Arrived in Nanchang

December 31, 2006 (Sunday)


Flying the Friendly Skies

After we departed from Los Angeles on December 29, 2006 at 11:50 PM, we spent fifteen hours in the air in a Boeing 777. We arrived safely at Guangzhou International Airport at 7:00 AM (China time). By 7:30 AM, we had cleared customs.

We paid 10 Yuan each for a speedy 10 minute airport cart ride to the gate numbered B-108; otherwise, it would have taken us 25 minutes to walk this distance. (8 Yuan equals 1 US dollar.) Commenting on how clean and modern the airport looked, Siowfong asked the driver of the airport cart how old the airport was, and she responded that it was only two years old.

By 8:30 AM, the Boeing 737 had left Guangzhou airport for Nanchang, and by 10:00 AM, we arrived at our destination where we will spend the next nine days. After we disembarked from the plane, we noticed several airport staff riding bicycles to the aircraft with their cleaning equipment to prepare the plane for its next flight.


Introduction to Nanchang

When we landed at the Nanchang airport, two Lakeview Hotel staff who arrived 30 minutes prior were ready to meet us outside the baggage claim area. They quickly drove us to the hotel in the hotel’sedan, a trip that took about 35 minutes. During the trip, SiowFong learned that Nanchang has a lot of red soil, and one of the hotel staff, the bellhop, commented that he was from Fengcheng, Lydia’s birthplace.

The hotel, a 21-floor cylindrical structure, is accustomed to housing foreign adoptive parents, and is the first hotel in Nanchang that is managed by an overseas firm. Some of the hotel staff also communicate in English in a manner that more resembles the British style of the language rather than the American style. It also helped a lot that SiowFong can communicate in Mandarin.

After settling into our room, we ate a sumptuous buffet lunch that featured about 25 entrees, including bird’s nest (which SiowFong ate), beef, lamb, crab, shrimp, chicken, duck, pork, and fish. Both of us enjoyed the stir fried Chinese broccoli, and we ended our meals with fresh fruit. Also available were salads, ice cream, and a variety of desserts.


Wal-Mart, China-Style

In the mid to late afternoon, we took a ten to fifteen minute taxi ride to one of the two local Wal-Mart Supercenters. During the ride, I was thinking about how much the traffic in Nanchang resembled what I had seen in Malaysia. The main difference is that a number of Chinese still use bicycles as the primary mode of transportation whereas bicycles were a rarer sight on the streets of Malaysia.

As soon as we stepped inside this three story Wal-Mart, we realized that Wal-Mart is just as popular in China as it is in America. Hordes of people were shopping inside. At some places inside the store where a number of shoppers surrounded the merchandise, people could hardly move around each other.
The store was well-staffed as an employee wearing a green Wal-Mart vest was stationed down every aisle to help customers. Crowds also lined up in front of the 30 to 35 active cash registers at checkout where clerks in red Wal-Mart polo shirts did their work (the store has 75 check out stands)

The store has nearly everything the average consumer in China would need. In contrast to America’s Wal-Marts, this Chinese version is a three-story store, and it had some interesting items not found in the US stores, including a variety of dried foods, some of which were smoked, plenty of live seafood (clams, crabs, fish, mussels) that customers could select themselves, and traditional red, gold, and purple Chinese garments for infants, toddlers, and adults.


Smiles,

Tom for Tom and SiowFong

Introduction

Summary of Our Journey to Lydia

Our journey towards Lydia began in January 2005 through New Hope Child and Family Agency when we began the process of adopting an infant from China.

February, March, and April of 2005 passed quickly because of the activity related to our application and homestudy.
In early August 2005, our dossier was mailed to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs in Beijing, China. Then the wait began. (Little did we know then that Lydia was not even born yet.)

Lydia was born in January 2006 in Fengcheng, Jiangxi Province, China and was found on that same day. When she was discovered, a note was also found that stated her birth date. A day later, instead of being sent to live in an orphanage, she was placed with a foster family.

Ten months later, on Thursday, November 2, 2006, we reacted with great excitement and joy when we learned about Lydia’s identity when we received our referral. Six weeks later, on December 13, 2006, we learned about our travel approval from the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs, and two days later, we were notified about our US Consulate appointment.

We leave on December 29, 2006 for China with great anticipation for 2007. We will arrive in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China on the last day of the year, December 31, 2006.

January 4, 2007 will be a landmark day in our lives and Lydia’s life as we meet each other for the first time on that day in Nanchang, China. January 11, 2007 is the day of our US consulate in Guangzhou, China, and we will return to our home in the US two days later on January 13, 2007.


Itinerary in China

Dec. 29, 2006 (Friday): We depart from Los Angeles, California, USA.

December 31, 2006 (Sunday): We arrive in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.

January 1, 2007 (Monday): Bernard and Ma Wee arrive in Nanchang, China from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

January 2, 2007 (Tuesday): We meet the Powells, Lydia’s US sponsors. On this day, they will be receiving their second adopted Chinese daughter, Renee, who will soon be 14 months old.

January 3, 2007 (Wednesday): We meet the other three families in our group who are also adopting through New Hope and Danlin Sheng, New Hope’s representative in China.

January 4, 2007 (Thursday): We pick up Lydia (“Gotcha Day”) in the morning (most likely at the local Civil Affairs Office) and do adoption paperwork and apply for Lydia’s Chinese passport in the afternoon.

January 5, 2007 (Friday): We say good-bye to Bernard, who will be returning to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

January 6 and 7 (Saturday and Sunday): We will do some local sightseeing. (We hope to meet with Lydia’s foster family and visit the Fengcheng orphanage in Jiangxi Province.)

January 8, 2007 (Monday): We celebrate Lydia’s one-year birthday.

January 9, 2007 (Tuesday): We pick up Lydia’s Chinese passport and fly to Guangzhou, China later that evening.

January 10, 2007 (Wednesday): Lydia has her mandatory medical examination, which usually takes place in the morning.

January 11, 2007 (Thursday): The US Consulate appointment in Guangzhou, China occurs at 9:30 AM.

January 12, 2007 (Friday): We pick up Lydia’s US visa in the late morning or early afternoon. Then we, Ma Wee, and Lydia depart from Guangzhou, China to return to the US.

January 13, 2007 (Saturday): We return home!



Lydia’s Name

Over a year ago, we agreed that Lydia Christine would be her future legal American name. Lydia, a name of Greek origin, means “beautiful light” or “womanly” (1). She was a “Gentile adherent to Judaism, a successful businesswoman who sold purple cloth, and the apostle Paul’s first convert to Christianity in Europe. As the head of her household, she may have been widowed or single. So strong was her faith [in Jesus Christ] that her entire household followed her example and was baptized. She extended hospitality to Paul and his companions, and her home may have become the very center of the church in Philippi.”(2) Christine is a name of French origin that means “follower of Christ” or “true disciple”.(3)

(1) Dorothy Astoria. The Name Book. Bethany House Publishers: 1997. page 189.
(2) Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda. Women of the Bible. Zondervan: 1999. pages 412-413.
(3) Dorothy Astoria. The Name Book. Bethany House Publishers: 1997. page 68.