The next day, November 3rd, we started Emma's processing. First to the public medical clinic where Emma got her medical exam and three immunizations. She was an absolute angel as we made our way through an enormous crowd of people. Barbara and Eva somehow managed to get us to the front of all the lines so the waiting wasn't as bad as it seemed it would be. Emma breezed through her exams but, like all the children there, she wasn't too happy about the shots. I waited outside with the camcorder and watched as Carolyn carried her out screaming. We felt so bad for her. It took a few minutes to calm her down, but soon she was okay with the world again and we walked back to the hotel. This was our first outing in Guangzhou and our first opportunity to see this part of the city. The White Swan is actually on a small island (Shamian Island) which contains many of the buildings from the first European settlements just before the turn of the century. During the Opium Wars it was defended by city leaders because of it's strategic position, but in 1861 was conceded to England and France. Consulates were quickly erected along with villas, banks, churches and even a sailing club. The Chinese weren't allowed on the island without special permission. It's only been since 1949 that Shamian Island has once again been under Chinese administration. It really reminded us of Savannah in our home state of Georgia. Old buildings close together with narrow, tree lined streets. Along the way, we passed people in the center park area that divided the street doing their morning Tai Chi exercises and school children laughing and running about. The weather was beautiful and again, everyone we passed either looked, stopped us or gave us a "thumbs-up". It was probably one of the most pleasant walks I've ever taken.

After we returned to the hotel and had some lunch, we headed back out to see more and do even more shopping. We had been told in advance about the "Shop On the Stairs" so we headed there first. It was just one of many shops that lined the street just outside the hotel. It was truly, a shop on the stairs. Barely enough room for one person to meander through. For such a small space it was amazing to see how much merchandise lined the two walls. It was here that we ordered most of our "chops". These are found everywhere in China and are used to imprint one's name, or seal, onto things written, drawn or painted. From there we walked and visited just about every shop we passed. Down one side street, the first one past the Shop on the Stairs, we found a great antique shop called the China Treasure Gallery run by Zhang Hsiao Shen, an extremely friendly and informative man who spoke very good English. In his shop were items and paintings that dated back to the Ming Dynasty. He had a story about every item we asked about. Some of it was very expensive, in some cases several thousand US dollars. We stuck to things that were less than 100 years old and affordable. It was here that we were told that there was one woman in China who manufactured all of the very common, silk covered boxes that almost everything came packaged in. Seeing these boxes everywhere, I found it hard to believe, but that's what we were told.

We found our way the Qing Ping Market that spanned several blocks on both sides of the street. Here, I assume, is where people did their grocery shopping. There were dozens of vegetable stands and various meat stands where the animals were butchered on-site. We saw pigs, goats, foul, fish, eels, snakes, frogs, crickets and even a few dogs - not something for the weak, western stomach. I had to "preview" each section for Carolyn because of her phobia about snakes. Down one block, after my "all-clear" Carolyn started her walk just as a man hacked a huge bullfrog in half with a large meat cleaver! Emma rode contentedly in her "Hike-n-Roll" on Carolyn's back just taking it all in, not seeming to mind a bit. We left the market and walked and walked and walked. The sidewalks in Guangzhou were always crowded with people walking in both directions and both sides of the street were lined with shops. I once heard that big the difference between men and women is that men can actually walk past a shoe store. I bet we visited every shoe store we encountered. The effort wasn't lost, however. Carolyn found a red, very Chinese pair of shoes for Emma with white bunnies on the toes. She wore them out of the store and looked so cute in them. When she saw the bunnies, she called them "mai-mai". We love it when she does that! Within minutes we were on our way - at least until the next shoe store! The streets were constantly crowded with cars and hoards of bicycles, which were, by far, the most popular method of transportation. Children, men, women, workers, delivery people and even some women neatly dressed in skirts and dresses peddled their way down the street. It was amazing to me to see what the Chinese bike-riders could carry on their two-wheeled bikes. Unbelievable as it was, we saw a man carrying a complete, full-sized dining room table, upside-down, with six chairs stacked on top strapped to the back of his two-wheeled bike easily cruising his way through the hectic traffic.

The next day, we walked to the US Consulate to do the paperwork and sit through the interviews necessary to get Emma's US Immigrant Visa which would allow her to enter the United States. This went very smooth. Our group was in and out within an hour. All we had to do is verify some information on our mountain of INS forms, answer a question or two and that was it. The consulate official that we sat with mentioned that adoptive parents going through Holt were easy to process since their paperwork was always in order and well organized. We were thankful for that and spent less than 5 minutes at her desk. Good thing, because Emma was getting tired of all these visits and she'd much rather have been outside with the wind in her face.

After the consulate visit we were off for, yes... more shopping. I could feel the straps of my carry-on bag already bearing down on my weary shoulder. But, then again, how many times does one get to visit China? We found our way to the "big" department store, bearing the same name as the county Emma came from, Nanfeng. It was five floors of typical department store - sort of. There were lots of items specific to China, but was organized very much like any major department store in the US. Plenty of people on the floor to help - if you spoke Chinese, preferably Cantonese. The main difference was how you purchased something. When I found an item we wanted, I'd get a sales person to write up a three-part receipt. These always seemed to be of tissue-paper quality and small. I'd take the receipt to a cash-register station, pay for the item - Chinese currency only, and get one copy of the receipt back. Finally, I'd take the receipt back to the sales person who'd bag the item and give it to me - a very different system that what we are used to in the US. We left the department store and walked and shopped some more. Later, we all met for dinner at the Guangzhou Hard Rock Cafe. Inside, it looked like any other Hard Rock restaurant - even a similar, mostly western menu. Emma ate a good meal then hit the floor, wandering about and listening to the live pop band. She also found time to chase one of her Chinese friends, Lu Lei (soon to be Grace) around the dance floor. Before we left, we bought our Hard Rock "One-sie" T-shirt for Emma and a hat for me.

The next two days we were pretty much on our own with the exception of a short visit to the Consulate to pick up Emma's Visa. This took just a few minutes but started my period of stress and worry. The packet was sealed with official stamps by the US Consulate with the front page exposed and stapled to the remainder of the packet. We were told that it had to remain sealed and in tact until we reached our port of entry in the US (Detroit for us) where we were told we'd hand it over to a US Immigration & Naturalization official. If it somehow got opened or the cover page became detached while in transit, we would've been sent back to Guangzhou to repeat our processing to get a new one. At several points while departing China it had to be given to Chinese officials so they could see the cover sheet. I trembled each time I had to hand it over. While it was in my possession I guarded it with my life!

We did more walking and more shopping during the remainder of our stay. The weather couldn't have been better. A day earlier we had discovered a restaurant nicknamed, "The Tree" (a large tree had grown through the building at the entrance.) It was a little place with tables outside on the sidewalk. It was just a short walk from the hotel, down the street from the "Shop on the Stairs". The food was the best Chinese food I've ever tasted. On our first visit we sat with Barbara and her Chinese assistant, Miriam from Holt. Miriam ordered for us. It was so good we had her write it down in Chinese so we would be sure to get the same dishes again when we returned for more. We had, a wonderful Chinese vegetable that no one could translate into English other than "Chinese vegetable". Emma loved it and ate it by the bowl full. We had them chop up several portions for her. Also, we had a "sweet-and-sour" chicken that was like no other sweet-and-sour dish I've ever had. It wasn't so gooey and orange and tasted great. Along with it was pork in an oyster sour sauce and Chinese egg plant hot-pot in a salty fish sauce. Here are the names as they are written in Chinese:

We picked up Emma's Visa late on November 5th. Most of the Nanfeng group was leaving on the 6th and the remainder on the 7th. Our departure to Beijing was scheduled for 6:45pm on the 6th. On the evening of the 5th we got the group together at the White Swan for the famous "sofa picture". At about 5pm we gathered at the "brass bird cage" in front of the Song Bird Restaurant on the 2nd floor. What a sight! Sixteen families all trying to get their new babies happy, excited and smiling for the cameras. Fortunately, Barbara, a veteran sofa event director, was there to assist. There were whimpers from just a few and only one persistent resister, Morgan, but we pulled it off and got some great photographs and videos that we will all enjoy for years to come. The next morning several of the families had early departures. We went down and said our good-byes along with promises to keep in touch so we can all watch the progress of the children in the "Jiangxi 10" group. We walked around Guangzhou for the last time and returned to the room to finish up our last minute packing. We left for the airport around 4:30pm and rode there with Barbara who walked us through the process of a domestic departure. All went well and we were in the air again, this time headed for Beijing.