We met Wanda in the lobby of the hotel at 8 am. She had arranged for a van to take us all to the airport. Once again we checked in all of our luggage as a group to circumvent any weight restrictions. Due to flight congestion, we took off about 45 minutes late. It is a short flight so it was no big deal and the girls didn't get too restless.

Molly of CHSFS met us at the airport in Guangzhou. We had met Molly on our last trip. Molly took us to the White Swan Hotel and helped us check in and get settled. It's good to be back to a familiar place. Grace has an adjoining room to ours and Laurel and Abby are just down the hall.

With only peanuts and water on the flight we were all quite hungry so after getting settled we went to Lucy's for a late lunch. Lucy's is next to the park by the hotel. They serve American and Asian food. We had a group dinner there last time with a few pitchers of beer. It's a popular spot. Abby had a pizza, Hua Mei had a burger and fries, Karen had pasta and the rest of us continued with the Chinese theme.

Returning to the White Swan, Karen and Laurel took the kids down to the play room while Grace and I went to get some laundry done. We went to Linna's Place which was right next to the hotel. It must have opened since we'd last visited. The places that we went to last time were no longer in the building across the street. The women at Linna's said that the owner of the building wanted those spaces back. Grace and I took a little tour around Shamian Island and I noticed that many of the old places I knew had moved to new locations. Still, there were a lot of places that were still where I remembered.

We returned to the hotel and I showed Grace the shops and then we walked around to check out the restaurants, pools and especially the outdoor barbecue restaurant. We had a great dinner last time sitting outside, overlooking the Pearl River. I was quite disappointed to learn that it is closed until next Spring. Bummer.

We're pretty tired an probably will call it an early evening. I'm ready to go home but I'm surprised to say that I am glad to be back at Shamian and the White Swan. My only disappointment is that there was no Barbie doll in our room when we arrived.

I had breakfast with Grace this morning at 6:30 am. Karen and the kids were still sleeping. We put the kids together in the same bed and it was cute seeing them sleeping peacefully together. Hua Mei is really enjoying her sister and looking after her. They played together in the crib last night and Hua Mei brought her toys and made sure the the side of the crib was always up and locked. We're very proud of her.

The breakfast buffet at the White Swan was great. A huge improvement over the food at both the Novotel and the Gloria Grand. This trip I'd been disappointed with the breakfasts. Last time, the food at the Oriental and the Mayflower were so good that I was disappointed by the White Swan. Now the opposite is true. Not a big deal, just an observation.

We met up with Molly at 9 am to go sightseeing. Jean and her daughter Katie, who we had met in Beijing, had arrived the day before at the White Swan with their new daughter/sister from Nanjing. We will go through the US Consulate process together and as a group today we went sightseeing. Molly took us to the Yuntai Garden that is at the base of the Baiyun Mountain Park. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to be outside, walking around in the garden with almost all locals. I had a chance to wear a hat to cover my bald pate for a little while and we did some dress up.

After spending the morning at the garden, Molly took us to a Friendship Store to buy souvenirs. The quality was good and there was a good selection. We could not haggle but Molly said that the prices were good for the quality. While we probably could have gotten a better price elsewhere, it was good to get everything done at once.

Returning to the White Swan, Grace and I went to pick up our laundry. After a quick lunch in our rooms, Karen and Laurel went to drop off more laundry at Linna's and then took Abby and Natalie to the playground that Grace and I found the evening before on Shamian Island. Grace and I stayed behind to get some rest, work on the computer and keep Xia Mei company.

When Karen returned with Hua Mei, she did a check for nits to make sure all was copacetic. She found only four and it looks like the shampoo worked. Hua Mei is still scratching her head but we think it's from the bites that she received previously. I took Xia Mei for a walk in the stroller and she fell asleep. Since her bedtime before was about 6 pm, I stayed with her in the hotel room as Karen, Laurel and the girls went to have dinner at the Thai Restaurant on the island. I'm kind of beat any way and want to call it an early night after a little Skype.

Today we celebrate Xia Mei's first birthday. The White Swan has a festive atmosphere and is decked out with Christmas decorations. We'll be finding a place for long noodles and will need to get a cake.

The first thing on the agenda though was taking her to her physical examination. Karen, Xia Mei, Jean, Katie, Sarah and I met Molly at 9am at the White Swan. Laurel would take care of the girls for the morning. This morning we needed to get a visa picture for Xia Mei and Sarah and then they needed to get their medical examinations. Jean and Katie wanted to go to get pearls afterward so Molly was also going to take us to Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Mall. We ran into Grace on our way out and she joined us.

For the visa photos, we started off at one place but after they took the pictures, their printer didn't work. We got our money back and had to hurry off to another place on the island to get the photos. At least it was near to the clinic and we weren't late for our appointment.

There was no wait at the clinic and we got the examination done immediately. Molly said that was unusual, especially for a Monday. I mentioned to Molly that it was Xia Mei's birthday and she called the White Swan to let them know. They will be bringing a birthday cake to her room this evening.

We then headed off to Shangxiajiu. It was within walking distance. Karen went back to the hotel to join Laurel and the girls and I kept Xia Mei. We crossed the bridge to the mainland and walked a few blocks, passing shops that sold traditional Chinese medicine such as dried tree fungus, dried snake, starfish and live scorpions.

Guangzhou is well-known in China as a place to go shopping and Shangxiajiu is known as one of the main places to go shopping in Guangzhou. There was one square that reminded us all of Times Square. Molly took us to what basically was one large shopping mall for pearls, stones and jewelry. I bought a string of pearls of Xia Mei. Karen bought pearls for Hua Mei on our last trip and mentioned that she wanted to do the same for Xia Mei. I figured that since we were at a wholesale store, I might as well take care of that errand.

On our way out of the mall, we stopped by a video/music store. I bought a dvd of a Chinese cartoon series for the kids and got some cds of Chinese popular music that Molly and the store attendant recommended.

It was about lunchtime so we headed back to the hotel. We ran into Karen. They had all gone to Lucy's for lunch. Grace and I went out to lunch as the others went out to a park. We went to the Thai restaurant and had noodles. She and I returned to the hotel and hung out after a long morning of walking.

Karen returned with Hua Mei and Xia Mei. At the park, Xia Mei threw up on Karen and in the commotion, someone ran off with the small Bagalini that we'd been using as a diaper bag. Unfortunately, the camera was in it so we've now lost that. Oh well. We'll be relying on Laurel for photos the rest of the trip. I had just replaced the memory card so we didn't lose any pictures, so it's not such a big loss. It was about time to get a new camera anyway. I asked Molly if there was a good place in Guangzhou to get one and she said that we should wait til after we returned to the States. She got hers at Best Buy!

We went to a Cantonese restaurant on the island to get dinner and noodles. Xia Mei stuffed herself on noodles, bing (Chinese pancakes), dou fu and fish. She loved the fish. After dinner, Karen met with Molly to finish up some paperwork. The birthday cake to arrived and when Karen returned we gathered everyone up. We served the cake and opened Xia Mei's presents. Grace and I had a chance to talk to Emily on Skype and finally we called it a night. Happy Birthday, Xia Mei.

Today Molly took all of our paperwork to the Consulate for Xia Mei's visa. We did not have to accompany her so basically we had a free day.

This morning after breakfast, I took Laurel to Shangxiajiu. She wanted to get some pearls. I brought Xia Mei along in the Baby Bjorn. I really enjoy walking along the pedestrian mall and people watch. After going to the mall of pearl shops, I returned to the DVD store. They had Painted Skin which only just recently released and was a Chinese hit. The version I saw yesterday only had Chinese subtitles but I didn't ask if they had a version with English subtitles too. Indeed they did and it cost ¥16 (about $2). I had checked on the night last night and the Hong Kong version which is only available pre-order from YesAsia goes for $17. So, not a bad savings. We passed a jade shopping mall on the way back and we went in to browse, Laurel wanted to buy Abby a jade pendant and found one for a good price. Shangxiajiu is a fun place to shop.

Karen, Grace and the girls went shopping on Shamian Island. Karen bought some souvenirs for people and did some Christmas shopping. Grace got a refrigerator magnet which she collects from trips.

When we returned to our floor in the White Swan, we heard kids running and screaming around the halls on the other side of the floor. I mentioned to Laurel that I was glad that they weren't ours. As it turned out there were a few families with adoptive kids playing in the hall and Hua Mei and Abby were indeed among them. It was lunch time and we decided to have a small lunch in our room.

In the afternoon, Karen, Laurel, Grace and Xia Mei went to the Six Banyan Tree Temple and the Guangxiao Temple. I remained on Shamian with Hua Mei and Abby. We went to play at the playground and then the playroom of the hotel. The others returned from their visit to the temples and we took Molly out to dinner. She took us to a Hunan restaurant on the island. It was on the fifth floor above Jordon's, very much a restaurant for locals. The food was good and very inexpensive. We were all very tired and so we called it an early night. Only one more day in China.

We all actually slept in this morning. We're all a bit tired. In the morning we had no scheduled activities or responsibilities. Karen, Laurel, Abby and Xia Mei stayed on the island. Karen wanted to do some shopping for clothes for Hua Mei and Xia Mei and also continue her Christmas shopping.

Grace, Hua Mei and I took a cab to Beijing Lu (the pedestrian mall on Beijing Road). We had a nice stroll along the mall and we got some clothes for Hua Mei for a good price. In the center of the pedestrian mall is a stone statue of five goats. They are a symbol of the city. Guangzhou is also known as Yangcheng ("City of the Five Goats") or Huacheng ("Flower City"). Beijing Lu is not as long as Shangxiajiu and the buildings are newer. It seems trendier and is more similar to Wangfujing Avenue in Beijing. We spent a couple of hours there and then headed back to the hotel at around lunchtime.

We hung around the hotel resting and waiting for the others to return. We had to meet Molly at around 2:45 pm to head to the U.S. Consulate for our interview and to get Xia Mei's visa.

There were about 18 to 20 families that left from the White Swan to the Consulate representing a number of agencies. Most were from Philadelphia and Illinois. It took about 40 minutes to go across Guangzhou to the east side where the consulate is located. Basically we handed in a copy of our passports and then a representative from the consulate spoke with us and collectively had us take an oath. We received paperwork from them that we would turn into immigration when we arrive at the airport in Minneapolis and Xia Mei's Chinese passport with her U.S. visa. It was back on the bus and back to the White Swan.

Back at the hotel we met with Molly to get our final instructions and give her personal checks to pay for all of our hotel rooms and to pay for our host fee. Molly told us that we needed to have our luggage outside of our doors at 5 am and that we would meet at 5:30 am to leave for the airport. We needed to check out the night before so that we could leave quickly in the morning.

After dinner at the hotel, it was an evening of packing and an early night in preparation for our early rise and long flight home.