Goodbye Guangzhou, goodbye China

Wednesday was our last day in China. We fly out at 8:20 a.m. Thursday.

We got Jake's visa from the U.S. Consulate. The ceremony was anti-climactic. We rode a bus to the consulate and sat around for the most part with a whole bunch of other parents and their children. Then, a consulate official spoke to us all and had us swear that the information we had provided was true. That was it. End of all the official hoops we had to jump through to get Jake.

Now, we have to pack and hopefully not wake our little man.

Here is a photo of Jake on the famous White Swan red couch. We were a small travel group, LOL, and it's tradition for all the kids in the travel group to get their picture taken on the red couch in their traditional Chinese outfit. The shoes Jake is wearing were handmade in Shaanxi Province. We bought them at a store here in Guangzhou that donates its proceeds to help the children in China. We were glad to help in our own small way.



Here is Jake and his travel mate Ella. We met Ella's parents and her 2 brothers in Beijing and toured Tian An Men Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall with them. Then, they went to Inner Mongolia while we went to Shaanxi. We met up again in Guangzhou. They are another Great Wall family, so we shared our guide Kelly with them in Guangzhou. For some reason, they have to stay a couple of more days. They are a wonderful family from Texas and we will miss them and wish them a safe journey home. We plan to get together with them at the Great Wall reunion next summer in Austin, Texas.