Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Today we headed out to a famous Tea House here in Guangdong. Tea is the number one drink in the Chinese culture. Some of the younger generation are beginning to drink coffee but tea still is the most popular drink in China. Lottie fell asleep on the bus, on our way to the tea house , but she woke up in time to enjoy a few sips of tea at her first tea party!!! The Tea House was located on the bank of the Pearl River. There were pretty gardens surrounding the Tea House. There was a cute fountain shaped like a teapot at the front door. We were shown that the clay tea pot is the best here in China for making tea and given a demonstration. Yes, we now have our very own Chinese clay tea pot!!!! Hopefully it will make it back to the U.S. in one piece!!

After visiting the tea house our family decided to walk to a nearby park in attempts to find the Five Ram Statue. Guangdong is called the Ram City. Being the tarheels we are we knew we had to have our picture with the ram statue. Little did we know that it would end up taking us well over an hour to venture to and through the park , up and down many, many steps and finally to the mountain that had the ram statue at the top. We had worked up quite a sweat by the time we got to the statue and then donned Carolina sweatshirts for the picture!!! It’s not everyday you can take your picture with the rams in China. In our hike to see the rams we saw some beautiful places in the park. They were still putting out beautiful flowers for Chinese New Year. There was a scenic waterfall. Very beautiful gardens all around the park.

We returned to the hotel after our hike. Battle and Lottie took a nap and Shannon went out with three other ladies in our group. They took a taxi to the building which had all the leather pocketbooks for sale including knock offs of some of the name brands. They arrived only to find that they had already closed for Chinese New Year and would not open again until the 26th. Yes, the Chinese know how to relax, celebrate, and take time off. We have found many stores are now closing for Chinese New Year. We are glad that we have made many of our purchases but there are a few things left we would like to get before we leave. Shannon did purchase two large back packs on her outing on a side street in which we can take home some of our souvenirs. When Shannon returned from her outing, Battle went and played Basketball with some of the guys in our group. They seemed to enjoy themselves. When we dressed Lottie in her Carolina outfit this morning , we did not know that it was cheerleading day as one of Lottie’s friends, Caroline wore her Colts outfit. We couldn’t miss another cute photo opportunity!! This evening back at the hotel we ordered a pizza for delivery to our hotel room . The delivery boy brought the pizza on a bicycle!!! Lottie ate her first piece of pizza !!!

Our Consulate Appointment is tomorrow. Our guides actually go and turn all of our paperwork in and we stay in the hotel close to the phone in case any questions arise. There is some question about the timing for getting Lottie’s visa on Thursday. . Our guide made the comment that we were cutting it close and everything needed to click to make it happen so we can leave on Friday. Please pray for all the details in this and all the hands that handle the paperwork so we can leave as planned on Friday!!!! Because as we have mentioned, Chinese New Year is upon us and offices close on Friday. And they will be closed for two weeks!!! We love China and have greatly enjoyed our two week adventure, but another two weeks here is not in our plans!!! We are starting to think about how to pack all of our stuff and our thoughts are turning to home. We can’t wait to see everyone so very soon!! Much Love from China!!!!!