Well, not yet. We assembled at the second-floor Seafood Restaurant for another lazy-susan style Chinese lunch, where we were told that the orphanage gifts would be collected about 5:00. At that time also, the orphanage directors would be here to be questioned about our children's backgrounds, ages (some children - ours included - didn't seem exactly the ages that had been advertised), and histories, as far as could be known. We also got the afternoon and the morning off! The only thing left on the program for Nanchang, apparently, was a short trip to the famous local pavilion Wednesday afternoon, followed by some shopping. Thursday afternoon, we would fly on to Guangzhou, where we would spend the final week in the absolute lap of Chinese luxury at the five-star White Swan Hotel, getting our medical exam and clearance, and final documents from the American Embassy.

We were halfway home.

Grateful for the lack of program, we retired, one and all, to our rooms for some well-earned naps. There was a small obstacle to said naps - it was at this juncture that a local construction company decided to start its scheduled renovation work on the hotel. We had already noticed drywalling going on in the elevator shaft - apparently, they were installing a couple more elevators, to help out the two inadequate elevators they now had – but now came a new wrinkle: the rhythmic pounding of hammers, seemingly right by the outside walls of our rooms! It would start every day at about 1:30, and carry on until 5:30. As before, Becky's apparent ability to sleep through cannon fire saved HER nap, if not ours...

The Lakeview really IS a nice hotel, with a ton of amenities. Mealtimes feature excellent buffets, well-prepared and attractively laid out, GREAT for new parents, trying to figure out what a complete stranger baby likes to eat, while also finding something you can live on yourself. (A word of caution, though - Don't try the pizza, and stay away from the "Sauteed Forg".) The rooms had WORKING air conditioning, a queensize bed (at last! I could sleep WITH my wife!), bedside reading lamps with dimmer switches, and something new in the bathroom basket again: sanitary bags - just right for wrapping up soiled diapers!

I was also intrigued by their 24-hour business center, where you could get extra copies of those vital documents at Y1 apiece. I managed, once again, to resist signing up to rent one of their computers with Internet access - although the rates were MUCH more reasonable in Nanchang than in Shanghai. It's Y100 per hour for computer rental, and the same for Internet access. That's an hour for about $25 US - not bad! However, I decided to ask around and see if anyone wanted to split the hour with me - after all, how long does it take to send an e-mail, addressed to "Everybody", saying, "We Got Her!!!"

TV was strange. Only 9 channels - that DID include HBO, but of course none of the movies was worth anything to us. CNN is not real interesting, if you're not a 24-hour newshound; and the Chinese channels alternated propaganda broadcasts, soap operas, and kung-fu features. We had been told there were cartoons available, but the one we saw was pretty horrifying. Imagine Johnny Quest - in Chinese, of course (no subtitles). Now imagine real blood in the fight scenes, and endlessly protracted death sequences. By the time we flicked it off, there was a python on the screen, dying massively with a bowie knife through its neck! Fortunately, Becky seemed equally fascinated by the spinning globe screensaver on my laptop. Fine - we'd stick to that.

And the hotel lobby was MOST impressive - both its design and the horrendously expensive jade artwork. After it was all over, my family, at least, voted this Our Favorite Chinese Hotel.

At 5:30, we gathered in ShiYan's room to deliver our gifts of clothing, toys and utilities to the Guixi orphanage , and to talk once again with the Directress about our babies. We found out that Guixi is actually a large, spread-out rural county, rather than a city, chiefly known for the largest copper mine in Asia. The directress actually runs a Social Welfare Institute, which not only handles the care of orphans, but also China's new problem - seniors who have no place to go. (In former times, they just moved in, by right, with their elder son's family; but since the one-child policy, an increasing number of them have only daughter's family - and she has to take care of her husband's parents first. Once again, the Law of Unintended Consequences!) The directress told us she has half a dozen seniors, and about 60-70 orphans at any one time - a few dozen babies, more or less, plus older children who have not been adopted and taken away, and some much older kids with extreme special needs, who will likely never leave. They have 20 - a decent ratio.

The babies stay on the first floor, the older children on the second. They like to keep the two groups separated, not only because their care is so different, but also because the older children, who know they have virtually no chance of finding adopting parents, have a habit of stealing the babies' toys for comfort.

We found that the babies usually all get up at 6 am, and are fed breakfast - usually rice congee. A midmorning bottle (cows' milk - soy formula is unavailable in this poor county) is followed by a nap, then lunch, an afternoon bottle and another nap, then dinner, an evening bottle, and bed by 9 o'clock (which is pretty much sunset in these parts).

How many babies come to Guixi? It depends on the season - sometimes they get none for a week; more often, one or perhaps two a day. Some get left at the orphanage gate; some are left in front of public buildings in town; still others come in via phone call (the director has her own cell phone) - "Hi, I'm at the County Farmers' Market. There's a crying baby in front of my stall, seems to have been left here during the night. Can you pick her up?" We will never know who their parents are, or where they came from - since child abandonment is a felony in China, everything happens anonymously.

Several of our group, touched by the story, asked if they could send toys, blankets, furniture to Guixi. No, we were told: the government makes them pay import duties, even on donated goods - it would end up costing the orphanage money, which they can ill afford. It costs every nickel of the government's allotment just to feed and house the orphanage's children. Money would be accepted, of course... And the staff always welcomes letters describing how their former charges are doing. Soon, the orphanage's address was passed around, and the meeting broke up.

Dinner was a reprise of the hotel buffet - you can't beat dinner for Y88, and the selection is good AND well-prepared. Besides, when all the families eat together, you get to compare notes which babies are eating what, who's sleeping, who's pooping... Aw, this is a GREAT group!

After dinner, we vowed, we would bathe her at last. And THAT was an experience! I firmly believe the little girls are NOT usually bathed - one of the other fathers said, when he changed his little girl, there was dust in the cracks! Since Becky did NOT smell like a goat, I deduce that she got one (horrendous) bath before being delivered to us (probably right after she got carsick). She was quite evidently determined that nothing like THAT was EVER gonna happen to her again, not while there was a breath left in her little body!

Well, it broke us up - especially Christy, our little tenderheart. "Mom, do we HAVE to do this to her?!" But it was short, it was necessary - and Hey! - when it was over, she was clean, she was tired, she was abed by 9:00 - right on schedule. In fact, so were we all - I conked right out.

Shanghai/Nanchang

Getting 2 Know U!