MADISON, Miss. (Monday, Dec. 29, 2008, 6:35 p.m.) – After receiving some feedback on an earlier post about my thoughts and experiences on our China adoption trip, I thought I’d share a few more observations.
These may serve to amplify or clarify my earlier thoughts.
China safety: For the most part, China is a relatively safe country. Pam and I felt safe enough to walk freely to different areas of Beijing, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou during our adoption trip this month; we did the same during our adoption trip in March and April 2006.
The people of China are proud, welcoming folks who genuinely love to visit with Americans. They love to practice their broken English as much as I enjoyed trying the little Mandarin I knew and could speak like a native.
In every city we visited, Pam and I felt comfortable enough to take a taxi just about anywhere. And we freely ate at Chinese restaurants, ordering from the menu despite our inability to speak fluent Mandarin.
Travel unease: This year’s trip fell days after the terrorist attacks in India, which led to a lot of unease on my part. I wasn’t comfortable traveling by air as long as we did (23 hours to China, 33 hours back to the United States).
To be honest, I would have felt the same way regardless of the terrorist attacks. I just don’t like to fly for any reason. Period. Exclamation point.
Once in China, Pam and I were by ourselves for the bulk of our trip. In 206, we were part of a larger group of adoptive parents (30 total, including 10 who traveled with us to Jiangxi province). So whatever we did this time around we did it by ourselves.
That didn’t necessarily mean the trip was horrible. I just would have preferred to be part of a larger group of adoptive parents who could have shared experiences.
Chinese culture: Pam and I made a conscious decision this trip to attempt to immerse ourselves more in Chinese daily culture than we did last time. In 2006, we took a few more organized tours.
This time, we took a tour to the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Peking Acrobats. Beyond that, we explored Beijing, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou on our own, seeing what its like to live day-to-day in the cities.
We visited large shopping districts, neighborhood markets, city parks and restaurants where no one spoke English and we were challenged to order food we liked. It was an adventure to say the least.
Hotel lodging: The Novotel Peace Hotel in Beijing was nice, centrally located, had a good breakfast buffet (included with our room), but an overpriced and not very good dinner buffet. The price was about $150 a night.
The Crowne Plaza in Zhengzhou was spectacular: A beautifully decorated hotel with nice rooms and a comfortable bed. The breakfast buffet (included with the room price) and the dinner buffet ( Brazilian barbecue) was excellent at about $30 a person. The price was about $150 a night.
The White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou was also very good, even though the bed felt like a rock. The breakfast buffet (included with the room price) was good, but the dinner buffet was awful and severely overpriced at more than $50 a person. The price was about $150 a night.
Trip expense: If you’re wondering about the cost for travel to China, here is a quick rundown – about $3,000 to $3,500 for round-trip air fare from the United States to China; about $5,000 for hotel and in-country airfare in China; about $50 a day in expenses per person.
I think Pam and I got by with less than $50 total per day. We usually ate a nice breakfast at the hotel and then ate a nice dinner at a local restaurant, where two could eat good for less than $20 total. Hotel meals will cost significantly more.
I hope this helps give you a better idea about our trip. Like Holt International Children’s Services told us, every adoption trip is different: The children are different, the circumstances are different, the situation is different.
Pam and I traveled to China with sinus infections that worsened rather than improved. And we were in Beijing and Zhengzhou during bitterly cold, miserable winter weather. I’m sure that contributed to the overall feel of our trip.
Don’t let that change your mind.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
