Huazhou

by brianwalch · Published June 18, 2016 · Updated November 12, 2017

We arrived in Guanzhou and walked out to a massive train station where we met our next guide, Sarah, who will be with us to the orphanage and for the rest of our time in Guangzhou. We collected our things, grabbed a few snacks, and went out to our van and met our next driver, Mr. Yuen. He and Sarah have worked together for years and he will be our driver for the rest of the time, also. We headed out of Guangzhou and on to the highway for a 5 hour drive to Huazhou, Jenna’s home town.

When we adopted Jenna we had the opportunity to go visit her orphanage one day. Luckily for us, my mom and dad had come with us and so they took Jenna for the day while Amanda and I, plus about 7 or 8 other parents in our travel group, took a long day and drove to and from Huazhou to visit the orphanage. I remember bits and pieces of the drive; it was a very long and emotional day, but there are still a few things I remember. On this drive, the highway seemed a bit nicer than I remember and our journey was generally uneventful. We made a couple stops at rest areas along the way, where there were gifts and snacks available, and lots of people. After about 4 hours of that, we got off the freeway and headed on to more of the country roads I remember from our last drive. It was obvious we were in rural areas, as opposed to a city, as buildings were in various states of repair (or disrepair), chickens were running around many of the places, and piles of rubbish were scattered about. There is hardly any construction going on around the area and generally you can just sense that it is a less wealthy area of the country. That being said, there are still signs of increasing wealth… nice cars, for instance, but not as many of them as you see in the cities.

We pulled up to our hotel, which had a massive entrance and the façade of a grand hotel. The inside didn’t disappoint, either, and it was fun walking in and looking at the huge chandeliers, the soaring ceilings, and the glass elevators that ran on the outside of the building all the way up to the 31^st floor. Our rooms were on the 26^th floor and had majestic views of the city and the Ji River, which runs through Huazhou. The area is known for an orange they grow here, which they dry and use to eat, put in baked goods, or make tea out of. It is supposed to be good for the throat and since Amanda and I are sick, we’re planning on buying some. The hotel is hosting a conference on how to promote the orange growing area of Huazhou as a tourist destination, so there are a lot of folks here for that and a booth set up in the lobby of the hotel, displaying a variety of products with the orange. It had been a long day and so we met our guide for a dim sum dinner at the hotel and then retired to bed.

We had a relatively leisurely start to the next day, having breakfast in the hotel before meeting Sarah. The hotel is a 5-star hotel, but it caters only to Asians, as the area does not see many Westerners. Most hotels we have stayed in have some Western options, but this had none, and so it made breakfast a bit more of an adventure for them and us. Jenna and I actually ate a chicken foot, since we’d seen so many dishes with chicken feet served and thought this was our chance to try it. Throughout our visit to Huazhou, we attracted a lot of attention everywhere we went, and breakfast was no different. People were taking pictures of all of us while sitting at their tables. It isn’t uncommon when, riding on an elevator or standing somewhere, for people to try and discreetly take selfies with one or more of us in the background. I find it humorous and entertaining, but it makes Amanda uncomfortable.

On to the orphanage visit… I think Jenna had nervous excitement about going to visit the orphanage. We pulled up to the familiar building, looking just like we remembered it. A couple people were there to greet us and welcome us. They took us in to a small waiting room with couches and we spent some time looking at Jenna’s records. It contained many of the documents we had received as part of her adoption, but also had several additional baby pictures and some of her progress charts of her weight and height. I took pictures of several of the pages, but there were no additional records we were able to take with us. Jenna also presented her scrapbook we had made and talked to them a bit about the things she does, her family, and her schools

When we adopted Jenna there had been a young women who had helped take care of her and had delivered her to us in Guangzhou. When she left Jenna she was sad and had cried, which of course made all of us teary eyed. Through some last minute scrambling, we got pictures of her sent to us and showed them to the orphanage staff. They were able to identify her and, though it was her day off, she came in to meet us and take some pictures. Unlike Carli’s orphanage, Huazhou has adopted out a lot of children (about 1500), so the workers’ memories of individual children aren’t quite as strong, but I think she appreciated seeing Jenna come back and we thanked her for taking good care of her in her first year. We also met Ms. Li, who has been overseeing adoptions since the late 1990’s. She was the most enthusiastic about Jenna’s return and hearing about her current life. We remembered her from our gotcha day encounter, too. She gave us her contact info and asked that we continue to send updates about Jenna as she grows.

After the orphanage visit and on the way to lunch, we went to Jenna’s finding place. It used to be the Great Wall Hotel, but now is some type of military academy, so we were a bit limited on the pictures we could take there, but we got a few. Last time we had visited we were lucky enough to drive by there on the way out of town and so I have distinct memories of the street, the traffic, and the hotel entrance. It will be fun to go back and show Jenna those videos now. Next, the group took us out for a very nice lunch. It was funny because it seemed that Sarah wasn’t super engaged with them and their discussion (and of course we weren’t); but, we later learned that they were all speaking Cantonese, which she can follow, but not speak well. We weren’t able to communicate a lot with them, but we did show them videos and photos and try to explain a bit about life for Jenna and us. The food was awesome and several of the dishes where very specific to that region. Regardless of the language barriers, food is universal and the Chinese style of sharing plates around a large lazy Susan becomes a shared moment and memory, regardless of words spoken.

We concluded our visit with the orphanage staff, said goodbye, and went back to the hotel for a nap. Unfortunately, I’ve got a good old fashioned cold and so I ended up sleeping for well over an hour. Everyone else had a bit of a rest and some needed down time, too. We then ventured out for a walk around the hotel and to experience the streets of China, one of my absolute favorite activities. Not far from the hotel is a walking street where there are tons of shops and street vendors. I’ve concluded the Chinese just like noise in general, as stores were blaring music and people were using loudspeakers to attract attention – and this was the middle of a normal workday. Of course, we got a lot of attention wherever we went and it is hard not to always be thinking about the fact that no less than 10 people are watching your every move. We spent about 2 hours walking the street and in the middle of the stroll there were a couple schools that let out. The parents or grandparents were all standing outside the door, waiting for the kids, and as they streamed out they would put them on their mopeds and drive off. It was absolutely wonderful chaos! There were kids and people and mopeds everywhere, total pandemonium. Kids were looking at us and smiling and we had fun waving and smiling back at them, getting humorous kid reactions.

For dinner we went to a local restaurant well known for the local dishes, the main one being chicken that is poached with oranges. The restaurants here are huge, and this one was considered on the small side (because the town of 2 million is considered on the small side). It had 5 floors and we were shown into a private room on the second floor. We ordered a bottle of apple vinegar, a local drink that was heavily advertised on the walls. It was quite tasty and is kind of like a light apple cider with a little effervescence. The place setting dishes were pre-assembled and shrink-wrapped; Sarah explained that this restaurant didn’t do their own dishes, but sent them out, and we were to watch Mr. Yuen how to prepare to eat.

The dish set contained a small plate, 2 bowls, one larger than the other, a tea cup, a spoon, and a small dish for soy sauce, all stacked together and wrapped up. We also had a pair of chopsticks. In the center of the table was a plastic pan and a pot of tea. After unwrapping the dishes, but keeping them stacked, Mr. Yuen poured tea into the tea cup, using the chopsticks to direct the flow, until it overflowed. He then put the tea cup on its side in the bowl and turned it so that it was all coated in the hot tea. He then set that aside. He took out the submerged soy dish with his chopsticks. He then took the smaller of the bowls (the rice bowl) and turned it on its side, spinning it so that it was completely coated. He then took that out so all that was left was the bigger bowl (the soup/food bowl) full of hot tea and the plate. He put his spoon in the bowl and coated as much as he could. He then took the bowl and slowly dumped out the water in to the pan in the center, turning it as he did so that it was completely coated. The plate was not washed because it is just used for scraps, bones, and other trash created during the meal. You do this with the first pot of tea because typically the first pot does not have much flavor. Sarah said that this whole process was very customary in the Guangdong province, but would be considered odd in the north, where she is from. We all followed suit with our own dish set and it was fun, adding a bit of ceremony to the beginning of the meal.

We spent quite a bit of time waiting for the meal to start, finishing our dish washing ceremony, having some drinks, and talking. The food started arriving and we had several dishes brought in, some of which we had eaten at lunch. It was fine to eat some of the food again as it was interesting to see the different preparation and tastes that each restaurant took. However, I think when we say we’re getting tired of Chinese food, a big part of it is because we just don’t know enough about the different options to vary our choices. Anyway, the chicken also came out and it was very good. It was served on the bone and cut into small pieces. They provided a box of plastic gloves which definitely made eating it a little less messy. The texture of the chicken was a bit more rubbery and chewy than chicken we have in the states; it wasn’t bad, just different.

On the way out of the restaurant we saw the kitchen area. It was almost like an outdoor kitchen; it wasn’t large, but it was enclosed with a thin plastic and it was definitely not part of the main structure. Outside the kitchen were two women, squatting down washing a whole, de-feathered chicken in a pan of water that was sitting on the ground. Behind them was a small pen with 4 or 5 live chickens, sublimely trying to tell other restaurant patrons to not order the chicken. I finally realized why our meal took a while to arrive… the chicken we ate had probably only been dead an hour or so by the time it arrived at our table. Little did the restaurant know they were part of a leading farm-to-table movement!

We went back to the hotel and headed to the pool, a large outdoor kidney bean shaped pool located on the 5^th floor. The kids had a long swim while Amanda and I sat on the pool and looked out over the city, reflecting on the wonderful and full day we had. I definitely enjoy the smaller cities in China more than the larger ones, as the experiences just feel so authentic. Tomorrow, we drive back to Guangzhou and it looks like we may rejoin one of our tour group families for a day. Otherwise, Guangzhou will mostly be on our own and us setting the agenda, so it will be a lot less touring, which is fine with us. Here are some pics; you can click any of them to enlarge them.