Last Full Day in Hangzhou

Today is our last full day before we head to Guangzhou to finish what we started a year and a half ago. This time next week, we will happily be back on US soil and Ian will be a US Citizen.

We asked our guide not to take us to the zoo today. I had heard from a few sources that the animals are not as well kept as we are used to in the states and I didn't want to see the dog exhibit. We told her that we wanted his grandparents to be the first to take him to a zoo back home.

I haven't really talked much about how unhappy we have been with our hotel and guide here in Hangzhou, because we have wanted the attention to be on Ian, but as we wind down our last full day here, we are starting to reflect on what has made this leg of the trip special to us. It is pretty obvious what will bring us back here someday, and gladly, the West Lake area is very beautiful. However, the hotel that we are in has few qualities that will garner positive feedback, and it was a hard place to be cooped up for a week with a baby.

Our guide had only us, and she did take us to some neat places in the area, but we learned that after dropping us back at the hotel, she went back to her room and slept or watched TV. On the first day, she took us to a grocery down the street for a few small items, but on the day we received Ian, she took us to a department store to buy clothes, which was expensive and difficult to navigate.

Today, we were coming back from a park and she pointed out the Carrefour, which is much like Wal-Mart here, and it was only a few minutes from the hotel. This really bothered me, because I knew that this was where we should have done our shopping. Since we needed to buy a cheap carry on to fit some of our purchases, we headed out on our own later to find it. In less than a 20 minute walk, we were there, and I saw the same looking clothes that I had purchased for 1000 Yuan the other day, there for a fraction of the price.

On the way back, we passed an area just a few minutes walk from our hotel that had tons of East and West restaurants, tea houses, coffee shops, etc. We stopped in the Starbucks there and bought a Hangzhou mug and our first Starbucks drink in almost 2 weeks. Never before has a frappacino tasted so good. We also passed a really nice looking Hyatt that, again, is on the same street across from the lake from our hotel, but a couple of blocks down. We knew they have to have some staff who speaks English.

Although we know that being in another country means dealing with a language barrier, our hotel here is really extreme. We just can't communicate what we need to anyone here and that's frustrating when asking for a spoon or bowl so we can feed Ian lunch…or asking how long the room service will take to arrive. Extra towels please?…don't even think about it! So, we drooled over the Hyatt, wondering why our agency didn't offer us options or better prepare us for what to expect from our guide or hotel… and sipped our coffee and said "oh well, we'll know better for next time". Our guide is a really nice girl, but didn't do much to really take care of us here. She really just took us to the bare minimum sites and then had us back to the hotel each day within a couple of hours. We'll definitely want a different guide if we come back to Hangzhou again…and we'll be staying at the Hyatt!

So. For all the families getting ready to travel, I'm not sure how your agency communicates with you about what to expect and what will be expected of you while in Province, but my word of advice is to ask your guide to take you lots of places and be nosy. Don't assume she/he is showing you the best restaurants or stores. Is it the cheapest? How much further to the discount shops? Are there open markets nearby?...And of your agency rep, ask if you have option for hotels, even if it cost a little more. I hate to act like a spoiled American, but I really felt like without going out and learning Chinese, we had few resources besides our guide, who wasn't around much, to help us communicate here.

Although this post was a bit of a rant, I do want to reiterate that we really have loved the West Lake area and Hangzhou in general. It is mildly tropical without being too humid this time of year, and the sites we did see are not to be missed. We are very glad that we have this destination as a starting/stopping point for Ian to learn about his home in future years.

We did offer to take Celine to dinner last night for fear that another night of room service might make us crazy, and she quickly accepted. She took us to a restaurant around the corner from the hotel, and although Ian was a bit cranky during dinner, it was a wonderful meal consisting of braised ribs in sweet & sour sauce, a noodle soup of some kind, a beef dish with vegetables, rice, and of course lots of green tea. It was a ton of food and only cost 45 Yuan, which is about $7…or almost the cost of 1 Coca-Cola in the hotel.

Ian took another bath last night and then Shawn went for his 4^th…yes I said 4^th… 2-hour massage last night. I would wonder what kind of massage he's getting except for the fact that his feet are really soft when he comes back. Ha. Ian went down to sleep late, at about 8:30pm and slept until almost 7am.

I also spoke a bit too soon yesterday stating that he is a breeze to change and dress. He did throw a fit after his bath; maybe because he wanted to be naked…however, it only lasted a few seconds. Pictures below show the before and after, only a few seconds apart.

I also included a cute shot of his chubby diaper butt. One of his favorite things to do is stand on the bed pillows and hang onto the headboard, and play with toys up there. The headboard is nailed to the wall, and it's only a small fall to the pillows, so I'm not too worried about it. He is getting really good at pulling himself up and standing that way, which is a huge accomplishment since his legs were jelly when we received him. We've seen people around town carrying their kids well longer than they should. Some kids look to be 5, 6, or even 7 years old and still being carried.

We fly out tomorrow fairly early and will arrive in Guangzhou at about noon. We may not post tomorrow, if so it will be just to let everyone know we made it to Guangzhou safely. We are happy to be headed somewhere with a play room and other adoptive families!