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Fuzhou city centerMy Travel Journal of Fuzhou
"Fun in Fuzhou"
We spent nine days in the beautiful city of Fuzhou, in Fujian Province in Southern China. This is the capital city of Fujian Province, which is why we were there. It is the city in which all adoptions from the province are completed.
Today we got to tour Fuzhou with our guide, Linda, who was the best :) We began at the home of Lin Zehu, a hero of the Opium Wars. If you are like me knowing nothing of history, here is a little blurb that explains the part he played in the drama.
"At the same time that the British chief superintendent of trade in Canton, Captain Charles Elliot, was putting pressure on the Chinese government to legalize the opium trade, the emperor of China appointed an official to oversee the death of the trade. Commissioner Lin Zexu had battled the problem of drug use in the provinces of Hubei and Hunan and now attempted to eliminate the source. He blockaded the foreign community, stopped trade, ordered Chinese servants to leave, arrested a leading foreign dealer, and demanded that the merchants surrender their inventory of opium. After 47 days, Captain Elliot handed over 20,283 chests to Lin, who destroyed them. In an eloquent and thoroughly Chinese letter to Queen Victoria, in 1839, Lin made the assumption that the British government was not involved in the opium trade, and pointed out that it would be in the best interests of both nations to halt the trade. The letter never reached England." - Maria Christensen
His home was the traditional courtyard style home of the times, and his bed had a wooden pillow! Behind his home there is a tea house, where we saw a tea ceremony and spent so much money on tea. (See my must-see for a photo.) We left here and headed for a park. We went to park/beach along the Ming River. It was so crowded because of the holiday. (The three-day holiday is what kept us in Fuzhou for so long.) After a nap for Linnea in the afternoon, we went out exploring again around the hotel area, this time out the back door and to the park behind the hotel. We went to a restaurant next door to McDonald's for a great dinner with dumplings and a chicken head. We had to take the boys next door for french fries heading back to the hotel.
Statue of Mr. Lin
"Day 4 - Jan 2, 2002"
In the morning our guide took us to her daughter's music school, which is in the kindergarten. We got to see kids of all ages learning to play the piano. The two students, teacher and principal of the school wanted to have their photos with our boys.
In the afternoon we went to a park that was walking distance (a LONG walk) from our hotel because we had been told that there was a playground and monkeys there. They didn't warn us that the monkeys were loose and that they are all over the park, especially the playground. We found the playground, not the monkey, or so we thought until two dropped from the trees and started to play tug of war with Michael! For dinner we ate in the hotel dining room again, meeting a family from Australia for dinner. We had met them in the morning when we were out shopping.
"Day 5 - Jan 3, 2002"
Boating on West Lake
In the morning we were on our own again and decided to got to West Lake Park. We paid the entrance fee and went into the island part of the park. The flowers everywhere were breathtaking! One thing that I noticed it that most of the plants in China are kept in pots, as opposed to beds of flowers like the US. It allows them to grow them in greenhouses and put them out in mass groupings. It was a little odd to see tulip and mums blooming together, since the are usually out at opposite seasons. The Michael drove a boat on the lake with the other family we were with while I leisurely strolled back to the hotel. Michael rode his first roller coaster in the park. Everything was so pretty and I was amazed at how clean everything was for a city of 1.2 million.
View from the pagoda. The building in the foreground is a hospital.
In the afternoon we went to a park on top of a mountian in the center of Fuzhou. We saw a taoist temple, the cave of the immortals, the Fuzhou city museum, some actors from a performance of the opera (not the Monkey King, though, who is the one Michael wanted to see), and had a tai chi lesson. We also climbed to the toop of the 900 year old, seven story tall White Pagoda. What a great view of the surrounding area, including the mountians on the horizon. Lots of fun, but a tiring afternoon.
"Day 6 - Jan 4, 2002"
After a morning of adoption paperwork (we got her official adoption papers and birth and abandonment certificates), we had the afternoon to do more touring on our own. We went to Panda World and saw pandas, both small and large, and a bear show. It wasn't the best zoo I have been to, but at least we saw pandas while in China. Then we went to the Stone Market and I got Joe and Michael chops out of shoshan stone, which is only found in Fujian province. It was fun to watch the man making them and testing them with the red ink. For dinner, we at the Shanghia restaurant (see the restaurant comments) On Saturday, the 5th, we went to Xiamen, which will have its own travelogue, so this will skip to the 6th.
"Day 8- Jan 6, 2002"
After a long day before in Xiamen, we weren't up to any real tourist things, so we didn't go anywhere exciting. In the morning Linda took us to church! She didn't understand the diffence between Protestant and Catholic, so it was a Catholic church, but it was still great to be in the company of other believers. It was Linda's first time in a church. Then we stopped at the Chinese market for diapers and more baby food. Back at the hotel, we met up with our friends and Jan and I took the girls and Micheal to the open-air market on the street behind the hotel. I found a cute outfit for Linnea to wear home, and a couple of shoes for her. No squeaky shoes, though :( I continue to be amazed at the buildings in China and how much they fit into one space and how rundown things can be and not be condemmed or torn down.We ate dinner again at the hotel buffet.
"Day 9 - Jan 7, 2002"
If you are tired of reading about Fuzhou, your feeling match ours about being in Fuzhou. We stayed in or around the hotel on our last day. We did get to go out and pick up Linnea's Chinese passport, so we were ready to leave the next morning for Guangzhou. We did play a little in the park behind the hotel again, just to have the boys burn off some of their energy. The most exciting part of the day was meeting a new group of adopting parents who had just arrived and watch them become families as they received their daughters. Three were from Xiamen and we recognized them from our visit a couple days before. We ate dinner with our new friends and their daughter, spent the evening packing, and took off in the am (Linnea's first birthday) for the last city of our visit to China.
McDonalds - The same worldwide :)
"Day 1 - Dec 30, 2001"
This was the day we had waited for for almost two years. We were getting our baby! We left Beijing in the am, flew into Fuzhou, and endured an hour long drive from the airport to the hotel. The bridge over the Ming River is really neat. I taped much of the scenery while we listened to the guide tell us about our daughter and her province. Our girls were brought to us, we had a little bit of time to get to know them, then went to a parade of government offices and the photo shop to complete the official adoption paperwork. Less than five hours after holding her for the first time, Wang Shu Ying was now Linnea Meilyn ShuYing Bakos and was officially ours. Here is our first family photo (Joe was home in MI waiting for us). Didn't see any of the city this day, just lots of offices. We ate dinner at McDonald's and went to sleep after two hours of crying.
"Day 2 - Dec 31, 2001"
Dining room at the Lakeside Hotel
In the park next to the hotel - does anyone know what it says?
Civic Center next to hotel
Last day of the new year, first day as a family. We spend the day without our guide, just out and about the area around the hotel (Lakeside Hotel) and West Lake Park. We ate both breakfast and dinner in the hotel. We tried to eat in the Japanese restaurant, but it was full due to the New Year's Eve celebrations. We were on our way up to our room but were held up trying to get to the elevators by a sight I will never forget. There were 20 waitors in the hallway, with 20 roasted pigs on platters. Each pig had flashing lights in the eye sockets. How bizarre!
"Day 3- Jan 1, 2002"
Happy New Year - Lakeside Lobby
We found out that even the pets have to dress in layers!
