Last Leg of the Trip

Paging Doctor Welby


We climbed on to our bus on Friday afternoon and headed to the airport. Snow had begun to fall late morning and soon blanketed the streets of Zhengzhou. Our hopes for a timely departure looked even less likely with each falling snowflake. As our bus made it’s way around the even slower moving motorized rickshaws and pedestrians on the highway, our translator periodically sponged off the fogged up front window for the driver. Note to Toyota; potential Chinese recall issue, vehicles missing heat and dehumidifiers! We arrived at the airport and not surprisingly were delayed but did manage to make it out and on to Guangdong Province before midnight. Cranky but none the worse for wear.

Guangdong Province is located at the Southern most tip of China, near to Hong Kong. Stepping out of the terminal you are struck by the heat and almost 100% humidity. Our bus travels through the affluent modern port city of Guangzhou, previously known as Canton. About 50 minutes later we reach the place we will call home for the next week, Shamian Island. Shamian Island is just South of the city and not really an island at all, but a sandbank under a mile long with a narrow canal separating it from the city. Here our group splits up with most of the group staying at the White Swan Hotel, nicknamed the “baby hotel” because of its long history with the international adoption set. We’ve opted for another hotel, which means we must switch to a small van since our bus is unable to negotiate the narrow streets surrounding it. Two rooms later we put our check in challenges behind us and hit the sack.

Our first full day on Shaiman Island is business first. We must get the babies medical exams before they can be cleared for their VISA’s later this week. Our group reunites at our hotel and walks to the medical clinic. I don’t think I mentioned before that Shaiman Island was leased to the French and the British after the Second Opium War and is distinctly European. As we walk along, the pastel colored colonial style buildings and tropical foliage are somewhat reminiscent of the city of Nassua in the Bahamas. Who would have thought?

We’ve been warned that our visit to the clinic could take up to three hours so we are pleasantly surprised when it takes under an hour. The clinic reminds me of the set from a 1960’s hospital show with nurses decked out in vintage looking nursing attire and doctors writing things down on metal clipboards. Even the equipment has a retro vibe. Exclusively dials! Caucasian parents move their Chinese children from one station to the next for basic exams. For instance at the ENT station, a doc shines a light in Liam’s eyes and then squeezes a squeaky toy in each ear, says something in Chinese then we move on. Liam is a trooper and comes through these rigorous exams with a clean bill of health.

We spend the rest of the day strolling the island and enjoying the humid, yet wonderfully warm weather. We meet lots of other adoptive families from the US and abroad as we make our way across the island. Guangzhou is the final destination of all adoptive families before they can leave the country. Adoptive families are a large presence here and the locals are very much use to Westerners, especially those with little Chinese kids in tow.

We are hoping for an uneventful remaining 8 days on Shaiman Island. It’s not home, but the weather is warm the skies are a bit less gray, and there is an air of familiarity to it.