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The following is a list of suggested restaurants near the White Swan Hotel that CHSFS sent to us:
• Hotel Bakery and Deli – just outside the hotel to the left about 50 yards
• Shamian Cafe – just outside the hotel to the right about 50 yards
• Lucy’s Bar and Restaurant – outside the hotel, turn right and go about 200 yards
• Dim sum restaurant – 2nd floor of hotel, every morning
• Pizza Hut delivery – call 8191-2827 or 8191-2805
• 2 Cantonese style restaurants – just outside the hotel to the right about 100 yards
• Danny’s Bagels (delivery) – call 8438-5823 or email to schedule a delivery: gzbagels@yahoo.com
We had eaten at the dim sum restaurant.
It was quite good. You order off the menu (rather than carts coming around). They had a quite a few things I’d never had before. Hua Mei loved it.
We also went to Lucy’s Bar and Restaurant. It is near the park by the river. It was mostly western style food. We went to the Cantonese restaurant that had the tanks of fresh fish in the entrance. That was quite good. We also went to a Thai restaurant that we liked that was a couple blocks away.
For laundry we used a place across the street from the hotel. They gave us a stroller for the week we were there too.
Across the street from the laundry was a gift shop that we bought t-shirts and other souvenirs.
A great map of Shamian Island can be found here.
The pdf version of this map can be printed from here.
Also known as the Liurong Temple, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees was originally built in 537. The pagoda in the temple is known as the Six Banyan Pagoda or the Flowery Pagoda. Buddhist relics are placed in the pagoda.
In the main hall of the temple are three large copper Buddhist statues. They are the biggest and most ancient Buddhist statues in Guangdong. The middle statue is of Sakyamuni Buddha, on the left is Amitabha, and on the right is the Apothecary Buddha. A row of pillows are set in front of the statues so that worshippers can bow to the statues.
Joss sticks are sold in the courtyard of the temple and visitors can burn them before the idols or shrines as offerings.
Many families participating in the international adoption of children from China visit this temple where they receive blessings for their newly adopted children in front of the statue of Guan Yin, the bodhisattva of compassion. During the ceremony a monk chants and then sprinkles water on the babies.
We had a really nice visit there.
A site to visit in Guangzhou is the Chen Clan Academy. It was established in 1894 in Qing Dynasty by the 72 Chen clans in Guangdong as a place for their clan members to study and prepare for provincial examinations. We visited it during our visit in 2005.
It is known for its architecture, courtyards and carvings.
In 1959, the academy was designated as the Guangdong Museum of Folk Art in 1959 and contains collections of paintings, embroideries, sculpture, calligraphy, and other folk art.
There was one artist there who used his fingers and the side of his hand to create paintings of Chinese scenery. He was amazing and we purchased a couple of his works.
Based on average daily weather data for Beijing, Nanchang and Guangzhou, we can get an idea of the high and low temperatures that we can expect for our trip and thus pack appropriately.
For Beijing, from Nov 19th to the 23rd, the average high is 47°F and the average low is 30°F. This will be similar to early Nov weather for Minneapolis. A jacket and a sweat shirt will be just about right for the evenings.
For Nanchang, from Nov 23rd to the 29th, the average high is 60°F and the average low is 47°F. This is about the weather that we are currently experiencing in Minneapolis or maybe more early October so short sleeves in the day and jacket in the evening perhaps.
For Guangzhou, from Nov 29th to the Dec 4th, the average high is 72°F and the average low is 57°F. This is early September weather in Minneapolis so I might even bring a pair of shorts along.
Of course when we return to Minneapolis on Dec 4, the average high is 30°F and the average low is 16°F.
The final stop in China will be Guangzhou. All adoptive families go through Guangzhou because they need to visit the U.S. Consulate to get a visa for their newly adopted child. This means staying at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island.
The hotel is a five star hotel. The hotel has an indoor waterfall.
It has three very nice restaurants. One is an outdoor restaurant with a buffet where you choose meats and seafood and the staff then grill it and serve it to you. Another is a dim sum restaurant. We quickly learned that Hua Mei liked dim sum.
On arriving at the hotel, each family will find a “Going Home Barbie” in their room as a gift from the White Swan. It’s a Caucasian Barbie doll holding an Asian baby. Mattel only makes these for adoptive parents who stay at the White Swan.
Shamian Island is a sandbank island on the Pearl River. It used to be the safe haven where foreigners gui lao (aka yangguizi) resided during colonial European times. Colonial architecture is still evident on the island.
There are some interesting odd bronze statues dotting the island that depict colonial times.
Here’s an article about the White Swan in the Times.
Karen submitted the signed papers to CHSFS today accepting the referral. We now sit back and wait for the next step. An appointment will be made for us at the US Consulate in Guangzhou and then we learn where and when we will need to be to receive Xia Mei. This will probably take place in Nanchang. We will have quite the entourage since my older sister, Grace; Karen’s sister-in-law, Laurel; and niece, Abby, will also be going with the three of us. We plan to fly into China a few days early to visit Beijing and sightsee. It’s possible that we may be traveling to Nanchang with another family.
When we got Natalie, we were in a very large group. Quite a few of us met up before we went to China and then we met up again in Beijing. We became a pretty tight group. After sightseeing in Beijing, half the group went to Wuhan and most of the remaining half went to Guangzhou to receive children. We all later met up in Guangzhou for our consulate appointments. Since returning from China, our group meets once a year during the summer for a reunion. It’s been great forming this extended family.
