Guangzhou and the Safari Park

Min Min is in Guangzhou.  The US embassy is still located in the city and everyone who adopts must go through there before returning to the US.

She is staying at the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island, overlooking the Pearl River.  Shamian Island is a true island separated from the mainland by a canal.  Connie, Min Min and I stayed at this storied hotel when we went to China in 2002.  So well known, an adoption story book was written about it.  The island is also the location of the medical center where Min Min had her final checkup before her adoption papers were signed.

the White Swan Hotel

Along the Pearl River

the waterfall in the Main Lobby

History -

Shamian Island was an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. From the 18th to the mid 19th century, the foreigners lived and did business in a row of houses known as the Thirteen Factories, near the present Shamian, which was then an anchorage for thousands of boat people. Shamian became a strategic point for city defense during the Opium Wars period.  In 1859, the territory was divided in two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom (of which 4/5 belonged to the British and 1/5 to the French). It was connected to the mainland by two bridges, which were closed at 10pm as a security measure.  The English bridge to the north was guarded by Sikhs, and the French bridge to the east was guarded by Annamite French troops.

Trading companies from Britain, the United States, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Japan built stone mansions along the waterfront.  The construction on the island was characterized by climate-adapted but Western-plan detached houses with hipped roofs and large verandahs.  The island was the scene of fighting during the "June 23 incident" in 1925.  After 1949, the mansions of Shamian became government offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned into factories.

Min Min plans to go to the Panyu Safari Park outside of Guangzhou.

Bruce writes:
I came across a wonderful blog post about the Panyu (Xianjiang) Safari Park and Zoo:

http://research-china.blogspot.com/2005/09/my-girl-and-her-cub.html

I hope Min Min has a similar experience.