Day 11 & 12 – Guangzhou – Sightseeing and more sightseeing

Day 11 & 12 – Guangzhou – Sightseeing and more sightseeing

This will be my last note until we get home as tonight is our last night here in Guangzhou. In the morning we are off (very early) to the airport and will arrive at SFO the morning of 1/1. We are ready to come home and sleep in our own beds and begin to get back into the routine of home life. However I am a tad sad that our time in China is over, this trip has produced many memories for me and will always have a special place in my heart. I think I will miss all the quality time we have spent as a family but, I will not miss strange people touching my children!

Day 11
We began our day as we have almost every other day in China with the kids not wanting to get up and John having to shower first with Jake going second and then me and Madison. We try to leave Madison for last since it is such an ordeal, never in my life have I met a kid who hates a bath more. As soon as she hears the water and you start undressing her, the fussing begins and once she hits the water the fussing turns into screaming and crying. Needless to say her shower/baths are super quick! Then it was off to a quick breakfast before meeting our guide Elvin.
Today he took us and the other family to a park. Well…not an American style park, more like gardens with trees, plants, and statues. Jake was a tad disappointed that there was no place to “play” and that there was no slide. I can understand why the Chinese are so skinny, we climbed more stairs and hills than I had all year. All I kept thinking was J-LO and Derbie would be in HEAVEN and if they hear about me doing this, I really will have no excuses!! Even with my knee killing me, I made it thru without complaining! Madison on the other hand, had a major meltdown and laid herself on the ground….all because Jake hugged me. Our guide Elvin wasn’t happy with Ms Madison and lectured her for about 10 mins in Mandarin while I carried her (yes all 25lbs) down the hill. Madison of course ignored him and wouldn’t answer back but, she did stop crying. The park was beautiful and there were many people there walking, exercising and playing games.

After the park (and workout), it was time to head back to the hotel for naps. Everyone rested till after 6pm and then it was off to the Italian restaurant, where we ran into our China Adopt friends and ended up having a very enjoyable dinner!

Day 12

Finally….our last day in China until we head home!! We are all ready to come home, if Jake has to have plain noodles and fries for one more meal, I really think he might lose it! We ran out of food I packed three days ago so, Jake is more than ready to come home, plus he is excited to see what Santa left him.

Today our guide took us and the other family to an amazing safari type park. When we entered we went straight to the train ride. You board this tram like train that takes you through an open safari type area, many animals could walk right up to the train and the dangerous ones had a moat separation which was well hidden. The tram ride took about hour and Madison was so into it she fell asleep in my arms! Once the ride was completed we walked around the park to the different exhibit areas. It was amazing how close they allow you to get to the animals. For example for 30 yuan ($4.40 usd) Jake got to have his picture taken while holding a baby tiger and feeding it a bottle. He also fed the giraffes, elephants, and then the baby elephants (of course we had to buy the food). Jake was also a little sad seeing how some of the animals lived, he didn’t like that a lot of them were in concrete type cages. He kept asking why they had to live like that and why
couldn’t they be released back into the wild. He also felt that many of them looked sad and unhappy. I must admit that I agreed with him and was quite proud that he was being not only thoughtful but very astute of the conditions. Even our guide was impressed that these concerns were coming from a seven year old. Don’t get me wrong, this safari park was well maintained and the animals looked well cared for but, it was not a San Diego or Oakland Zoo. Minus the tram ride, it reminded me a lot of SF Zoo when I was a child; a lot of concrete and small habitats. They did have a lot of animals unlike US zoo’s, they didn’t have 1 or 2 tigers, they had 10 and the same goes for all the animals they had multiples of each. We also got to see the nice, new panda habitat and the only twin kola’s in the world.

Overall the day went well, except for when Madison and I got separated from John, Jake and the guide and we got surround by (and I am not kidding) 30 Chinese people who all started taking Madison’s picture, touching her and a few even tried to get her to let go of my hand. Luckily for me, Madison started screaming and throwing herself on the ground (good girl) and they all backed off…Whew because Mama was freaking out a little. We spent about five hours at the safari park and then it was back to the hotel for dinner, last minute shopping and packing.

Happy New Year to everyone!!
Shannon