
at 12:50, stay in Hilton Hotel
Tel: 011-86-23-8903-9999
Fax: 011-86-23-8903-8600

Meet the children in the afternoon

November 28: Registration and notarization

November 29-12/2: local sightseeing

December 3: Getting legal documents, (Birth Cert, Passport, Adoption Decree and
Abandonment Decree, it is the responsibility of the adoptive parents to check on the accuracy of the legal documents and not to lose them)
fly from Chongqing to Guangzhou by HU7076 at 11:00, arrive
Guangzhou at 12:30, stay in White Swan Hotel
Tel: 011-86-20-8188-6968
Fax: 011-86-20-8188-2288

December 4: Photos for the babies, Physicals for babies

December 5: Visa appointment at 9:00

December 6: Swearing in ceremony at the Consulate, getting the visas
fly from Guangzhou back to Beijing CZ3195 at 19:35
arriving in Beijing at 22:10, stay in Sino-Swiss hotel
(closer to airport)
Tel: 011-86-10-6456-5588
Fax: 011-86-10-6456-1234

December 7: Return flight United#850 at 17:25