Xie Xie China

The curtain is pulled back. Outside the green lights line the Pearl River. The dinner cruise ferry and its neon purple gazebo, its flashy neon sides, floats across the river a parody of flash and pretend luxury floating on the polluted river. Music from the riverside speakers floats to the room as a nondescript tune. Lila and Breeda watch a movie on HBO and I check to see if everything is packed. Tomorrow Lila goes home. We leave China a country of dichotomies, opposing elements juxtaposed side by side: our daughters' homeland for which we will forever be grateful. From which we received a gift.

Xie Xie China. Thank you.

Wuxi Girls on Red Couch

The Red Couch Photo. We all take one. Two years ago Clara and Michael took theirs in the wee hours of the morning before we boarded the bus to the airport. Today we took the photos of the three Wuxi girls together and another of all six girls - new sisters and traveling sisters - together. (see that one on B's blog) The girls have been great together these past two weeks. Lila, "K" and "L" will now separate and journey to three different states. Each into large families waiting for them at home.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Today was the absolute last final final final thing to do in China. Today we went to the US consulate in GZ and swore that everything we wrote on the paperwork was accurate and then received our daughter's visa. We're going home. Here is Lila in front of the consulate. And afterwards our very happy group together in this last step along our journey together. Tomorrow home.

Bronze Statues

Shamian Island is full of bronze statues everywhere. A trip here is not complete w/o photos of them! Here Lila and Breeda pose w/ my favorite, the three women each from a different generation.

Traction

I already knew what my New Year's resolution would be before I got here. But this confirmed it. Shamian Island is like a mini-California of China in that like my old home state (hi all!) people are outdoors a lot. The park area and the open space next to it, also the open space behind Lucy's next to the river is full every morning with adults exercising. Many of them are elderly. See the one photo of Breeda on the monkey bars next to a man who had to have been at least 70. He was pulling his entire body up on the bars. So, while they might be breathing in contaminates and while the water even in the bathroom of the White Swan is a bit yellow from the Pearl River (yes, we brush our teeth w/ bottled water) the folks on this island must have great back traction! This morning we watched a group of women do a dance-like routine that was a cross between Tai Chi and dance. It was beautiful to watch and how refreshed they must have felt afterwards.

Signs of Change and No Barbie

The infamous Barbie that is auctioned by some on eBay. She's tall, blonde, young, dressed nicely, oh, and did I mention young? She holds a tiny Asian baby girl. She doesn't look like anyone of us who go in and out of this hotel with our new children. She is a gift from Mattel. But there's no Barbie this time. Her absence is just one sign of change.

The Mattel factory that used to employ a lot of people in this province is now closed so the Barbie deliveries to the White Swan are not as frequent. We're told we can put in a request and have it shipped to us. 

There are other signs of change. Like the number of Americans here is only a fraction what it was this time two years ago. This is not related to economic changes but for those of us who follow the stats is a result of China pulling back from NSN (another online acronym meaning non-special needs) adoption. Theories abound as to why the wait time for a NSN child has gone from 6 months to what is now almost 3 years. Some say it's because abandonment rates are down as China became more wealthy families can afford the two child fine. And in Wuxi the orphanage assistant did say abandonments have declined. But I believe this may be the case in the large cities. I believe what a few women who have observed China adoption for many years think - that China does not want to be viewed globally as being unable to care for its own children. 

Instead the focus has switched. Two years ago the back corner of the restaurant was full of families with NSN baby girls. This week we have seen only one travel group for NSN, the rest are SN and these children include many boys - maybe as many boys than girls.

The ripple effect on Shamian Island is obvious. Two years ago I couldn't leave the hotel without feeling accosted by the merchants shouting towards us, asking questions, bargaining like crazy. Now there is almost none of that. They still invite us into their booth or store but there is a sense of a pulling back. The aggression is gone. As are the number of merchants. 

A quick eyeball of the surrounding streets I'd say almost 1/3 of the merchants are gone and those who are left do not have the variety of merchandise they had before. According to Jordon (remember him my fellow China adopters?) business is way down. And, unlike last time where he bargained like crazy, he wouldn't budge on prices this time. 

And so as China's adoption policy changes so will Shamian Island. The small economy that grew around Americans coming to stay here with their new children while they wait for their consulate to give them a visa is crumbling. And in the meanwhile I doubt the number of children is actually that much smaller. China is, according to sources who observe orphanages, putting a lot of the children in foster care. I believe the male to female ratio has gotten so out of hand they may have seen a need to keep the girls in country. By recent estimates the male-female ration is 117 to 100. That's a lot when calculated by 1.4 BILLION people. Today in the park I counted of the 7 Chinese children 6 were definitely boys, 1 was possibly a girl but I'd bet a boy (when a baby here they often dress them the same). What are the chances of a random visit to the park and seeing only boys?

There is too much messing with Mother Earth, Mother Nature here. There is too much shame. It permeates everything and is everywhere. It floats as unseen particles in the murky polluted Pearl River outside our window. A river our guide tells us was clear when she was a child. It seeps down from the sky and is breathed in causing who knows what kinds of cancer. It echoes in the cold rooms of orphanages where children sleep who will never have a home. And it drifts our way as we purchase its goods and breath the effects of the air as it makes its way across the earth.

When we left Jordon's store today I told T that I will think of Jordon a year from now as we celebrate our one year anniversary of Lila's Forever Family Day. I will think of him sitting in that store trying to get by, families returning to him to do dot etches of their children's faces in stone, for the free caligraphy of their child's name. I will think of it all, every part of this journey and be so glad its over but know it is part of our daughter's history. 

The Hour in the Room

The girls in the beautiful lobby of the White Swan Hotel 

Lila at the park this morning.

After a morning walk we returned to our room for the hour wait for our guide, Grace's, phone call. This is it. She is at the American consulate right now with our paperwork file. The I600, the province paperwork, the adoption certificate, our homestudy, our proof of fingerprint approval, our I171-H, our passport copies, and our daughter's passport. It's now 1/2 hour into the hour and no call...so far a good sign. She will call for two reasons - 1, if there's a problem with our paperwork and she tells me to jump in a cab to the consulate to help resolve it; or 2, the call I hope will come which is that everything is fine and we can leave our room now. Once that call comes we are done. The last thing to do will be to go to the consulate tomorrow afternoon and pickup our daughter's American visa and swear her in as a citizen.

Breeda is doing the last of her homework. I am checking email. Lila is writing something in one of her notebooks, pretend writing, and telling us a great story except we can't understand what it's about. But it sounds like it's pretty interesting!

Today we woke to a haze of gray resting on top of the city of Guangzhou seen across the Pearl River and went down to the lovely breakfast finally able to say "the day after tomorrow we leave." It feels like a year since I've seen Aidan and Clara. 

What do two women staying at the White Swan do when their kids get along really well? They swap babysitting services for 1/2 hour massages. T and I are taking turns for 1/2 hour massages later today! :)