guizhou

We flew into Guiyang, Guizhou on Sunday, with only a little time to rest before heading over to the Welfare Center to meet our son!

Hotel room view

We were the only family, as most meet their children on Mondays, but we had decided to visit his orphanage, which bumped everything up by one day. Everyone was a bit reserved--Chip and I by nature, and T because when something's new, he just takes everything in before reacting*.

Then we started a flurry of paperwork (yes. more.) and then began what is known as the harmonious period. You get one night to make sure you're sure about your match, and we had no qualms about moving forward.

That's our guide, Jerry!

More paperwork on Monday, along with photos and presentations of gifts. 

Our guide took us to Walmart** so we could buy formula and a few snacks. Then we were left to our own devices, meaning we needed to figure out where to go to eat on our own! Our guide was quite worried we'd end up with super spicy food, as that's what the region is known for, which I've alluded to before. But our dining experience was successful (and delicious).

Tuesday was a trip to the orphanage, where we met T's first family and toured the facility. His foster family has rooms at the orphanage, so we got a glimpse of what was available for the orphans. All the nannies poured out to say goodbye to T one last time, and I was quite glad we made the trip over. We had lunch at a local restaurant, where I noticed our chicken dish definitely contained the feet...

A small portion of the nannies who came to see T.

The next couple of days was filled with local touring and working on paperwork. 

Educational Pavilion

Sculpture honoring the minority people groups

Chip's are spicy... mine are not.

We received word that we needed to be to Guangzhou a day early for a blood test, so T actually had to fly without his passport--our guide was super helpful with all our paperwork and making sure ducks were in order, especially with the sudden change in schedule.

After a slight problem at the airport with Chip's passport number (he had to renew his before we left, but somehow that didn't get transferred to his Chinese tickets...), we were boarded and headed off south for our last full stop in China.




*As we know now...  :smirk:
**In a lot of ways, very much like the Walmarts of America. In others, quite unique to China.