Friday, January 9, 2009

VERY SAD GOOD BYE TO NANCHANG AND HELLO GUANGZHOU

Today was a very bittersweet day for us here in Nanchang. It was time to move onto the next leg of our journey. It was very difficult in a way to leave Halainah's province. This is where she was born, this is where she is from. Nanchang is not a high tourist spot. Therefore it was rich in true culture. We were always the stars to the Chinese civilians as they don't see many westerners that often. Everyone treated us like royalty. We are dearly going to miss our guide Sissi. She taught us all about Nanchang. I would have never been able to learn all I did if it weren't for her. She was there from the moment we received our daughter to the end of our journey today. We spent practically every day, all day with her. I feel like I was saying goodbye to a dear friend.

We received Halainah's Chinese passport today. It will be sort of a souvenir when she gets older. When our plane lands in NJ, she will become a US citizen and she will loose her Chinese citizenship. I have a very special place in my heart for Nanchang, Jiangxi Province and I hope one day I can make Halainah proud of her home town and return with her to pay tribute to the place that gave me my precious daughter. I am forever grateful to China.

Our flight to Guangzhou was due to leave at 3:30. But didn't leave until 6:30. By the time we got to our hotel it was after 9 and we were starving. We went to the all famous Lucy's which has both Western food and Chinese food. It was horrible but I guess I can say that I went to Lucy's and will not go back. We were spoiled in Nanchang. Sissi our guide took us out to a different restaurant for lunch and dinner every day. We also tried new dishes each time. The food was way beyond excellent. And Nanchang is supposed to be famous for their food and it was most definitely true. I am not impressed with the ever so famous White Swan Hotel. I was expecting much more and feel that we are going to be disappointed in our stay here in Guangzhou. Nanchang was just beautiful in it's old time traditions. Guangzhou is too up to date for us. But we shall see.


Halainah was a perfect angel for us today, but it doesn't surprise me. She truly is such a sweet funny lovable baby. We had a full day of running around and she just went with the flow. She fell asleep 5 minutes after takeoff and slept for about a half hour. After that she played and played. She was just perfect. Halainah has bonded so well to us. I feel like she has been with me since the day she was born. We are so very much in love with our precious daughter.

I was the last to say goodbye to Sissi at the airport today. We hugged and shed a couple of tears. She told me that she honestly has never seen a more beautiful child than our little Halainah. Sissi said that whenever we were out and about she would hear everyone comment on her beauty. She told us that we were so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter and I told her that we were the lucky ones to have our daughter who is so full of life. Her comment was so sincere. We are going to miss our dear friend Sissi.









3 comments:

Anonymous said...

i LOVE TONY WITH OUT THE FACIAL HAIR...HE LOOKS SO DIFFERENT!. lOVE THE FLOWER HATS. HOW MANY DO YOU HAV?..CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE OF THEM!
KISSES AND HUGS TO ALL OF U
GEM

Anonymous said...

So good to know you guys are safe in GUANGZHOU - photos are great - love the ones with Uncle Bob's cap on her head & the one by her Dad (looks as though she feels totally secure near her Dad) - she is so precious. Hopefully she will be as comfortable & pleasant on your flight home, as she was to GUANGZHOU, as this will be a much longer flight.

Enjoy - be safe - love you!

Dad & Joyce

Anonymous said...

Deanna:

She looks so comfortable with ALL of you, so content.....is it my imagination or has she gained more weight???

Love to all of you,

Aunt Ann