We have just returned from our tour of Guangzhou to take a short nap before we leave to get our baby. (Like that's really going to happen).
I had to blog about the tour. We are on an island in the middle of Guangzhou and where we are, it is absolutely beautiful. There are a lot of Western buildings in the area, and where our stay is the area has no resemblance of where we came from, Beijing.
Today on our tour, which is a Monday, there were several people outside enjoying the day. The weather is much like that of Texas, but without the humidity. We saw couples that were taking wedding pictures, older people doing Thai Chi, ballroom dancing, a children's playground with an adult playground next to it. Can you imagine instead of sitting on a bench watching your children play, you could just be a few feet away playing yourself. I thought this was a nice concept and pleasant to look at -children playing and adults playing as well on exercise equipment next to the playground. Even though it's not like the exercise equipment that we are used to seeing in the states. We also got to see what I think was the military, training outside. It looked just like our military, but they were Asian. There was also a group of older adults all singing together like a choir. And we saw a lot adults playing this game that looked like hackey sac, but it wasn't a ball, instead it was something similar to the hackey sac, but it had feathers on it. It was nice to see adults playing and having fun like children.
In China, because of the over population, the average age for retirement for females is fifty, and for males it is fifty-five. So that is probably why we were able to see so many older people enjoying the day.
I know that there is a lot of poverty here, and people who live hard lives under the circumstances of a poor country that is over populated. But what I saw here today were a lot of people enjoying life and living in the moment. It was very peaceful and nice to see. And from talking to the tour guide a lot of people will come here to enjoy themselves, and the scenery is a daily occurrence. I don't think I will ever forget the beauty.
I almost forgot to mention, that when we came back to our room we had a gift from the hotel on our desk. It was Barbie holding an Asian baby with a sign saying Going Home.
We're still counting down till GOTCHA!!
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2 comments:
How beautiful. What a testiment to life. I love the concept of playing and being in the moment. Here in our society we have such a difficult time giving ourselves permission to just play and enjoy life. I can sense the joy in your writing! Continue to soak in every moment as they come. YOu are almost there!
It sounds amazing there - and how cute that they are so supportive of the adoptions. In Guatemala - they weren't as supportive - so we had to be very careful of where we went and what we did... so I'm glad you're having a different experience. It's such a great gift to be able to experience this with you guys via this blog too - I know that you guys will treasure this when you get home.
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