Pearl River Boat Cruise

This is the first time that Meigan has sat down by herself in the van. Yeah!!! There are no car seats in China and in fact no seat belts in the van.
Very tired girl, sucking her thumb. We had to wake her to go on the river cruise, and so she is still trying to wake up.
Jane, Meigan, and Jodie waiting for cruise to start.

Jodie and Meigan in front of the boat we took. We were on the second floor, which is the VIP floor. Don't we feel special! lol
Here is the Dining area and the Buffet line. It was very nice and the food was good.
Both of us blowing kisses to Mom!
Self Family Portrait
Night skyline

Meigan giggles when she is tickled.


Meigan doing laps around the deck
Very tired little girl

The rest are all pics of a night market

stinky fruit
fried mutton and squid
whole fried ducks and chickens

street vendors
Fast food chicken restaurant like KFC, only you can get the feet, gizzards, and insides too if you'd like

This is a common site in China, very hard work for people that come to the city from the country and have no education.

Today our guide, Jane, took all of our paperwork to the US Consulate, which meant that we had to stay in the hotel room till about 10:30am in case she needed to reach us. That was ok with us because we slept in today. Meigan had kind of a rough night last night, she woke up a few times and so that meant we were up too. She would quiet right down again and the last time she was a little obstinate on how she wanted to sleep, not all on Jodie and not next to Jodie and definitely not in the crib, so she slept with her back on Jodie's back with her head hanging off one side and her feet off the other. It was so cute that I wanted to take a pic but I was afraid she would have woken up.

After we heard from Jane that everything went through ok at the consulate we went out shopping. We bought some dresses and souvenirs and then came back to the hotel for a nap. Shamian island is not very chinese at all. Almost everyone speaks english, most of the restaurants are very western, it looks like you are in Europe, and the shopping is all touristy souvenir stuff. We feel bad for the people that only had to come here in order to adopt a baby from this province as they don't get to see the real china often times.

After Meigan's nap we went on a night dinner cruise on the Pearl River. We had been told by our guide and other people that the food was not very good, so we ate a few pieces of left over pizza and took along some granola bars just in case. It turned out that the food was very good. The best chinese food Brian has had here yet, and it wasn't necessarily western chinese food. It is so funny in china as there is no such thing as lines. When they announced that the buffet was open everyone got up and crowded around the table. All of the americans got in line and stayed there till the chinese got their food and left. they don't make lines they just bunch in where ever they want. Brian ended up elbowing 2 ladies as they tried to squeeze in front of him to get food. Jodie says to add that it was not hitting them with an elbow but sticking my elbow out so that they could not pass in front of us. Brian got a funny look from them like he was being the rude one. lol We had good fried rice, noodles, fruit, and vegetables. Even the dim sum desserts were good.

After dinner we went out onto the deck and enjoyed views of the city at night. It is so pretty all lit up at night. Guangzhou is a very big city (5th biggest in China) and it is pretty during the day, but at night it is gorgeous. We just couldn't get over how big it is and how pretty with all of the lights and the buildings lit up with changing colors.

After the river cruise Brian asked Jane to take us by a night market, so our driver drove us by some night shops and some walking areas. Meigan was getting very tired at this point and so we didn't stop to get out. Then Brian asked Jane if it was far from the hotel and she said to far to walk but close enough by taxi. So Jane wrote out the address and name of our hotel and Brian hopped out of the van to roam around the night market. I (Brian) have been to china before and my favorite part are the night markets. They are always lit up and there are tons of people that come out to get what they need once they are done with work and dinner. They are not touristy at all and they are intended for the Chinese. I had a great time seeing all of the street vendors and shops that were along the road. Each shop will have a different venue or product. So you will see one shop with fruit, then one with pants, then one with underwear, then one with kitchen items, then a small restaurant, and so forth. I bought a few ties and a new belt. The belt cost me $7 and the ties were $2. The ties totally look like ones that could be re branded with names like Nautica, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, or any other name in Macy's. I bought one which was about $6 too that was really nice and good quality. After about an hour I got a cab and enjoyed the ride through the night of the city. It cost me about a buck and a half for my cab ride and we traveled for about 20 mins, so cheap!

Well tomorrow is our last full day in China, we are going to do a little more shopping and then we have to go to the US Consulate to take an oath and then Meigan becomes a US Citizen! Yeah!!!! so we'll fill you in more on that tomorrow.