Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Jim, Vickie, Amber, Anagrace and Austin!
Please email us.......
March 7, 2006
Hello all!
After our trip to the orphanage yesterday we had lunch with Director Lin and both of her staff. The food was excellent and we had such a good time just being able to relax and socialize and not talk business. Afterwards, they dropped us off back at our hotel and we said our goodbyes.
We went to our rooms, grabbed our packed bags and we were off for the airport to head to Guilin for the next leg of our journey. Guilin is the home city of our friend and guide and we were anxious to travel there. We have been told that it is one of the most beautiful cities in China, and needless to say, we were not disappointed. The city is surrounded by mountains and literally sits at the base of them.
We spent the day going thru a lot of the shops and just trying to relax after such an emotional and exhausting day from the orphanage visit. Of course, Amber made the bulk of the purchases, and she seemed to really enjoy herself.
After we were finished shopping we had another wonderful meal. On our first trip over we were very conservative, eating mostly noodles,pasta, and american style food. We decided that we were going to get daring this trip and try a lot of different types of food and it has really added a different spin to our trip. The food is amazing and is all so fresh tasting. Of course Amber loves all of the breads as they are made on site, fresh daily.
We then headed back to the room and took a few hours to rest and re-group. We then headed out to go to our friends home. Her entire family had prepared a large meal for us and were awaiting our arrival. They live just a few minutes outside of the city in a development of homes. The government had decided that they wanted the land up and down a part of the river to develop for tourism, so they told the people that they had to move. They were given two options, either another home in a different section of the city or the $ to purchase land and build another home where ever they chose. So they family moved outside the city and by built a home (actually it was more like a condo). The home was 3 floors and living there was our friend and her daughter, her older brother who is single, and her father and step-mother. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of space that they had. All of their floors and stairs were made of marble, the home itself was very cool because they do not have heating--uses too much electricity. They had a back yard with a beautiful fish pond. But the thing that surprised me the most was their pets. They had a dog, a cat, and lots of fish. This goes against everything that I've ever read about the Chinese people. It really was great to see Chinese life first hand. The entire family, including both of the brothers, the sister-n-law and the parents all worked in the kitchen preparing the food. The table was completely filled and there was barely room for our plates once everything was put on the table. It all was very good and the family was so proud to be able to open their homes to us. Afterwards we gave them a few gift to show our appreciation for their hospitality and then left for the theatre show that we were going to.
The city is completely lit up at night and would put Las Vegas to shame--very, very beautiful. When we pulled up to the theatre there were several hostesses that came running up to our vehicle. Come to find out they were told that Westerners were coming to their theatre that night to watch their show and they were running out to greet us. We felt like a movie star rolling up to the red carpet. They escorted us into the theatre and took us down to the front row and put us in the middle seats--front and center! We are getting such a kick out of be such celebrities, it's really been fun and we're enjoying every moment of it. We have laughed so much together as a family, we are having such a good time together--just wish Anagrace were here to share it with us.
The show was a mixture of ballet, acrobatics, and dancing. It was very different than anything that we've ever watched. We hope that you enjoy the pictures.
Thank you all for your emails, they mean so much to us. Please keep them coming as they make us feel not so alone on the other side of the world.
