On our second day, the only official event was getting Emma's Visa photo at a local photo shop. The rest of the day was spent at a local department store and at a "famous" (Cathy referred to most everything as "famous") Jiangxi porcelain shop. We were one of the last to get our photo taken so we spent most of our time entertaining Emma while we waited. In one of the adjacent studios, a Nanchang bride was having her wedding picture take. She was very beautiful and the session provided Emma with something new to watch and ponder. Finally, our turn came - we were in and out in a minute or two and Emma performed and posed wonderfully!

I wasn't sure what to expect at the department store. That's the term Cathy used and that's just what it was called - but what that meant in Nanchang, I wasn't sure. Conceptually, it wasn't much different that any department store here in the states - culturally, it was very different. There were several floors of merchandise organized into "departments" but a good bit more cluttered than what I am used to. It was like taking a trip back in time to the 50's. The items and even some of the brand names came from our western past - especially the women's cosmetics, "Lux" soap, for example. There was, however, a very big "Disney" presence - plenty of Micky Mouse backpacks. I found some Green Tea and some cookie treats for Emma. Carolyn found some really cute, very Chinese looking shoes for Emma. One pair was $3.00US and the other was $5.00US. Again, we were an attraction and got attention inside and outside the store. Next door to the department store we found a music store where we purchased some wonderful Chinese children's music on cassette.

We had read about Jiangxi Porcelain and the shop Cathy took us to was filled with beautiful pieces. We bought some bowls of various sizes that were, literally, paper thin. If you held them up to the light you could see through them. Some had "watermark" designs that were visible only when holding them up to a light source. The hand painted designs were so delicate and so beautiful - like nothing we'd ever seen before. Egg-shell porcelain, as it is called, is "as thin as a cicada's wing and as light as silk". When the Chinese speak of this kind of porcelain, they tell you: "Fear not only that wind will blow it away, but also worry that the sun will melt it into air." Each piece starts out as a raw porcelain biscuit. The thinning of the biscuits, usually to a thickness of 2 or 3 millimeters, is particularly difficult and essential to the process. Artisans roll the clay more than a hundred times to thin each one to its egg-shell thickness. Sometimes even a careless deep breath can ruin hours of painstaking effort. The final pieces are fired to a temperature of 2400° Fahrenheit. If the piece is the slightest bit too thin, it will shatter into pieces. These pieces will also shatter into bits if little hands find them so I held Emma close! She wasn't quite a "bull in a China shop", but left to her own devices she would have taken out a number of expensive pieces!

On October 31st, we rode to the local police station to pick up Emma's Chinese Visa and Chinese Passport, the documents that would let her leave Nanchang and eventually China. From there, Cathy took us to a small village similar, but better off as she told us, than the ones our babies came from. It was a real experience. The homes were all interconnected with a maze of small walkways and streets. We had the opportunity to meet many of the families. We showed off our babies as they showed off theirs - all smiles and so grateful that were adopting some of China's children. We even got to go on a small tour through one of the homes. All the homes were stacked brick construction with dirt or stone floors and walkways. The home we visited was mostly one large room (about 16' x 20') with a few chairs, a table and a tub lined with scraps of fabric that made up their child's bed. In one corner was a coal burning stove. There were two other rooms used as bedrooms, both off the main room. There were a few colorful wall hangings but that was about it. Very simple. No running water, no electricity. The family was delightful and seemed so proud to be showing us their home. It was a very heart-warming experience!

Just before visiting the village, we toured the home and temple of the 15th century painter, Zhu Da, better known as Badashanren. I believe it is called the Temple of the Blue Clouds. The actual date of this Taoist temple is somewhere between 321 and 641 AD. It houses the actual museum which contains the works of Badashanren ("Man of Eight Great Mountains") and his pupils. He lived from about 1626 until about 1705. His work, which departs radically from the painters of his time, has had a lasting influence on modern Chinese artists. He disapproved of the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1644, and in 1661 retreated to this temple for a period of 26 years. The three main halls are dedicated to the god of war Guandi, the Taoist saint Lu Dongbin and the legendary dragon slayer Xu-Dun. In his work, all the animals have very fierce looking eyes, symbolizing his anger over the change in government and all the plants and trees bare dying leaves symbolizing the "death" of the Ming Dynasty.

For our lunch break, Cathy took us to an ethnic (Dong Minority) restaurant for a HUGE lunch. The food was out of this world! All of the waiters and waitresses were dressed in their elaborate traditional costumes. At one point, during our meal, they broke out into song and began feeding us! I scrambled to get my camcorder rolling and was able to get a fair amount of it on tape. The music was as wonderful and as beautiful as the Dong people were.

By November 1st we had finished all of our adoption processing and had one more Nanchang sight to see, the Tengwang Tower. It was built in 659 and rises high above the bank of the Ganjiang River. It was built by the governor of Hongzhou (present day Nanchang), Li Yuanming known as Tengwang, younger brother of the Emperor Li Shiming of the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the three famous tower's south of the Yangtse River. The tower's fame came from the famous Poet Wang Bo who wrote many poems during the Tang Dynasty. The tower was rebuilt and repaired a total of 28 times! The last time was in 1983. It covers a floor space of 5,600 square meters, is 45 meters high and has five stories. But it appears to be only three stories from outside. While inside, on the top floor we were treated to a performance of traditional Chinese music and dance.

Overall, Nanchang was quite a city. Cathy estimated the population at about 4 million - a medium to small town by Chinese standards. There was little sign of western influence and practically no one spoke English. While in town all signs, menus, etc., were in Chinese. Always, we were quite an attraction. Everywhere we went we were circled by passers-by who spoke Chinese to us as if we knew what they were saying. All smiles, finally they'd give us a big "thumbs-up" indicating their joy that we were adopting one of their children and taking them to America. When they did speak English, it was simply, "lucky baby". We shook our heads to confirm and replied, "lucky us"! One man even pointed back and forth between Carolyn and I and said, "Win Win", meaning he felt we were all equally "lucky". I just can't adequately describe how wonderful this made us feel. We truly loved these people and are so grateful to them for their kindness. We felt as if we had become a member of their family and that's just how they treated us.

On November 2nd we left Nanchang. Leaving, however, was more than just another plane ride. We were quite aware that we were taking Emma away from the home she had know since her birth. Carolyn and I both had a tear in our eye as the plane lifted off the runway and headed to Guangzhou. Emma, on the other hand, was busy moving the magazines in the seat pocket in front of me to the seat pocket in front of Carolyn and almost immediately filled her diaper with her last remnants of Nanchang. So much for emotional moments...