Historic pagoda highlights Friday slate

Friday, April 7, 2006, 7:20 a.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - I don’t know what it is about these beds in this hotel room, but it’s like sleeping on a rock.
Couple the fact that the beds are hard as hell with a so-so air conditioning system and you get so-so sleep through the night.
Yes, that’s right. The air conditioning still isn’t right. It’s slightly cool in here, but not cold. No one seems to be able to fix it.
On tap for today is a tour of an historic pagoda, the Tengwan Pavilion, not too far from our hotel on the banks of the Gan River. The building is beautiful.
The pavilion was built in the Tang Dynasty when Prince Tengwang - the younger brother of Taizong Emperor - governed what is present day Nanchang.
Also today, Holt families will take their children to have their passport photos made.
We are expected to receive their passports today, the last step before heading to Guangzhou on Saturday to start the paperwork for their U.S. entry.
And tonight, it’s off to the East Restaurant for one last group dinner in Nanchang.
If time permits, Pam and I hope to take the baby shopping for one last time to dowtown Nanchang. That, however, depends on the timing of everything else.

Copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino. Photo courtesy of the Gloria Plaza Hotel.

Photo gallery from Thursday’s events

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 9:49 p.m.

NANCHANG, China - Holt International Children’s Services and Lotus Travel provided families adopting Chinese children a treat Thursday: A trip to a rural village.
I already talked about the trip at length in an earlier post. Here, you can see a selection of 12 of the many photographs we took on the morning trip. I’m no professional photographer, but these still will give you an idea of what we saw.
I also added a few extra snapshots from our group dinner Thursday night at the East Restaurant in Nanchang, the same restaurant where we ate as a group the night before.

- Terry R. Cassreino

PHOTO 1
Pam stands outside the entrance to Liu Tian, a rural village our group from Holt visited Thursday morning. Camryn is bundled because the weather turned cool and we didn’t want the grandma police in the village fussing at us about how underdressed Camryn was. Actually, those ladies I kid about are sweet and mean well. They are simply concerned about the health of the children they see.














PHOTO 2
This scenic shot shows a man from the village working in the rice fields. In the distance is the Mei Ling Mountains. Many workers use water buffalo to help plow the land.












PHOTO 3
The walkways of the Liu Tian village are narrow and create a confusing maze. If you break away from your tour group, you probably will get lost. Along the walkway are entrances to residences, small businesses and a restaurant. The 1,200-year-old village is home to residents with the same family name of Huang. About 1,000 people live in the village, which also features its own elementary school.














PHOTO 4
This village resident was shelling peanuts for use in home cooking. The strong aroma of wood-burning stoves filled the air of the village when we arrived early in the morning.


















PHOTO 5
This resident was preparing rice plants for the fields.














PHOTO 6
Camryn, Mom and Papa pose in front of a wall hanging in the residence of one of the village’s residents. This home was built 1,200 years ago and is furnished with antiques dating back many years. I’m not sure the significance of the wall hanging, but was struck by its simplicity and beauty. It is typical of the artwork in homes throughout the village.









PHOTO 7
Pam and Camryn pose outside. If you look hard enough, you can see the faint outlines of the Mei Ling Mountains in the background.

















PHOTO 8
This is admittedly not the greatest photo. But the subject is interesting: A restaurant in the village that features wooden tables and a selection of meats - ducks and chickens - hanging from a string across the dining room. We didn’t eat there; I’d be too afraid to do so. For some reason, I just find it fascinating that the village has its own restaurant. The menu was in chalk on a board outside the door. Unfortunately it was in Mandarin, so I don’t know what they serve or the cost.





PHOTO 9
Back in Nanchang, I took a walk down the street from the hotel and found this gentleman trying to sell me one of the four live turtles he had in two net bags at his feet. The turtles are used for turtle soup; some restaurants serve the turtle shell fried as an entrée. I declined the man’s offer.









PHOTO 10
Here, our tour guide from Lotus Travel, left, chooses dishes for our group dinner Thursday night at the East Restaurant. I’m telling you: It was the best meal Pam and I had so far on our trip. Great taste, great seasoning and authentic Chinese food. I think we are going back on Friday night for one more group dinner before we leave town Saturday.








PHOTO 11
Nothing special here. I just thought Camryn looked cute in this photo as she waited for a 26-ounce prime rib Chinese-style I ordered for her. She was hungry.













PHOTO 12
Here, Pam plays the mommy role and Camryn plays the baby role as mommy feeds the baby soup at the restaurant. Camryn insisted on the role playing before we left for dinner. I don’t know what it is, but these two are always playing the same game.







Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

We have air conditioning

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 8:39 p.m.

NANCHANG, China - We have air conditioning. After returning to the Gloria Plaza Hotel after dinner at East Restaurant, we found we had air conditioning - at least for the time being. We hope it lasts through the night. I guess we’ll see.

- Terry R. Cassreino

Camryn smiles, but continues to grieve

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 7:55 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - Camryn smiled today.
We were eating at the East Restaurant - the same restaurant where we ate on Wednesday night - when our tour guide from Lotus Travel starting playing with Camryn.
Camryn laughed and beamed a huge smile.
It may seem trivial, but you’ve got to remember what this baby has been through: She has lived for nearly a year in an orphanage and has been grieving the loss of her caregiver.
Camryn has had periods of crying fits in which she seldom stopped. She’ll often calm down in Pam’s presence, but just as often go ballistic in mine.
Things should get easier as soon as she and the other babies get over their loss and settle into their new lives.



Nanchang construction

High above the streets of Nanchang are crews constructing new buildings in this thriving city of 4 million.
And all of them work on scaffolding made of bamboo.
This was evident throughout Beijing. But I didn’t notice it until I took a late afternoon walk today by myself down the block from the hotel, passing by a booming retail area.
While not quite as impressive as the shops that surround the People’s Square in downtown Nanchang, this small commercial strip is just as busy.
Another interesting tidbit: Most businesses are located on the floor level of towering apartment complexes.

Public displays

One thing I’ve noticed unique to the Chinese - and, from what I’ve heard, European - culture is the public affection friends often show each other.
You can go anywhere in Beijing and Nanchang and see women friends walking hand-in-hand with each other and men walking with their arms draped around each other‘s shoulder.
Chances are good you won’t find that in the United States. If you did, our homophobic culture and mindset would automatically lead us to assume those people were gay.
Wake up America: It’s OK to show your feelings to people of the same sex. You don’t have to be gay if you tell a close friend how you feel.

Public transit

Like Beijing, Nanchang has an extensive public transit system.
Besides taxis that appear to be less expensive than the ones in Beijing, this city has an enormous number of buses.
And some are run by electricity supplied by overhead power lines. These are similar to the trolley buses that used to run through many American cities in the 1960s.
I remember the Magazine Street line of trolley buses in New Orleans, not far from where my family lived in Uptown.


Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Life with air conditioning continues

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 3:51 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

NANCHANG, China - Thank God the weather cooled and the humidity is low because we still have no air conditioning in our hotel room - and may not before we leave here on Saturday.
The air conditioning went out two nights ago.
And even though I have complained to the front desk, I don't think they understand English well enough to understand that Pam, Camryn and I are uncomfortably hot in our hotel room. I certainly don't know enough Mandarin to explain it so they understand.
Oh well, such is life. We did make a bit of headway with our problem: The front desk set us a fan to help cool the room. A fan. Hmmm. That should help lower the temperature of our room by a degree or two.
I guess we should be happy we aren't stuck in a hotel without air conditioning in the dead of summer in New Orleans.

Copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.