Goodbye, Shanghai - Hello, Nanjing!

(Sorry for the skipped update. Last night, we had some problems getting the internet up and going in our Nanjing hotel. Once it was working, I was toooooo exhausted to blog.)

Saturday, we spent all morning and early afternoon exploring Shanghai's "Old Town". This area is in walking distance from the Renaissance Hotel and is bustling with people, shops, restaurants, etc. We found some nice things in the Guangzhou-type shops, and so we were able to brush up on our bargaining skills. We noticed that they were charging prices a lot higher than we remembered from the last time we were in China. We're unsure whether it is because we were in Shanghai, or if they are catching on that Americans can and will pay up.

Scenes from Shanghai's "Old Town"...

Serving yummy Hot-n-Sour soup at a great Chinese restaurant

You can always find a friend at Starbucks...

Brittany was excited to be able to use her Mandarin to talk with some local people. A woman carrying her grandson was staring and smiling at us, so Brittany said hello and asked her how old the boy was. She understood Brittany, answered back, and then proceeded to chatter quickly in Mandarin, thinking Brittany would understand. Brittany then told her that she spoke only a little Mandarin and was able to ask her if she was the boy's grandmother. We showed them a picture of Brielle and Brock, and Brittany explained that they were her Chinese brother and sister. By now, she had drawn quite a curious crowd. It was fun to watch Brittany be able to communicate with them! She has a ton to learn, but she did great with what she has learned. She was told by two Chinese people here that she speaks Mandarin well.



Soon it was time to pack up to leave for the train station. We boarded a "bullet train" at the Shanghai Railroad Station and two hours later we were in Nanjing. This train travels about 200 mph top speed. It is a very comfortable, roomy ride and a wonderful way to see the countryside between the big cities. The train stopped in Wuxi before arriving in Nanjing, so we were able to see a small portion of the city in which our son has grown up. When we got off the train in Nanjing, at least five men crowded around us asking to help with our bags. We kept telling them "no", but they persistently followed us, chattering away, and actually grabbing the bags out of our hands, hoping for a tip after helping us. It was about ten minutes before our guide finally found us and shooed them away. Phew!

A few glimpses of Wuxi...

Approaching Nanjing - the terrain became more hilly...

On the platform, just before being swarmed...

We were very spoiled in Shanghai staying at the clean and beautiful Renaissance Hotel. The Mandarin Garden Hotel here Nanjing is rated 5 star, but I'm not sure who in the world would have rated it as such. It is musty smelling, old, and therefore appears "dirty". We have decided to try very hard not to complain about it. For dinner last night, we went to the Burger King here in the hotel. My fish filet tasted fine, but Max and the kids thought their burgers "were off" and didn't want to finish them. So, we each had $9 ice cream from Haagen Dazs for dinner instead. Good compromise.

Last night and today (Sunday), we spent a lot of time walking the streets outside our hotel. Right outside the door, there is a road that is block-off and lined on both sides with shop after shop. These shops are mainly clothing and shoe stores (not Guangzhou-type shops). I bought a cute pair of shoes for $10, and a found a few shirts, shorts, and a pair of jeans (yes, Cindy, very scary - especially because I've been here only 4 days - imagine what I'll think is cute on day 12). We were quite adventurous today, taking the taxi to and from Carrefour (a large, Walmart-type store) and to and from an Italian restaurant we decided to try. This restaurant was in a narrow, alley-type street about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. At first I was wondering what in the world we were doing - I mean, an Italian restaurant in China??? However, it was excellent. Not cheap, but very yummy and no Chinese after taste at all. We'll definitely go back!

Scenes from the streets of Nanjing...

Our laundry man sorting through our dirty laundry (how humiliating, for us all)...

Yummy dinner at an Italian restaurant...

This one's for you, Michele...

We've been checking in with Brielle everyday via webcam. She is having a lot of fun playing with her cousins, and my mom and Cindy are keeping her quite busy. Today, Brielle showed up on the webcam with a "Happy Father's Day" sign for Max. Soooo sweet! Thank you, Mom and Cindy, for that great surprise for Max, and thank you for your sweet care of Brielle. You can not imagine how absolutely priceless that is to me. Check out Cindy's blog to see what Brielle has been up to: http://www.familyalwaysandforever.blogspot.com/ It's hard not to think about her every minute, as there are so many adorable little Brielle-look-alikes running around here. However, I've said many, many times that it is good Brielle is not here with us. I just think it would've been too much for her to handle successfully.

Well, tomorrow is the BIG DAY!! I don't think we've quite wrapped our brains around the whole thing yet. We are very excited -- but, are we ready? I'm not sure - but, I know that God is prepared to equip us with whatever we will need to meet all of our new son's needs. How exciting this new chapter of all of our lives will be!

Thanks to all of you for cheering and praying us on!

Until tomorrow ~

Tracy