[Sean&Shan]

Hi All! I know it has been forever, but we are back from China with our daughter and I find that I have much less time on my hands to get on line (surprise,Surprise!)

We had a great trip but like so many have said before us, we were glad to get home. We are fortunately blessed to have a very easy going, happy daughter, but even so, the time adjustment has been difficult for all. Being on the east coast we are a full 12 hours different from Beijing time.

Thoughts on our trip....
While I must say that Beijing was not my favorite city to visit, I HIGHLY recommend everyone taking advantage of the 3 and 4 day trips most agencies offer prior to gotcha day. We had a very hard time switching our bodies over to Beijing time and were waking up everynight for 3 and 4 hours at a time. When we got our daughter, she was sleeping through the night, so it was nice to finally be able to sleep through the night with her.

Beijing is not a very "pretty" city so I did not take as many pictures as I thought I would. I now wish I had taken more. By far our favorite part of the Beijing leg was the Hutong Tour. This was a rickshaw ride through an historic part of the city. We got to tour Mr. Lui's home and see his cricket collection. It sounds a bit odd, but it was def. fun.

One of the things that becomes painfully obvious in Beijing is the lack of awarness of personal space and what Americans would see as ettiquette. It is astounding how many people pack into elevators, where in America we would wait for the next one. If you pause to let someone get on an escalator or move through a small doorway before you, you will find that you will be waiting all day. It is just not done there- people push right on through. It is not considered rude and you quickly learn to file in and move with the herd or be left behind.

SHOPPING!
We bought our pearls in Beijing and I am glad we did. The Pearl Market is not near the White Swan in Guangzhou, you need to take a taxi there. We were also warned by the hotel that if you do take a taxi in Guangzhou to pay with small bills- they are having a bad counterfeit problem and it seems to be worse with the cabbies. There are basically 3 different quality of pearls. We bought almost exclusively in the mid range. You barter for the price of the pearls and it does not include the clasp- so make sure you consider that. I was paying about $100 a strand with the clasp included. I bought two braclets in the lower quality for gifts and now that I am home and can calmly compare the two- the difference in quality is astounding- but so was the price.

We did not buy any Cloisonne, but I would buy that in Beijing as well. It is not inexpensive, but the stuff in Guangzhou could not compare.

We also bought several things in Silk Alley in Beijing, but I will warn you that the prices are much better in Guangzhou. I am sure that everyone knows that you must barter for everything, but I bought several traditional children's outfits in Silk Alley for $10-15 dollars depending on quality and if they had embroidery. I did not see a lot of embroidered childrens outfits in Guangzhou, but the silk tapestry outfits in Guangzhou ran about $5. A silk scarf in silk alley was about $12, I was getting them for $6 in Guangzhou.

Squeaky shoes (Guangzhou) $3 each
Very nice umbrella stroller $18 (this would be a $35-$40 stroller here)
Guangzhou had very cute silk diaperbag/backpacks very cheap. If I had known that I would have waited on getting my diaper bag.

We also bought several on this glass globe things that are handpainted from the inside- hard to explain but they were very cool and have made great gifts- the larger medium size ( about 6" in diameter) were $9 each. We gave these to the couples who had done our recommendations etc. for us.

A large extra suitcase was $15.

WARNING! If you fly out of Hong Kong they have stricter size requirements for your carry on luggage so be carefull.

Finally, we had the hip panda and used it constantly once we had our daughter. It seemed to be more comfortable than the other brands, and our daughter falls asleep on it very easily- even when she got fussy on the plane, I put her in the hip panda to walk around and she calmed down. It was worth its weight in gold! I think they are only sold on-line, but it was GREAT.

I'd be happy to answer questions as so many people did for me before I went, but I will only be checking in about every-other day.

Sorry it was so long but I thought I would throw out info I would have wanted to know!

Blessings....

[drmalcolm]

Shannon, thanks so much for the info. For those of us who are waiting, it's incredible to hear what you have to say and see the sights. I loved watching your journey--I hadn't seen you in a while, so I checked out your blog, only to discover you were in China at that moment!

Lizzie is so beautiful! The photos of the babies on the red couch had me in stitches, especially the disappearing headband of the little girl next to Lizzie (whose expression shows she just takes it all in with interest).

Glad you are home--it's been a long journey for you (literally and figuratively), so enjoy your new family of 3.

Best,
Christina

[jenn2004]

Welcome home!! Thanks for all the information

[cooperbabe]

Welcome home!

Your daughter is beautiful!

Thanks for the info

[Trace7]

Congrats!! Thanks for all the info, too I am so excited to get to China. I am glad that we made the decision to go to Hong Kong first (my brother lives there) and stay for a week with him to have some free time and get used to the time change before meeting the baby - plus we LOVE Hong Kong Great info about the pearls, too! Thanks!

[seanbeck]

Great info! Thanks! And most importantly, CONGRATS and welcome home! I'll have to go visit your blog.

Take care!

[SofiasMom]

I agree about Beijing - too big and too modern. I'm glad that they haven't bulldozed down some of the Hutongs. I did enjoy the Dirt Market.

Congratulations and welcome back.

[LOU P]

We found beijing to be overwhelming,being from the east coast ourselves the time diff is rough,however i think we ran on adrenelin most of the time.Tienimin sq/forbidden city was ok for an hour or 2,but our guide was very proud of it all and explained every little thing,so the tour took about 5 hours ...after the 5 hour tour,we went to a very nice restaurant for lunch,then off to the summer palace for a few hours,then to dinner,and then(yes there is more ),to end the night we went to a acrobatic show...it was a very,very long day.The second day was better,we went to the great wall,the jade factory,then got a foot massage,then to dinner...guangzho was much more enjoyable for us,it's more manageable and seemed friendlier.
anyway,welcome home and congrats

[chinagirl2006]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Your daughter is beautiful

[Happy2Bhere]

WOW! Your story makes everything seem so "real" Right now- we're JUST starting out, so it's still in the "dream" stage. Your pictures of your journey made it so real! You're daughter is absolutely perfect & gorgeous, but I'm sure you already know that! :-)
Where did you get or come up with that CHINA ultrasound? I love it! Great idea!
You truly are blessed.
Congratulations!
Melissa

[Jdubs03]

Welcome Home Shannon!

Thank you for the great info! Any travel advice is welcome... even if my trip is many months away.

Now to the important stuff....

Lizzie is just beautiful! And quite a happy baby. I don't think you could get a picture of her NOT smiling! Thank you so much for sharing your photos. It makes the wait that much easier when we see the realization that there WILL be a wonderful end to our wait!

[KarenInCa]

>> Guangzhou had very cute silk diaperbag/backpacks very cheap. If I had known that I would have waited on getting my diaper bag.

We also bought several on this glass globe things that are handpainted from the inside- hard to explain but they were very cool and have made great gifts- the larger medium size ( about 6" in diameter) were $9 each. We gave these to the couples who had done our recommendations etc. for us. <<

YES, my diaper bag got smelly (don't ask), so I purchased one of the silk diaper bags and it holds up well. Not very many pockets in them but they are gorgeous!

The globes are beautiful. Apparently, the artist uses a brush that has sideways bristles, and paints the picture on the inside of it. We had one made of our daughter and her Ay-i (nanny) from a copy of a picture we had received from the SWI.
If you have a computer with you, and a digital camera that you have uploaded current pictures from while in GZ, you can print one of the pictures at the business center at the WS, then take it to a local shop for the artist to use. WELL WORTH the (cheap) cost of doing this.

We also purchased an extra suitcase, and the handle broke at the airport. No biggie, we had paid a minimal cost for it. But, be prepared for luggage to break, think of the luggage as an extra box for storage and be prepared to toss it after you get home. (Although, it could have been OUR luggage, and not a sample of all the luggage you can buy there, but it was a knock off brand).

If you purchase a stroller, don't do it IN the WS stores, wait till you go shopping in GZ, outside of the WS. The store at the lower level of the WS wanted much more for the stroller, and we paid it because we did not assume any other store would have them. Still a good stroller and good price though.

[Sean&Shan]

We bought most of our stuff from The Double Happiness Store which is a few doors down from Jennifer's place. They gave us the best deals and once we had bought a number of things they dropped their prices a lot faster!

The store right outside the White Swan is called House of Love (I think) but was quickly nick-named Stella's Place because Stella speaks such excellent English and works 7 days a week. Their prices weren't as good as others but we did get some squeaky shoes there and I had 2 silk tops custom made for about $30 each. If you are a "big-boned" gal like myself you will find it difficult to buy "off the rack" because sizes run so small.

[looneytunes32]

Welcome back Shannon! Thanks for all the tips!