Slow start to Monday morning.

Monday, April 10, 2006, 10:44 a.m.
Four days until Pam, Camryn and I return home.

By Terry R. Cassreino

GUANGZHOU, China - It's off to the city for us after a late breakfast.
Plans today call for walking around White Swan Hotel, visiting the shops that dot Shaiman Island where the hotel is and then returning to the hotel before Camryn's required doctor's appointment. Our group of families with Holt International Children's Services also is planning agroup dinner.
I'll have a little more substance to report later in the day - along with some new photos.
Until then, a few things of note:

• The White Swan is magnificent, with a waterfall in the lobby, another in the pool, a spectacular view of the Pearl River and air conditioning that works. But the bed. It's like sleeping on a piece of concrete. I've never had a firmer bed. I had to complain Sunday. So the staff replaced the solid rock with a piece of light foam on top of the solid rock.
• The hotel has tons of shops - but all of them are overpriced. The stores that dot the island also are overpriced, so you have to bargain. If you don't like their price, start to walk away and eventually they'll come around. They will fuss and complain, but most times they'll come around. And if they don't, there's another shop next door.
• Down the block from the hotel is Lucy's, an American restaurant with American food. So if you are in the country for an extended period of time and long for pasta or pizza or a hamburger, this is the place. A few people in our group couldn't wait to eat here because they detest Chinese food.

Photo gallery from Guangzhou

Sunday, April 9, 2006, 11:26 p.m.
Five days until Pam, Camryn and I return home.

GUANGZHOU, China - Our Sunday in Guangzhou was a little laid-back considering our full day of travel the day before. We nevertheless managed to take in shopping at the jade and pearl market, as well as a few personal moments with Camryn. Here’s a look at Sunday in 10 of the many pictures we snapped. - Terry R. Cassreino

PHOTO 1
We arrived outside the jade and pearl market in Guangzhou at about 10:30 a.m.; believe me, this was nothing spectacular. I’d rather have spent the day pulling a staple out of my foot. And the funny thing about it - no, make that the strange thing about it - Pam agreed. I guess she had no product labels to read.









PHOTO 2
Pam and I did stumble on a Buddhist temple. This was a serene, peaceful part of the city amid the hustle-and-bustle of the rest of Guangzhou.













PHOTO 3
Just outside the temple was this scene of mad shopping. People were everywhere. Shops lined the streets. People sat outside. People bought stuff. Tons of stuff. Stuff they don’t need. We, however, didn’t buy stuff. We didn’t like the stuff we saw. So we went back to the hotel stuff-less. And then we bought our own stuff at other stores later in the day. We liked that stuff.










PHOTO 4
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, er, the hotel, a hungry Camryn eats - no, make that wolfs down - a huge bowl of noodles. Camryn has been crowned the Noodle Queen. Besides Tsing Tao beer, this kid can’t stop eating noodles. Any kind of noodles. Boiled noodles. Syrup-covered noodles. Chocolate-covered noodles. And, of course, the ever popular fried noodles with onions, chicken, pork and beef.







PHOTO 5
We just happened to run into this bride and her father, whose wedding was Sunday at the White Swan Hotel where we are staying. Minutes after this photo was snapped, Pam, Camryn and I crashed the reception. We had a blast. And when the bride’s family asked who we were with, I turned to Pam and then back to the hostess and told them I was the groom’s cousin from the United States. Everything went fine until the Hava Nagila, when I helped lift the bride and she fell into the hotel pool.












PHOTO 6
After the wedding, Pam, Camryn and I snuck out to the lobby of the White Swan Hotel to snap this photo - complete with the indoor waterfall in the background. This is a spectacular hotel.

















PHOTO 7
After that, we snuck up into the hotel room - where Camryn sat on the bed and excitedly looked around the corner of the wall waiting for me. I was on the other side teasing her with as giant 10-gallon barrel full of KFC teriyaki chicken and Tsing Tao beer, her favorites. I even got Col. Sanders to stop by.










PHOTO 8
Here, Camryn laughs her butt off while watching an episode of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” dubbed in Chinese. I think she was watching “The Lumberjack Song,” you know “I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK. I work all night and sleep all day. I dress in women’s clothing and hang around in bars.”









PHOTO 9
Here is a look inside one of the many shops that line the street near the hotel. Tons and tons and tons of stuff for sale. A lot of stuff. A hell of a lot of stuff.


















PHOTO 10
Exhausted and drained from a full day in town, Camryn fell fast asleep - just like any baby.












Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Pirated DVDs thrive in Chinese market

Sunday, April 9, 2006, 10:16 p.m.
Five days until Pam, Camryn and I return home.

By Terry R. Cassreino

GUANGZHOU, China - Movie pirating runs rampant in China.
Despite strong efforts by the Motion Picture Association of America and others, bootleg copies of major Hollywood productions can be found just about anywhere here.
We saw it in Beijing and Nanchang; we saw it again in Guangzhou.
If you play just about any new legal DVD you buy in the United States, you likely will see a public service announcement warning people about pirated films.
Buying bootleg movies is a crime, the ad says.
Apparently, though, not in China.
A trip to a video store today in Guangzhou found copies of such current box office hits as “The Pink Panther,” “V for Vendetta,” “Basic Instinct 2” and Spike Lee’s latest “Inside Man.”
“Basic Instinct 2” opened March 31 while “Inside Man” opened March 24. Those and other recent Hollywood films sell here for the equivalent of about $1.50 each.
That’s not all. The store I visited, as well as such established high-profile stores like Wal-Mart, sold what looked like bootleg copies of major Walt Disney features.
In fact, you can find a package of DVDs at the Wal-Mart in Nanchang and Beijing that includes copies of Walt Disney films that are obviously not Walt Disney films.
One DVD I saw in China was a collection of Tom & Jerry theatrical cartoons. The box was labeled as a Disney DVD; everyone knows Tom & Jerry is an MGM cartoon.
Here’s another interesting tidbit: In Guangzhou, you can buy a multi-DVD set featuring the entire second season of “Lost” even though it hasn’t fully aired in the United States. You can also buy one entire box set of seasons 1-6 of “Seinfeld.”
Some of the pirated Hollywood DVDS had the wrong film credits on the backside of the case.
For example, a movie like “Brokeback Mountain” might list Danny DeVito as director. Taiwan native Ang Lee won the Oscar as director of the film.
But no one seems to care over here. And as long as people keep burning DVDs of pirated movies - some of whose quality is near perfect - I guess people will buy them.
And just in case you are wondering: I refuse to support the pirated DVD market. Pirated or bootlegged DVDs, whatever you call it, is wrong. It’s the same as stealing.


Shopping in Guangzhou

We took a trip to the jade and pearl market in Guangzhou today, where rows and rows of shops offered just about anything you would ever want to buy in the way of jewelry.
In fact, it looked like I was back in New Orleans at one of the Mardi Gras supply stores buying throws for the Krewe of Endymion.
But to be perfectly frank, Pam and I were not impressed. Both of us were bored beyond belief by the same, repetitious offerings at each booth.
We much preferred to hang around the hotel and shop at any of the street-side boutiques that sell knick-knacks, souvenirs and some great, high-quality Chinese clothing.

Paperwork moves forward

We completed almost all of the paperwork for Camryn’s visa application today, including snapping her photo at a local instant photo shop.
On Monday, we have a free morning to explore Shaiman Island - the section of Guangzhou where we are staying. Then it’s off to the doctor’s office for Camryn's official medical exam.
We plan to video tape and photograph her examination.
And then we head to a dim sum restaurant for a group dinner. Again, don’t ask me where we are going because I don’t speak or read Chinese very well and I simply don’t know.
On Tuesday, we will visit the Six Banyans Buddhist Temple in Guangzhou. Pam and I visited a Buddhist temple today near the jade and pearl market.
It was a quick, fascinating visit. The folks there even allowed us to take a photo of one of the statues. I’ll let you know Tuesday if this was the same temple as Six Banyans.

Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

Guangzhou restaurant ranks high

Saturday, April 8, 2006, 11:19 p.m.

By Terry R. Cassreino

GUANGZHOU, China - The final leg of our adoption journey began tonight - and we started it off in style with a trip to an incredible Cantonese restaurant.
Our dinner at the Litchi Wan Restaurant ranked among the best since Pam and I arrived in China way back on March 28. While Cantonese food is not spicy, the dishes we had were perfect.
We started with fried pork and ginger. Then came the vegetables in brown gravy, followed by fried noodles with beef, pork and chicken and ending with sweet potato pancakes.
And, of course, Camryn enjoyed the fried noodles along with her own dish - a bowl of what looked like 10 gallons of congee. Whatever it was, she ate most of it.
Camryn had a good day. She was a bit cranky at the airport and still won’t let go of Pam, but she enjoyed her night out with mom and dad as well as her noodles and congee.
Seafood is the specialty in this city as well as at the Litchi Wan. Tanks of fresh, live seafood greet customers as they enter the restaurant.
Hungry for fish? They have some of the biggest you’ve ever seen. How about a lobster? They have a 15-foot one out front. Feel like eating water bugs? They have them, too.
Now, don’t ask how they prepare water bugs because I don’t know. I didn’t order any tonight and the wait staff didn’t know enough English to understand my questions.
But this really was a great restaurant - and just a short walk from the White Swan Hotel (right next to the 7-11 store, yes, the 7-11 store).

Large city

Guangzhou is much bigger than Nanchang. This city’s 12 million people swells its streets, giving us almost a one-hour ride from the airport all the way to the hotel.
The photo on the left is an aerial shot of the outskirts of the city from our jet.
Like Beijing, traffic here is almost at a standstill in places. And also like Beijing, they have tons of restaurants almost everywhere you look serving just about anything you want.
And if you get the urge to eat American, then stop in at McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
In fact, if I understood our tour guide correctly, greater Guangzhou has three Sarbuck's, 650 McDonald’s and 1,500 KFC. Chinese , she said, eat there for special occasions because the food tends to be pricey.
For us, I think we’ll stick to Chinese food. If I want fried chicken, I can wait until I get home. If I’m in China, then I’m eating real, authentic Chinese food.

City highways

The elevated expressways in this city often have just two-lanes of traffic going both ways. And they are all over town, helping move traffic in this sprawling city.
Of special note: The elevated highways seem to pass within inches of towering apartment complexes. At times, it looked like we could reach out the window our tour bus and touch the buildings.

Hotel room

Our White Swan Hotel room is the nicest since Beijing.
We have two double beds, a fully stocked wet bar, a baby crib and a spectacular view overlooking a river whose name I can’t pronounce because I don’t read Chinese.
But trust me, folks, this is beautiful. I don’t have any pictures tonight, so I’ll try to take some of the view and post them on Sunday.
Shopping also looks to be quite impressive here. Shops line the streets outside our hotel; many of them cater to the large number of adoptive families who stay here.

Happening today

On today’s agenda, we head to the Jade Market this morning before working hard and heavy on paperwork this afternoon for our baby’s visa.
Everything is still on track for us to get the visa Wednesday and then take the train to Hong Kong, where we will spend Thursday before heading home on Friday.

Camryn news

By the way, it looks like Camryn is a lefty. She tends to favor her left hand over her right for almost everything, including eating, grabbing objects and anything else major.
She uses her right hand. But she does favor her left for just about anything major.

Photos and text copyright 2006 by Terry R. Cassreino.

We have arrived in Guangzhou

Saturday, April 8, 2006, 7:35 p.m.




GUANGZHOU, China - We have arrived in Guangzhou.
Our South China airline flight touched down at the Guangzhou airport at about 5 p.m. today and we just arrived at the White Swan Hotel. The photo on the leftt is of Pam and Camryn at the baggage claim area at the airport.
We are hungry and plan to go to a Chinese restaurant across the street, so I’ll keep this posting brief. We just wanted to let everyone know we are here.
So, check back in about three to four hours for a full posting - including a story about my massage last night at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang.
Unil then, I've added one more photo. This one is of the view I had from the window seat aboard that nasty little South China flight we took.
- Terry R. Cassreino