In China
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Tuesday, November 2, 2010 Our 12th day was pretty relaxing. We didn't try to do too much and there was very little official business. We'd been staying busy enough that we hadn't yet visited the massage place on North Shamian Street. It was time. To get there, you exit the White Swan at the 1st floor glass doors - not the tour reception area. You make an immediate left and walk to Shamian 5th Rd and make a right. This is a cobblestone road that will take you all the way to the north side. Make a left on North Shamian Street and walk down a few doors until you come to a building with wooden ornate lamps and large red lanterns. This is the Shamian Traditional Chinese Medical Center. You can get all kinds of massage, acupuncture, and Chinese medicinal treatments from trained doctors. The massage therapists are top notch and apparently they spend several years in school to work here. Unfortunately though for them, they work seven days a week with only a couple days off each month. Here are some prices: 90 minute full body oil massage - 198 RMB ($30 USD) 60 minute full body dry massage (clothed) - 98 RMB ($15 USD) 70 minute foot massage (includes clothed upper body massage) - 68 RMB ($10 USD) So we paid $40 USD and got 70 minute massages for all. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

First you are served hot black tea and delicious oranges while you recline in overstuffed leather chairs. Next, be prepared for a hot water foot soak that is as hot as you can stand it (I think they remove it from the fire and stick your feet right in). Then you'll get your back, neck, and shoulders massaged for about 30 minutes. Next up is a comprehensive foot massage. You can have deep tissue or relaxing, your choice. Last time I did this, I had a guy that did deep tissue and I couldn't walk well for a day or so afterward. I guess I should have told him to back off a little but didn't for some reason. This time I had a gal do it and it was so relaxing I totally conked out. Gemma was chatting with the massage therapists the entire time. They were laughing away. Gemma would laugh hysterically anytime she got touched in a ticklish spot. It must have been great for her to get a little pampering. Once finished, the massage therapists return with towels that feel like they've just been removed from the surface of the sun. They wipe all the oil off your feet with a very efficient multi-towel process that rivals the theatrics of Cirque du Soleil. They depart with a nod and a smile and it's time to make your way to the front counter to pay. You unfold the bills from your wallet as you slither down the stairs, your body now turned to jello. On the way back to the White Swan you notice a guy sleeping in a shady corner, his head covered in newspaper. You find yourself contemplating doing the same and begin looking around for an errant newspaper. Your thoughts then drift to the relative "comfort" of the bed awaiting you back in your room and just as you begin to plot how you could go grab a nap, your energetic 9-year old Chinese daughter screams out in perfect English, "DADDY, SWIMMING POOL!" Not a chance Darlin'. 2:00 came around and it was time to meet at tour reception to head out to the U.S. Consulate for our oath-taking ceremony. It was an uneventful 45-minute ride to the consulate and a simple process thereafter. We went through the security checkpoint and waited inside for our name to be called. A U.S. Foreign Service Officer gave some interesting information and statistics about the Consulate's presence there, as well as the adoptions it has processed. When our name was called, we simply when up and signed our DS-230 form again and that was that. When evening came around we got together with the Downes family and headed over to a new restaurant. We'd heard about it yesterday from Catherine after checking Gemma's TB result. It is directly west of the clinic, just a door or two down. It's a Chinese restaurant with no English name whatsoever. The doors to the place resemble folding blinds so it's a little hard at first to figure out which one to enter. This restaurant is one of those hole in the wall places that is just a jewel. The food was exquisite and cheap, easily the best Chinese food we've had on our trip - tender meats and savory sauces. We ate it family style so we tried quite a few things. There were of course many things we couldn't try that we saw on other people's tables, and it looked every bit as good. It's just too bad we didn't find it sooner because we'd be back for sure. The best part was getting to know yet another adoption family. Like all the adoption families we have become friends with, we very much enjoyed the company of the Downes family and there's no doubt will meet up again sometime back in the U.S. since they're just a couple states away near other adoption families we know.

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