All China adoption trips end up in Guangzhou because that is where the American Consulate office is located. We enjoyed Guangxi Province and getting acquainted with some of the history from the area where Issac was born, but it was time to move on at the end of the week. Driving to the airport...
Guangzhou is a larger city, and more westernized than Nanning. There is also less smog, though noticeably more this time than a year ago when we were here adopting our daughters.
This is a view out our apartment window.
A LOT of adoptive parents stay at The Garden Hotel while in Guangzhou. Again, because of our need for bedrooms for both an adolescent boy and a girl, and the need of an additional bathroom, we chose to stay in the apartment tower of The Garden instead of on the hotel side. It is difficult to find any information on these apartments online, and the questions I'm most often asked about travel have to do with this apartment.
To give you the idea, the regular hotel room has two twin beds, one bathroom and a small living room area. Our apartment had two bedrooms, one with a king size bed that Tikvah and I shared, and another bedroom that Ethan and Isaac shared that had two twin beds. There were also two and a half baths, a good size living room, a dining room with a large table, and a smallish kitchen that was supplied with dishes and cooking utensils. There was a microwave, an oven, a full size refrigerator, and a teeny machine that washed AND dried clothes.
It is not fancy or plush at all like the hotel side is. The half bath has been updated and there is a funky toilet attachment in the master bath - don't ask, I didn't use it! :) The carpet is worn and stained, but it was very functional and seemed clean overall. It had space enough for a family to stay here a week and not lose their minds in the process. Having a big table and a washer/dryer is a huge plus as are the extra bathrooms.
And now for the picture tour: Entryway with the ever present, ever needed umbrellas. (I brought them)
The updated half bath, just as you come in the door.
Off the living room, the guys' bedroom with two twin beds and a bathroom.
Living room and to the left the dining room.
Dining room - one thing that has really surprised me is the lack of decorating. There were nails for pictures but no pictures hanging on them! The carpet in the hall smelled AWFUL and was stained terribly, so I think they may have had some water leakage previously. They possibly were remodeling.
From the dining room into the kitchen..
There was a full size refrigerator next to these sinks. The stove/oven had pans. There were dishes in the cupboards and silverware in the drawers.
Hot pot for making cofee - vitally important! Microwave and little machine that washes and dries clothes.
Master bedroom that Tikvah and I shared. The ironing board just stayed out because either I couldn't figure out how to set the dryer appropriately, or it just always fried the clothes. Everything ended up having to be ironed.
Large closets in both bedrooms.
The master bath, and the fancy toilet.
Advantages from my viewpoint. We paid about two times the amount for the apartment as a regular "suite" room in this hotel. We all got to sleep in an actual bed. We had the extra bathrooms. Four free breakfasts came with the apartment vs only two with the regular rooms (the breakfast buffet is like $20 each for kids?) We were able to wash clothes instead of sending them out, and friends from our agency ran some laundry as well. Because of the extra room - living and dining - we got to be the hang out spot for other families, and this was great! The English speakers had lots in common, and the Chinese speakers took comfort in playing games with the others who could understand them. Those who understood English a little better than others helped translate for their friends. I believe it was good for ALL the kids. The adopted children had someone who could identify with their feelings as did the siblings who had just gained a new family member.
NOTE! While the twin beds seem to have been ok, the king sized one was REALLY HARD, like sleeping on a box spring only. It was so hard that my hips literally HURT the next morning. If you run into problems with this ask the staff for extra bedspreads. We put several under our bottom sheet and it helped quite a bit.
