It is Saturday early evening as we send you greetings from smog free (sorta) and steamy Guangzhou.
We arrived here late last night after taking Jin on his very first flight. He did great, though a wiggle worm. It was very uneventful which is a very good thing indeed. The entire flight he entertained himself with the airline headset and switched to each and every music style possible. It was comical to watch too. He also enjoyed "reading" the daily newspaper and emergency response cards found in the seat pockets. He truly enjoys perusing magazines and newspapers.
Our last day in Lanzhou was very good....that being said, we are glad to have that part behind us. I think we now have some feeling of what it must be like to be a person who is looked down upon, or stared at. As Adele said at dinner, there is a part of this trip that has broken a prideful part within us and made us more humble.
We enjoyed our final breakfast in the hotel dining room and packed up our belongings to then meet Sally at 1:15 to check out and enjoy a meal with her. She took us to a local restaurant called The Red Earth. We were in a for a treat! Sally ordered some local yummies. We had cold sliced chicken, the bone in along with the visibly uncooked skin with goose bumps, we politely ate a piece and then allowed Jin and Sally to finish this, a plate of various blanched mushrooms tossed in sesame oil and fantastic dumplings. The dumplings were stuffed with assorted meats, carrots and some even had fruit. Then the most beautiful part of the lunch event came out! Please see the picture of the local spring traditional lunch.
It was a beautifully ornate brass pot (dragons over it) with an alcohol burner. In the pot were all sorts of "things" including, leeks, potatoes, potato noodles, seaweed, balls of fish, sausage, other meats, vegetables, sea cucumbers (long black, slimy sea creatures), honey dew melon and more. It was truly something different! That's all I have to say about that...
After lunch we went back to the "relic" market where we went earlier. We had ordered name chops, blocks of stone with the boys' names carved in them. we watched the artists carve these with a hammer and chisel. Extraordinary! At a tea shop we bought several items and the proprietor insisted we sit and enjoy the tea ceremony, which we did. A photo is included. As tea is such a significant part of the culture it was interesting to have her explain that on the table were several small clay animals and such that she poured tea on, for good luck, blessings, etc.
Our tea hostess. She served us black tea which she bought especially for herself.
It is such people as this nice lady who was excited to share her culture, Sally and Susan, our guides who have taught us well and cared for us, and other kind people along the way who have really made this trip a blessing...
As Jin would say, "WOW!!!"
Sally, our guide, bought Jin a treat from a street vendor, which is pictured. It was something like candied crab apples on a stick, rolled in sesame seeds. It was called tang hu lu, the fruit called shan zha, very tart little apples. Jin licked the candy off; did not like the candy. Last night on the plane our dinner came with a bowl of four little "apples" about the size of a pecan in the shell, I think they might be called haws haws. No taste.
We returned to the Lanzhou airport through the Red Mountains that struck us so fascinating earlier. The clay from these mountains is used to make bricks so it was of interest to see the people making a living by making bricks out of this foreboding landscape.
A view of the Red Mountains from our van
Are we there yet?
We made it to Guangzhou last night near midnight. The others in our travel group arrived earlier so it was nice to meet back up with them at breakfast and meet their little china doll daughters, ages 2 and 6. Beautiful, sweet girls with dark hair and bright black eyes. We (Jin, Adele and Clint) were all wound up so it took a while before we crashed. We must say, the room at the China Hotel (Marriott) is very plush and the hot shower was very welcome. Of course we then felt bad about being spoiled westerners. This afternoon when Jin "discovered" the big, deep bathtub he took off his clothes and asked for a bath! He loved playing in it for about 20 minutes.
Hearing Test
This morning required us to go to a medical facility of exams. Here we met many other American families who were also adopting. We three families somehow thought our children looked brighter and healthier... It was quite the spectacle with all the crying, squirming children being shuttled from exam room to exam room. Mike Kellam, member of our travel group, is a doctor so it has been interesting to have him explain certain medical things to us. We noted the exams were done without gloves! 
Well, after all that we had cheeseburgers and fries at Lucy's, a staple of the adoption scene. It is an American style restaurant decorated in movie posters and American license plates! This meal was included in our package. A cheeseburger never tasted so good. The exam and Lucy's is located on Shamain Island and it is here we do all of our shopping. Today we bought 5 traditional silk costumes for the boys, in various sizes and colors. They were five for 200 yuan, which is about 5 bucks each outfit. Tomorrow, after church, we will have more time to shop. All the treasures of China right here at our finger tips! :)
One other note about people, tonight our hotel was host to a grand and elaborate wedding party with hundreds of people filling the lobby and fresh roses by the bushel. We understand it was a Chinese movie star. We saw her; she was stunning. Last night we saw on TV the State Funeral of a the man who was known as the Father of the Chinese space program. Sally was telling us that her father in law is a retired interpreter. During Mao's Cultural Revolution, as an academic, he was imprisoned for 10 years. These run-ins have shown us we are very blessed to be having such educational experiences and is giving us a greater appreciation for the great Chinese people.
My 1st bubble bath- bubbles are great!
As we get ready for bed with Jin in his Buzz Lightyear pjs, we thank you for your prayers and huge well wishes! Jin did great with the doctors and we return Monday to have his TB test read. Please pray all the children, in our group- 3, are TB free as we look towards flying home very soon. The Lord is great and greatly He should be praised for his enduring love and protection. Know we miss all of you and look forward to returning to Nashvegas soon.
Love,
The Holloways
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