We're Not in Beijing Anymore

Today, we left for Hefei, the capitol of Chloe's province, Anhui.  We met in the lobby of the hotel at 8:00 a.m. and all of the families that we toured with, four total including us, plus another family that just joined our group shared a bus to the airport.  Now, this was the same bus that we took when we toured Beijing, perfect for four or five families, but not so perfect for five families with luggage.

Here is a shot of our luggage, with Jenna to the left and Amy to the right, before we loaded the bus.

Here is all of our luggage piled into the first two rows of seats on the bus.  Note:  the bus driver, whom we never saw after he entered the bus, is in front of all the luggage.

Amazingly, we made it safely to the airport, abet the bus driver not being able to see out the rear view mirror (I'm not sure they use these anyway in China.) and a couple people sharing seats.  It was sad to say goodbye to some of the families, but I am excited to see them in Guangzhou with their new children.

Here's a picture of the back of the bus. 

In addition to saying goodbye to some of the families we met, we also had to say goodbye to Cindy, our fabulous guide.

Our flight on China Eastern was only two hours, but they served us a hot lunch.  It was basically uneventful other than having an obnoxious European sitting close to us.  He complained about everything.

When we arrived in Hefei, Jean/Jane was there to greet us.  We are not quite sure which name she goes by yet, but both are listed on the paperwork we have.  She was very nice, helping us check in and prepare paperwork for "gotcha" day tomorrow.

The Holiday Inn in downtown Hefei is very nice.  The rooms are spacious and there is a pool on the sixth floor.

I tried to get a picture of the room before the beds were sat on, but it didn't happen.

There was a young Chinese girl swimming when we went to check out the pool.  She did not know what to think of us.

Our hotel from the street

After we settled in, we joined Karen and her daughter, Jenna, for a walk to Walmart and a mall a few blocks down the street.  One of the biggest differences I noticed between Beijing and Hefei is the number of foreigners.  In Beijing there were many; in Hefei there appears to be very few.  We did receive a few stares and not many people spoke English.  Next time when we go out, I'll definitely bring my translation app or book.

One of the many high rises that houses apartments for Hefei's residents.   In this picture, the water looks relatively clean, but in reality it's a lovely shade of unnatural green.

Tim, Jenna, and Karen on our way to shop

This is the front of the mall.  Walmart is on the corner; notice the advertisement with Nicholas Cage as the star.

The weather is significantly warmer than in Beijing.  It must have been in the high 60s - low 70s.  

The mall had a mix of Eastern and Western stores, like Sephora, Crocs, Calvin Klein, etc.  The attached Walmart was like a Super Walmart, only larger, at home.  It sold everything from TVs to children's clothing to live sea food.  The only thing that it did not sell is medicine.  I bought an electric toothbrush because Tim "borrowed" mine after he left his on the plane.  I had some very helpful workers trying to interpret what I was saying.  (It's hard to mime electric toothbrush.)  We finally found some in locked cases, similar to what stores use to lock DVDs or video games down in America.  I guess electric toothbrushes are a hot commodity.

At the front of Walmart.  That is actually the Walmart greeter on your right.

They sold bins and bins of rice at different prices.  I honestly could not tell the difference between them.

We then ate at a Pizza Hut, which had an interesting menu.  At what Pizza Hut in America can you order pizza with salmon or a mix of seafood on it?  Tim ordered fried squid and we shared a Hawaiian pizza.  Yummy!

A page from the menu at Pizza Hutt

We meet in the lobby at 9:15 tomorrow to travel with Karen, Jenna, and three other CCAI families (two are from the Netherlands) to meet our children.  I just can't wait!  Tomorrow we will truly be a family of six.