Today we toured Teng Wang Pavilion which is one of the three most famous structures in Southern China. We're not sure what the other two are so it's the most famous to us. :) It's a beautiful12-story building with ornate ceilings, a performance area on the top floor and many gift shops on the others. We did a little shopping but are holding out for our guide to take us to a 'porcelain street.' (Lisa-is that where you found your 100 Children tea set? I'm on the hunt for one...) I'm sure the view from the pavilion is quite lovely on a clear day. However, we are on day 3 of rain here in Nanchang City so in our pictures we all look like a pack of wet dogs with some haze in the background.
After the pavilion tour, we walked to another Chinese restaurant for lunch. Our guide, Grace, is doing a great job of ordering for our group. So far we have had fabulous meals and haven't paid more than $6 per person for a meal. I now think of Panda Express as the great American rip-off. Today's lunch included sweet and sour pork, corn, broccoli, shrimp fried rice, spicy beef, spicy chicken wings, and some sort of chicken dish with celery and carrots that was delicious. I hope that Meili isn't too ticked off when she learns that we don't put out a spread like this at Casa Bouton very often.
While we were wrapping up at the pavilion, Audrey got a big smile from Meili. She has a big open mouthed 4-going on 8-tooth grin that I can't wait to capture on camera. I told the kids that the reason why her smiles are few and far between is because it is going to take several days for us to get used to her non-smiling cuteness. If she came to us smiling, it would just be too much for us to handle!
Our plans for the rest of the day include heading up to the 11th floor at 4pm. Grace has invited a calligrapher to come and write our daughter's chinese names in calligraphy for us. At 6, she has arranged another Chinese dinner for our group. I'm not sure we'll even be hungry by then. We had a pretty big lunch. Tomorrow, we are going to a park and then maybe to the porcelain district. On Friday, we might be able to go and see a more rural area, similar to where Meili is from.
I think I'll have to quit claiming to not be a person who cries because at least a couple of times each day I catch myself just being overwhelmed by the fact that we are in China, at how friendly and warm the people are and that we finally have our girl in our arms. She is warming up to us much more slowly than I anticipated but we already love her fiercely and wouldn't trade her for all the tea in China!
7 comments:
Sounds like things are going sooo well.
I can't imagine how overwhelmed you are feeling...but a good overwhelm..
Have a great trip and soak it all up..
love the photos..
We did get our tea set in the Porcelain District. The store was called Jing Chang Porcelain. It was the only store that our guide took us in. She said they sold the best.
I can't remember what we paid for it, but they did bargain a bit there.
When we were in China Jeff and I kept saying, "Can you even believe we're REALLY here??" Like Isabella's Mommy said....Soak it all up. It goes by way too fast.
I am envious, would love to be back. We loved the food as well and it is true most of the people are so warm and friendly. Our guide on our first trip to China in 1999 with BYU went by the name "Grace" as well. She was wonderful. Meili looks great and like she is starting to be more and more comfortable. So happy for you. Enjoy the rest of your time. Dana
Since you are staying at the Jin Feng Hotel, be sure to go out your hotel in the morning say around 8 and to the right after you walk out the door to the end of the hotel parking lot there is a side street and every morning the ladies and gentlemen come and dance for their morning exercise. Each morning after breakfast we would go out and watch for about 20 - 30 minutes, Darci loved this. The people were so sweet and one day I took pictures and they were so excited. Check out the music machine, it is a boom box, speaker powered by a car battery, it's a hoot!! ENJOY!!!
I really enjoy hearing about your adventures and wonderful experiences. I also love the pictures. I am so glad you can keep us all updated. Meili is a cutie! I am so happy for you.
Thanks for sharing photos - she is so cute, love all the hair. Nanchang McDonalds has awesome food if you need an American break - our hotel conciere sent somone out to get us food (we stayed at Galactic Peace). You will be happy to get to Guanghaou (great food, shopping, english, hotels, pools, etc) - fun, fun, fun! Hugs, Megi
I have been so excited to follow along on your journey!! I look for updates everyday and you and your sweet family are in my thoughts and prayers. May Heavenly Father unite your family in love :)
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