The Boy and the Bulldog: Hangzhou Retrospect

Six short months ago, we were wrapping up our week in Hangzhou, the capital city of Ian's home province, Zhejiang. It was one of the best weeks of our lives. Not just because we received Ian in Hangzhou, but because it was simply beautiful there. I think about that city every single day and feel so lucky that our adoption would be finalized in such a wonderful city. We couldn't be more thrilled that for the rest of our lives, we will have ties to Hangzhou through the heritage of our son, and a reason to go back anytime.

We left Beijing on the 3^rd, but Ian wouldn't be coming up to Hangzhou from Wenzhou until the 6^th, meaning we had the 4^th and 5^th to do the heavy duty sightseeing. We badly wanted to take a day trip up to Shanghai, only a 2 hour train ride from Hangzhou, but our guide was reluctant. The guides contracted by the agencies can be quite protective. Her job was to make sure nothing happened to us to jeopardize our adoption process. It was easy to forget that we were there for a business transaction. As cold as that sounds, Ian was still Xiang Xuan, a ward of the Chinese government, and costing a great deal to bring up from Hangzhou along with two orphanage employees, leaving the orphanage shorthanded for several days. He was still technically paperwork…So we couldn't just run off on side trips, eventhough everything probably would have been fine. Looking back, we should have done it. We had 2 days before meeting Ian and we're sad that we missed the opportunity to say we've been to Shanghai. As with so many things, we said "next time", and added it to the growing mental list of reasons why we want to go back sooner than later.

Our first two days in Hangzhou were spent seeing West Lake, which was literally yards from the steps of our hotel, however the smog was so heavy, it was almost impossible to see across the street. It's sad, really, that the air quality has gotten so bad in much of China. At least in our experience, we saw several people in each of the three cities we visited wearing masks to avoid breathing the leaded exhaust fumes.

West Lake is beautiful. It serves as a destination spot for vacationing Chinese citizens, but is not a venue for many westerners. During our stay, we were one of only a handful of westerners anywhere around West Lake that I could see. My red hair was a real stand out…just imagine once we had a Chinese BOY with us… We were quite the attraction. It is not a high traffic adoption province, although we did have a French Canadian couple with a new son in our hotel. During those first two days, our guide Celine, from Xi'an, walked us to several parks near our hotel and filled us in on the history of West Lake. We enjoyed some of the street vendor specialties; one being a rice and meat concoction wrapped in a large leaf…It was so good and filling. I could have had one for breakfast every day. People love food on sticks in China, too… Everywhere we went people were eating fruit, veggies and meat on long sticks. A little like a kabob, but different.

We visited a beautiful art gallery by the lake and bought souvenirs and art books. As an artist, Shawn could have spent the whole day there and would have been quite content. We also walked across the "Broken Bridge", which is famous in Hangzhou, but we didn't take a boat tour of the lake, which is common. We didn't want to risk a fluke boat sinking incident 2 days before meeting Ian.

On our second day, we drove a short 10 minutes to the Lingyin Temple and Buddha Heaven complex. It was so magnificent. I can't quite find words to describe how overwhelmingly beautiful it was…and expansive. I felt like it would go on forever if we let it. We decided then and there that if we return to Hangzhou (and we will), if all we saw was that attraction, it would be a trip well spent. For me, sort of like seeing The Colosseum in Rome… "OK, I can go home now." So we spent the better part of day 2 at the temples and navigating the paths leading to the hundreds of Buddhas carved into the mountain side. Monks roamed the grounds and it was interesting to learn about their history, the different Monk sects, and that not all monks live like we've grown to believe they do. Some live in city apartments with regular clothes and haircuts, TV's, phones, Doritos, Pizza Hut…

Afterward, we continued a few minutes further into the countryside to the Chen Family Tea Plantation. For those who don't know, Hangzhou is known worldwide for it's harvesting of Dragonwell tea. It is only grown in Zhejiang province, and the highest grade leaves come from Hangzhou. Additionally, you cannot buy grade A leaves (the first harvest of the season and youngest, most flavorful leaves) outside a plantation. Stands and shops everywhere claim they have grade A, but they don't tell you that under a thin layer of grade A, the rest is grade C or D (harvests later in the season)… Not nearly as good and takes 3 times as many leaves to yield a cup. So we viewed the plantation and enjoyed a ceremony, similar to the one we sat through in Beijing, but this was different. This was a big part of the culture and trade of Ian's birth province.

The tea in Hangzhou meant a lot to us and we wanted to take everything we could from that experience. We ended up buying several tins of the Grade A tea, from the package she used to show us the difference between the grades…we saw her pack the tins, so we knew we weren't being duped. In retrospect, we wish we would have bought more. After giving souvenirs to friends and family, we were only left with 2 small tins…Which we covet, and drink store bought loose leaf tea on an average daily basis. Our Dragonwell tin is only opened for a treat.

The next day was THE day. We were over a week into our trip overall, and on our 3^rd full day in Hangzhou. I won't go into the meeting any further. I feel like I've gone over it enough times to give the average person a glimpse. The rest is for us to keep as our family memory of the day Ian was "born" to us… Our family day.

The following few days were a real blur. We settled right in and developed a good routine with Ian right away. He loved being in the hip carrier, and for the most part it was comfortable. He was heavy, and we had no experience with carrying a child for long periods of time, so it was a real godsend. It did start to take it's toll on my neck and lower back as time went on, but if I were to do it again, I would use the carrier. People in China carry their kids until they're a ridiculous age (just not in carriers). We saw many men and women carrying what appeared to be 7,8,9+ year old children on their backs. It is extremely common to see even toddlers riding sidesaddle on the backs of bicycles with adults. If Ian were still in China, he would probably be learning how to hang on while riding through the streets of Wenzhou.

We did a lot of sightseeing around West Lake over the next few days and ventured out on our own several times when it became apparent that our guide wasn't that interested in taking us to more than one park and then depositing us back to the hotel. We found out on the last day that she actually went back to her room and watched TV. We had been under the assumption the whole time that she was working. To do it again, we would require much more of our guide. We paid a lot of money for her services, in my opinion, and she was mediocre at best.

On several outings, we were swarmed by locals who wanted to see the Western couple with a Chinese baby. Ian almost always had a hood on (our guide was very particular about covering him completing in the 70 degree air), and when people saw that we had a boy…with a special need… the response was moving. People shook our hands, wanted to touch him for luck, and thanked us enthusiastically. In almost every crowd incident someone always asked us to please give him a good education and bring him back to China. There was an overall sentiment that he was extremely lucky to be going to America. People would nod with wide eyes when we said we lived in America. Lucky, lucky boy, we heard everywhere we went. We were all lucky, in my opinion.

So we wrapped up our trip in Hangzhou, so sad to leave. At the time, I was excited to move on to Guangzhou, which was built up to be this Western oasis for adoptive parents at the end of an emotionally draining trip. Because it would be where Ian would be sworn in as an American citizen, it was a symbolic leg of the trip.

Ian also had the chance to take his first plane ride. His orphanage did not have an outdoor play area, so you can imagine what this week was like for him; His first outdoor experiences since the age of 3 months. I can't even begin to fathom how scared and confused he was inside…but he never showed it. Even in just the few days we had known him, we could see that he was a "go with the flow" kid.

So to make this long post even longer… If (when) we go back to Hangzhou, we will definitely see the Lingyin Temple complex again. We'll venture out into the countryside a bit more and see more tea plantations and experience a more of the Zhejiang culture. We will definitely stay at a different hotel, though. The Lakeview hotel was fine. But that's it…Just fine, not great. It was definitely not great for 8 days. There was a really nice Marriott just down the lake about 5 minutes from where we stayed and it looked beautiful (and next to Starbucks). There was also a Shangri-La not far, and if money were no object, that would be where we would stay without a doubt.

If we adopt again, we will do everything we can to try to adopt from that province. I've had mixed feelings about that… Fate might lead us to a child in another part of China, further enriching our exposure to their shared culture… but on the other hand, being from the same province (or city, or orphanage) might be good for Ian to know he's not "alone" in this world.

Time will tell…. And we were off to Guangzhou. But first, some highlights of Hangzhou:

On the path around the lake, girls stood with giant teapots...Free Dragonwell tea... like a water fountain.

We stopped at a coffee/tea house and they brought us all magazines...They handed Shawn the women's fashion magazine. I guess they assumed he would want something with pretty women.

At Buddha Heaven in the Lingyin temple complex. Hundreds of Buddhas were carved into the mountainside. Happy Buddha smiles on...

A lagoon in the Lingyin temple park.

Monks roamed the grounds. These are Llamas.

Overlooking the temple grounds and surrounding countryside.

Two workers head into the tea plantation to harvest Dragonwell by hand. By the way, did you know one tea plant yields approx. 70 years of tea harvests?

Open market. We practiced our haggling here.

Upon arriving at a West Lake park, we saw a stranded woman standing by her car while people passed her by... Shawn stepped in and offered, through our guide, to change her tire. The park manager gave us free bottles of soda and said he would report the good deed to the newspapers.