Last leg ~ 9/21/07

9/21/07 Last Leg
We are going to Guangzhou tonight. Check out is noon. Jamie thinks it will be easy, I think it will take most of the morning – guess who is right. We are now faced with internal travel weight limits, 44 lbs per checked bag, vs. the 50 lbs we were darn close to on our international flight. But we have shed some donations to the orphanage and by making our red carry-on weigh 35 pounds, we manage. It is now 11, enough time for a quick stroll but not much else. We go to the small park behind the hotel and break out the bubbles. Lela has a good time, but Lian doesn’t seem to get it. We also spot a new bird, a flicker/thrasher type with a long curved beak and equally long crest, giving a hammer-head appearance. (We are active with Audubon, but birding on an adoption trip is dicey at best. Still, it’s a life bird, whatever it is – we’ll look it up at home.)
Back to the room, consigning our pile of luggage to the bell hop and down to check out. I cash the last travelers check knowing it would be a multi-hour process in Guangzhou. The three families have decided we’ll do a late lunch by the Bell Tower, hoping we can find the recommended dim sum restaurant. First the Littles need a stroller so it’s back to the supermarket in a series of cabs. They have some kind of misadventure with the bill, but Sherry finally goes up and gets it straightened out. We walk to the restaurant, but now most of the children are seated at least. It is a huge multi floor establishment. We are seated at a large round table with the ubiquitous lazy susan. Plates of sautйed vegetables, spicy lamb skewers, curry, and crisp cucumber slices twirl around. We have a meat eater, Lian demands a spicy lamb skewer (via emphatic pointing) and gnaws on it through out lunch. Steamer after steamer of dumplings arrive. The chicken and duck are formed to look like birds. There are the usual pork, vegetable and shrimp, and unusual; walnut and one that tastes just like peanut butter and honey. The waitresses keep shuffling the dumplings into one steamer as new plates arrive, making keeping track of the contents like following a shell game. The finale is soup with miniature dumplings, cooked on a flaming burner at the table, though none of us can eat anything more. The waitress dishes it out and tells us that the number of dumplings in your bowl reflects what kind of luck you are going to have. I get one. We leave the table a shambles and head out for the plaza, intending to explore the Muslim Quarter. Lela and Will, the Littles 5-year-old have now hit it off. They jointly clamor for kites and water pets, a squishy ball that flattens out and resumes shape when tossed on a smooth surface. They are tossed on the sidewalk and quickly develop leaks. Sherry gets a phone call and looks panicked. She needs to go to pick up our children’s passports – but they want to see our paperwork, which is in the checked luggage. We end up all rushing back to the hotel, where we take over the lobby. Lela and Will invent games, discuss scary movies, and terrorize the staff. The bus arrives at 4:30 and is piled high with our luggage. Sherry arrives with the passports – the paperwork request was nothing, just because Lian is not from Xi’an. We all pile in and off to the airport. Once we clear the city the highway is open and we get there in under an hour. Sherry masterminds our check in and it goes smoothly – and we’ve managed our weight limit. But our strollers are checked here. In the next line a very loud altercation is going on. Security runs our carry on twice due to a mysterious round object, and we are off to the gate.
We prove to be a traveling side show, with 6 adults, blond teen and 5-year-old boys, 2 Chinese boys, and 2 Chinese girls. People are standing in their seats to look at us, clearly working hard to assign children to parents. We visit the airport gift and snack shop – you can buy same sets of the Terra –cotta warriors sets for 30 and 40 RMB, so wait until you’re past the check in. Mn’M’s for Lela and a much needed Coke for Moi. Jack finds chocolate Terra-cotta warriors. A huge mob is waiting by the gate, clearly they don’t check in by rows – but we do have assigned seats at least. 7:30 comes and goes. Finally at 8 we board, shoving our way through the crowd. They take away our suitcase carry-ons, leaving us backpacks and purses. Oh well. I am in a row of three between Lela and Lian. Jamie, lucky SOB, is across the aisle. We lift off only an hour late – our 9:20 arrival is now 10 something. As we lift off we can make out the rectangle of the city wall, lit up at night. For a short flight they serve a full dinner, noodles and veg. with chicken, which I have to pick our for Lela, rounded out with pickled tomatoes? roll, sponge cake, and cherry tomatoes. Lian as usual, eats with gusto. Trying to manage three trays and demands on both side means I don’t eat much. Lian is playing with her bag of toys, but unhappy that the tiny fan has quit working. Lift off doesn’t bother her, but she starts to cry on decent. Luckily Michelle one row ahead has ear numbing drops, which work fast. Lela falls asleep ten minutes before arrival as is her custom. We are all the last off the plane. Lela announces she has to go, and facing a quarter mile of walk ways with no WC signs visible, I take her behind a kiosk. Someone will have to mop it up. We claim our many bags and wheel out.
No one appears to be waiting until a very stylish woman approaches. It is Connie our new guide. Clutching a sign is clearly beneath her. She has been described as a high-heeled woman and even so I am not prepared for her splendor. Correct garb for picking up grubby adopters at the airport at night is full make up, subtly highlighted curls, flowing white pants and jeweled top, with strappy heels. She effortlessly snags a family that came in on another flight and shepherds us to the bus. On board we get a quick run down of the week’s line up, and speed into Guangzhou. The Victory is the first stop, so we and the Littles extract ourselves, get checked in and head up. Our room it a T shape and has two slightly bigger than twin bed, a roll away cot and crib, leaving not a lot of floor space. Jutting off the bedroom is a small room with desk and chairs. By the time we are settled snug in our beds (which are soft, unlike the White Swan which for a luxury hotel has beds like rocks) it is midnight.