Touring Shanghai

After a pretty good rest, at the beautiful Park Hotel, we had a wonderful breakfast and went exploring. (The Park Hotel is one of the oldest, and at one time was the tallest building in Asia.) There was a public park across the street so we wandered over and saw people doing exercises like Tai Chi and playing badminton. It was very beautiful and relaxing. (Bill is watching it on TV as I type this as it is a big sport here.) Our guide picked us up at 9:00 a.m. and we headed to Yu Garden. Yu Garden was built over 400 years ago by an emperor from the Ming Dynasty. After that we went to a tea house and sampled 7 kinds of tea. The tea ceremony was very cool even if I don't drink tea. Apparently a new tea of the year comes out every April so a new one had just come out. After tea, we went to a silk company where they told us about the silk worm and showed us how silk is made. Pam got to help stretch some silk into a quilt. We also learned that there are two kinds of silk cocoons which are used to make thread and the other makes quilts. Then we took a relaxing cruise down the Pu River. It was by the Bund. It was warm but a nice breeze. Pam loves the weather but Bill is hot. After that we went to a shopping district which had restaurants too. It was too expensive for us. Then we went to a different airport and flew to Guangzhou. It was dark when we arrived.

We are in China

After a long flight, which was 14 hours from Chicago, we sat on the plane for 30 extra in. while they took everyone's temperature. Thank goodness everyone was healthy and we got off the plane. We met our guide right after we got our luggage and she spoke very good English. She took us to our hotel which is about an hour from PuDong International Airport. Our hotel was right downtown Shanghai. I felt like I was in New York City. We were so tired that we showered and went to bed early.

Zhongfu's Friend

I met a family online who are adopting an 8 year old boy from the same orphanage. I had the volunteer check and we found out that it is York, a boy who seems to be a friend of Zhongfu's. He will be adopted by a couple from Wisconsin so we hope to keep in contact. They are actually getting their son on May 4th, and we hope to see each other before they leave for home on the 14th. That is really exciting for us.

Travel Dates

Well, it has been exciting. We told everyone we were leaving on May 11th, and then I get an email that we need to be in Guangzhou on May 11th by noon. We will be getting our son that day. So, we will be flying out of Lansing on Friday morning May 8th and arrive in Shanghai on May 9th. We will stay overnight in Shanghai and get to see some sights there. The next afternoon we will fly to Guangzhou where we will stay until we leave on Wed. May 20th. We arrive home later on May 20th to Lansing airport. We have our Visa appointment on May 18th, which means we will pick up the last of the paperwork on May 19th before we fly home. I, Pam, has been sick so please pray for my health to improve before we go. Also, keep us all in your prayers as we travel. Also remember TJ and Tara who are staying home.

We have Travel Approval

Yeah!!! I got a call yesterday afternoon that we finally received our travel approval from China. We are so relieved. It looks like we will travel May 11th through the 21st. That will get us home 2 1/2 weeks before TJ's graduation. It will be hot in China, but since our weather has not been warm here I am looking forward to that. Depending on when our plane lands, we might get Drew on my birthday. I can't think of a better present. I will post our final dates soon.

He shall be called ...Drew

We have been struggling with an American name for Zhong Fu. We know that they gave him the English name of Harrison. We thought if he likes this name we could keep it, and he does. However, we got an email from Tammy, a volunteer, and we found out that Zhong Fu is his given birth name. The orphanage only changed his surname from Gao to Sun. So, Zhong Fu is important and we will keep that as his middle name. They also told us that a teacher at the orphanage picked the name Harrison and that he doesn't know a good American name from a bad one. They both suggested we pick a name that we like and give it to him and they will start calling him that. (We were also debating about selecting 3-4 names and letting him choose.) We also learned that it is common in China for them to choose an American name and then change it when they find one they like better. They didn't think it would be hard for him to adjust to a new name. We all agree that we like Drew, and looking at his picture I think this fits. We all will have to get used to it, but I hope Zhong Fu likes it. Overall, we don't really care what he is called as long as we can bring him home into our family soon.

One Step Closer

On Monday, March 9th, we received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) from China. This is the last document that we need to sign before we receive our travel invitation. We expect to hear within the month as to when we can travel. It was a little frustrating as we were supposed to get the letter on Friday, and we waited all day and Saturday too. We were a little worried, but all is well. Bill and I left work for lunch, met at home and signed the papers. I went and made a copy and took it directly to Fed. Ex. I also resent the package to Zhong Fu that came back to us from China. We hope he gets our package this week. I am sure he is anxious to see what his new family looks like.