Guangzhou, China - ever been? (1 Viewer)

[-OZ-]

My wife and I will travel sometime this summer to guangzhou and beihai to adopt our daughter.   we should be in beihai for less than a week and guangzhou a little over a week. 

She has never traveled internationally and I haven't other than the beautiful countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.  

So we need help! 

Our agency will help a lot and we'll have a guide for part of the trip but not all.  

If it helps - we'll stay in the garden hotel while in guangzhou.  Don't know where we'll be in beihai. 

Really looking forward to the trip, not only to pick her up (obviously that's huge) but the journey should be memorable. 

What do we need to look for, do, watch out for, etc? 

 

[shadyridr]

Just wanted to say congrats on the adoption. We are adopting domestically only because we didn't wanna leave the country for weeks at a time. Sounds like you have quite the adventure ahead of you. Good luck

 

[MikeIke]

Maybe try some Chinese food? Of course, over there they just call it "food." 

Shamelessly stolen from Friends. 

A quick Google shows a lot of interesting sites nearby. Good luck, and congratulations on your new daughter! 

 

[Osaurus]

@johnnycakes wife may have some input.  Or just pm @shuke 

congrats btw gb 

 

[GregR]

Congrats!

 

[Bucky86]

Watch out for dog meat.

 

[-OZ-]

Watch out for dog meat.

I'd probably prefer to not know. 

 

[-OZ-]

Just wanted to say congrats on the adoption. We are adopting domestically only because we didn't wanna leave the country for weeks at a time. Sounds like you have quite the adventure ahead of you. Good luck

That's awesome too. 

We're drawn to China. One benefit is we won't have to deal with grandparents or other relatives trying to get involved.  That might not be a big deal for many but it was for us.

 

[TripItUp]

Been to Guangzhou a few times. The Westin there is nice with a great buffet...highly recommended.  

I enjoyed going to the markets to get a feel for the local culturebut other than that it's a relatively industrial city with not a lot of atttactions.  

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

Twice last year.

 

[sbonomo]

Been to Guangzhou a few times. The Westin there is nice with a great buffet...highly recommended.  

I enjoyed going to the markets to get a feel for the local culturebut other than that it's a relatively industrial city with not a lot of atttactions.  

We did a day in Guangzhou after a long layover from tai pei.  I would second the poster above, very industrial with sub par food.  Also, the airport is very bad so try to minimize your time there. Congrats on the adoption.

 

[-OZ-]

Been to Guangzhou a few times. The Westin there is nice with a great buffet...highly recommended.  

I enjoyed going to the markets to get a feel for the local culturebut other than that it's a relatively industrial city with not a lot of atttactions.  

We did a day in Guangzhou after a long layover from tai pei.  I would second the poster above, very industrial with sub par food.  Also, the airport is very bad so try to minimize your time there. Congrats on the adoption.

Well that sucks.  Hopefully beihai is better, looks like it from the YouTube videos we've watched.  Silver beach should be cool for a bit. 

 

[Binky The Doormat]

First of all congrats Oz.  It will be 12 years ago this coming June we got our daughter in Nanchang .  She was only a little over 1 year old and fairly under-developed.  But we spent two weeks in Guangzhou at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island after that.  I know things have changed a lot since then with adoptions - and the White Swan used to be the place where most of the adoption families stayed ...group pictures on the big red couch there was a big thing.  

Are you guys by yourselves or is it a group of people going organized by the adoption agency?  We went with about 12-13 other couples and it was all organized by the agency - however, there was a lot of free time.  It was a 2.5 week trip with sightseeing in Bejing for a few days, then onto Nanchang to get our kids and several days of sightseeing, lots of paperwork, doctor check ups, etc - then onto Guangzhou for the formal US citizenship paperwork with the US consulate.  

The plan was 5-6 days in Guangzhou but it turned into an extra 5 days due to the US consulate.  About half the faxes they thought went through to the states for all the families went through ...didn't go through.  Then the junior guy there decided it wasn't worth calling some guy in over the weekend somewhere in Tennesse to change a card in the switch that had failed. Guy was so condescending - and right out of central casting.  Yale (oh yeah, he let us know) grad, Kennedy hair, horn-rimmed glasses, seersucker suit, bow tie and yes ...white bucks. Giant **** head.  

 

[Binky The Doormat]

My other post got too long Oz ...we LOVED it.  First, you are going to have your new daughter ...right?  All your attention is going to be on her anyway.  We went to parks, just walked around with her in the stroller, ate dinner at restaurants that weren't fancy but were awesome.  Being on Shamian Island was nice - it is where a bunch of different countries consulates are and the buildings look like right out of the early 1900s tropical look.  Shopped for clothes for her - fantastic prices from the little shops there and the quality was excellent (adult clothes were pretty bad quality).  

 

[-OZ-]

First of all congrats Oz.  It will be 12 years ago this coming June we got our daughter in Nanchang .  She was only a little over 1 year old and fairly under-developed.  But we spent two weeks in Guangzhou at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island after that.  I know things have changed a lot since then with adoptions - and the White Swan used to be the place where most of the adoption families stayed ...group pictures on the big red couch there was a big thing.  

Are you guys by yourselves or is it a group of people going organized by the adoption agency?  We went with about 12-13 other couples and it was all organized by the agency - however, there was a lot of free time.  It was a 2.5 week trip with sightseeing in Bejing for a few days, then onto Nanchang to get our kids and several days of sightseeing, lots of paperwork, doctor check ups, etc - then onto Guangzhou for the formal US citizenship paperwork with the US consulate.  

The plan was 5-6 days in Guangzhou but it turned into an extra 5 days due to the US consulate.  About half the faxes they thought went through to the states for all the families went through ...didn't go through.  Then the junior guy there decided it wasn't worth calling some guy in over the weekend somewhere in Tennesse to change a card in the switch that had failed. Guy was so condescending - and right out of central casting.  Yale (oh yeah, he let us know) grad, Kennedy hair, horn-rimmed glasses, seersucker suit, bow tie and yes ...white bucks. Giant **** head.  

Totally missed your posts earlier.  Thanks.  It will probably be a group but we don't know who else is going. 

My other post got too long Oz ...we LOVED it.  First, you are going to have your new daughter ...right?  All your attention is going to be on her anyway.  We went to parks, just walked around with her in the stroller, ate dinner at restaurants that weren't fancy but were awesome.  Being on Shamian Island was nice - it is where a bunch of different countries consulates are and the buildings look like right out of the early 1900s tropical look.  Shopped for clothes for her - fantastic prices from the little shops there and the quality was excellent (adult clothes were pretty bad quality).  

Yep, focus will be on her but we also want to enjoy the trip.

 

[RokNRole]

Never been but if it's the same as stateside you can be assured the women will have fresh beavage

 

[whoknew]

Goungzhou is a ####hole. They do have a huge trade fair, though.

But congratulations on the adoption. That's awesome.