The Final Stretch

All day Monday along with Tuesday morning provided yet more opportunities for shopping and looking around in Guangzhou, including walking through the Qing Ping Market, where an interesting array of live animals can be found, some of which are intended for pets, but many of which are to be consumed. I'm not sure about the line between these, so I believe in the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in this case. We saw snakes, scorpions, turtles, puppies, and a wide array of fish.

Lily now has more shoes than Imelda Marcos, but the investment must have been immeasurably lower for Lily's new inventory. We also visited the local jade market, which is shop after shop for several city blocks. The hard part is knowing which shop to choose, since the only communication is a tiny bit of English (hello/goodbye level) from some of the shop keepers, and the standard calculator passed back and forth to enter prices for negotiation. You can't really ask about the grade of the product or any details about what you're buying, which makes it an adventure to say the least.

Tuesday afternoon (that's today) we did the final bit of "official business" we needed to return to the US with Lily: we went to the US Consulate and got back Lily's passport (it's a Chinese passport) with the US Visa now added to it, and also received the famed "brown packet" which has the further paperwork needed to enter the US. We took an oath en masse with probably 100 or so other adoptive parents, and that was it.

So, this is the last entry during our trip to China. Tomorrow evening, we will leave Guangzhou headed for home. Overall we've had a great time, but we're also ready to get home and settle in to a more normal existence for awhile. Here are a couple more photos for good measure.

Feeding Mom a Cheerio

Beautiful Park on Sha Mian Island

That's a San Miguel Label You've Never Seen Before

Night Life on Xia Jiu Road

Soliloquizing? (or Wants Something from Mom)