Last look at Guiyang

Last view of the landscape through the airport window

It was sad to leave Guiyang - the capital city of Trace's province. We are leaving without ever having a chance to se the place where he was left by his birth mother...Hopefully someday we will go back and find it. It was 5+ hours from our hotel and there was not time to go. I am disappointed for him. The day we visited the place where Tian was left was a hard for her at 13 months as it was outside the orphange ..memories for babies are stronger than we realize, so perhaps it is best - it may have stirred up a lot for him especially after having such a loving foster mother...



On we headed to Guangzhou - a city in mainland China just across from Hong Kong. We, along with MANY other adoptive families, stayed atthe beautiful White Swan hotel. The picture is in front of a Koi pond/waterfall that adjoins the dining area. Trace was determined to throw rocks into the water everyday and Tian figured if he could do it - she wasn't about to miss out on the fun. It makes the breakfast so much fun :o)



In Guangzhou we were able to visit the Chen family gardens and school - a fitting place to see as Trace's last name assigned to him was Chen. It was built by this family as a school for all Chen children where the family supported it by donation and the children were educated free. In the '50's, during the Cultural Revolution,the land was taken by the government and the area is now a museum... the details in the architecture are characteristically detailed and the gardens breathtaking. The pictures show the entrance decorated for New Year