Dateline: Lakeview Hotel, Hongdu Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, 20 August 2004
The busy day that always preceeds a location change: we spend much of the day organizing paperwork for the appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou on Tuesday, and then the remainder is spent on packing four checked bags and three carry-ons. Good news for us on luggage is that we decided to buy a ticket for Vonne Mei for all subsequent legs in our journey, so our luggage limit increases commensurately.
Tonight we carry out from fancy restaurant down the street that we enjoyed as a group a few nights back: the Mongolian beef, the pork balls for baby and the fried lotus that we love so much. Wake-up call at 0600, checked bags outside door at 0700, then usual buffet breakfast and we're out the door at 0800. Ten-thirty flight on Air China to Guangzhou is just an hour long, so we're there for lunch at the famous White Swan hotel where every American family that adopts in China inevitably visits as part of their stay in Guangzhou. Why? It's right across the street from the consulate and it's carved out this special niche as the "baby hotel" in Guangzhou that caters to Westerners. We're getting the junior suite, so we're splurging a bit, but after five nights on this bed I am moving more awkwardly by the minute, so I say, let's upgrade and pronto!
Also we'll be on broadband in the room again, which will beat the Biz Center hands down.
Nothing else to report other than we're going through the Cipro at high speed for various health issues. Nothing serious, but testing our stamina a bit. I think the pollution in this town has done a number on my skull. Dipped into my migraine meds for the first time in many a month, and I'm not liking it one bit.
But . . . the White Swan awaits.
Last flight on Air China was just fine. We're hoping for more of the same tomorrow.
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