1st Day in Guangzhou - Picture Day - 1/27/2008

We did not post last night. Anna had fever so Sue cuddled her to sleep. Berthold was so tired he literally fell asleep in front of the computer.

Yesterday was a busy day. We started to do our immigration paper work this morning. It took 2 hours to fill out all the forms that are required for getting Jenny an immigration visa. In the afternoon, we had her passport photo done. That was all the official business for the day.
We are very excited to be back to Guangzhou. This place brought a lot good memories of adopting Anna. The red couch in White Swan hotel is still our favorite place for photos. White Swan is a beautiful hotel. We love it. But, we have decided to stay in the Victory Hotel two blocks away from the White Swan hotel, simply this hotel is less expensive and rooms are little bit bigger. We need two rooms. One of our rooms has three beds. We combined all three beds together to make a huge bed where all four of us (Mom, Dad with two girls) sleep together. This leave ½ of the room free as a place area. It works out great so far.

We spent some time taking photos at the White Swan hotel. The girls attracted a lot attention from foreign and Chinese guests. Most of Chinese adopted children wore some kinds of traditional Chinese costume. Anna, Jenny and Jon from the Szalai’s are the only three girls dressed up in Mongolian Costumes.

In the evening, we had dinner with the Szalai’s and the Murphy’s at the famous Lucy’s Bar and Grill. Anna was very excited to sit next to Amy, one of Szalai’s girls who also has hard time about with her new brother Jon. Both girls enjoyed each other’s company very much. Anna likes to play mother or caregiver to Amy while Amy enjoys the attention being taken care of.
Sue’s niece was with us for dinner while Sue’s sister went to the airport to pick her husband and her son. We were happy to see the whole family after dinner at their hotel which is just one block away from the White Swan Hotel.

Guangzhou is colder than usual but it is still warmer for us. It was 47F. After dinner, Sue and Berthold enjoyed a walk along the river. We miss our Anhui Doll family very much. Berthold especially misses all the Dads and their cigar evening. It would not be the same to smoke a cigar alone. We did visit the spot where all the Dads had their cigars 6 years ago. It was great memory.