Guangzhou-Day 2

Emma Claire was up and down all last night. I am uncertain as to what is upsetting her as she has slept so well since we got her. I am not certain if the flight and move to Guangzhou has disrupted her; all the happenings of the past week as finally caught up; if it is the new crib in the hotel room, which is a pack and play and she obviously doesn't like from her protests; teething (she now has 5 teeth and is cutting a 6th); or if she has an upset stomach. Emma Claire's orphanage used whatever formula was donated to them and when I got her I was given a three-day supply of the formula she was on, which was a Korean formula that was donated to the orphanage and you can't purchase in China. I have since had to move her over to Similac so I am not certain if it is upsetting her tummy. In all likelihood, her fitful sleeping is probably a combination of all of the above. Nevertheless, I ended up taking her out of the pack and play and moving her into bed with me as I was up and down every 15 minutes. She slept better once I put her in my bed and only woke up once crying. She woke up smiling and happy as usual and whatever was disturbing her sleep didn't seem to upset her while she was awake.

We went to the Chen Clan Academy today. It brought back lots of memories of my last visit to Guangzhou when we adopted Chloe. I remember walking around with a sleeping Chloe in the baby carrier. Today, I walked around with a squirmy Emma Claire, who made no bones about letting us know that she doesn't much care for the hot, humid climate of southern China. She's developed a prickly heat rash on her face since we sat in the HOT airport in Harbin waiting for our flight and the heat and humidity of Guangzhou isn't helping it. We ended up sitting with her in front of a oscillating fan, which kept her happy.

Dragon carvings on the roof of the Chen Family Academy.

Entrance to the temple.

Our guide, Kelley, giving us some background info on the temple.

More of the roofline.

A street vendor outside of the temple selling sugar cane stalks he grinds into juice.

The Chen Clan Academy (or Chen Family Temple) houses the Guangdong Folk Art Museum and has beautiful architecture, wood carvings and stone carvings. Deanna and I purchased some artwork as it is reasonably priced at the temple. I have always adored Jinshan paintings and purchased one.


My Jinshan painting I purchased. I just love these brightly colored folk art paintings.

After the Chen Family Temple, we went to the Pearl Market, which is a six story complex of vendors selling pearls, jade and all sorts of costume jewelry. Our guide took us to specific vendors that she thought offered the best value. Our first stop was to look a pearls. I purchased three pearl necklaces, one for Chloe, one for Emma Claire and one for myself. I chose the tri-color strand of pearls which are white, pink and purple. I thought they were beautiful. The price of the pearls is about 1/3 of what they would cost in the States. After you choose the pearls the ladies begin stringing them and making them into a necklace. It is so interesting to watch and they make it look so easy.

Emma Claire and I picking out pearls.

The three pearl necklaces I bought. The one for me is to the left. I purchased a lesser quality (i.e. cheaper--about 1/2 the price of the girl's necklaces) than the ones for the girls because I liked the colors and a bit of the irregular shapes in the different pearls.

We also looked at jade and Deanna bought a small jade necklace for herself.

While I was paying for the pearls, Deanna was holding Emma Claire for me and a lady came by and asked if I was Emma Claire's mother. I responded "yes", and she said she thought so because she looks like me.

A storm came through late this afternoon and it got pretty nasty out so we opted to stay close to the hotel. We didn't want to walk the 10-15 minutes in the rain to the recommended Chinese restaurants, so we hemmed and hawed and ultimately decided to go to the Lebanese restaurant, 1001 Nights, just outside the hotel. I know we came to China and then opted for Lebanese food, but what a great choice it turned out to be!! The staff was very friendly, Emma Claire got to relax on a giant leather couch and it was some of the best lamb we'd ever eaten. We made the right choice, especially since it was lightning and pouring rain.







The view of the storm rolling in from our hotel room.





Emma Claire relaxing on the leather dining couch. She doesn't like the camera flash and is making a grouchy face.

 

And, more Emma Claire cuteness---

 

This is Emma Claire's preferred "relaxing" position.

Emma Claire's visa photo.