Pearl Market & Shamian Island

Today was a sightseeing day. Richard's wife, Alexa, was our guide.  Our first stop was the jade and pearl market. China is a large manufacturer of freshwater pearls and you can buy them for a lot less here. Jade is also very popular.

 This entire building was full of jewelry stores!

Next stop was Shamian Island. Shamian Island is a part of Guangzhou,.  It is an island on the Pearl River. It was very beautiful to walk around, although the weather was a lot cooler than the temps they've had here in recent weeks!  It's usually pretty warm here. It wasn't quite shorts weather today but we wore them anyway. We had to buy a couple pairs of sweatpants to layer on Audrey. Her little thin legs get so cold!

Beautiful trees everywhere...

A fancy Starbucks...

Lots of brides getting pictures taken...

Cute statues we've seen in a lot of adoption pictures...

Lots of people exercising & playing games in the park along the Pearl River...

Several years ago, Shamian island was the location of the Consulate, and all adoptive families would stay here, mostly at the White Swan Hotel, with the groups of adopted kids getting their picture taken on the famous "red couch".   But in recent years, the Consulate moved locations & the White Swan was closed for renovation for several years, and many of the old souvenir shops on the island closed. So from what I understand, Shamian Island is much different than it was when many of our friends adopted. However, there still were many souvenir shops left & it is a very quaint little area to walk around with lots of neat buildings. Here's some pictures inside the renovated White Swan. It was beautiful!  The red couch was no longer there, but beautiful waterfall, koi fish pond, and Christmas decorations...

The rest of the day was nap time and play time in the hotel. Audrey is a happy little girl. She continues to learn new things every day. We gave her a spoon to feed herself with at breakfast and she was very proud of herself. I don't think she really had this opportunity at the orphanage, since the nannies just did this for them for efficiency...

She also mastered how to reach into her snack trap and grab the Cheerios. She loves snacks and she loves transferring things from one container to another. It keeps her occupied for a long time!

She's also getting more comfortable walking around & exploring on her own...

 Kids over 2 have to wait until Tuesday to have their Consulate Appointment for issuing their Visa, I think because that is the earliest the TB result is ready.  So, tomorrow will be another sightseeing day, I think to a local museum.