Shaiman Island and Pearl River Dinner Cruise - Monday

Monday was another day of no appointments - a great day for shopping on Shaiman Island in the morning! Shaiman Island is a landmark in the China adoption community as it used to be the hub of international adoption. All families adopting from China would stay on the island since this is where the US Consulate was located. The island is a charming little village that resembles what you would see in Europe. This was originally the site of many international consulates in China.  Unfortunately, several years ago, the US Consulate moved off the island into the city of Guangzhou. For the many shops and  businesses that thrived on the constant flow of adoptive families, this has put a definite strain on the economics. The famous White Swan hotel closed over a year ago to undergo a major transformation and updating - hopefully the new hotel will help renew the tourist interest when it re-opens.

We were taken with our whole travel group to the island for two hours of shopping. It's a great place to get the traditional souvenirs of chop sticks, kites, silk dresses, silk accessories and, yes, squeaky shoes.  We were one of "those parents" that bought Makenna squeaky shoes and she loved them! We enjoyed the time to get outside and walk around - although we didn't expect Makenna to decide that she wanted to be carried the whole time by Mama - little girl gets heavy, but definitely good signs in the attachment process so I'll take the back ache!

Monday night we opted to go on the Pearl River Dinner cruise so we could see Guangzhou at night time - many if their buildings have beautiful lights along the river.  Makenna wasn't quite sure about the boat at first, but she warmed up to the idea and had a lot if fun! She especially loved when the clown came out for entertainment!

Shaiman Island is a popular destination for wedding portraits - there were couples all over getting pictures taken!