Our day at Baiyun Mountain

Today was a great day of sightseeing. We went to a Chinese National Park in Guangzhou named Baiyun Mountain. We rode a cable car up and then walked around. It has a butterfly pavilion and a bird sanctuary. One of the pictures is of a show that was going on at Baiyun Mountain. People would come up and sing (some well, others...) and judges could gong people. The folks really were enjoying it. I wonder what they would have thought of one of us trying to sing.

They also had a bird show that we watched. The highlight was the very end when these birds would fly out from the stage to people holding money, perch on their arm, and then fly back with the money. The amazing thing is their recognition of money. They would only fly to people who were holding money (not other slips) and the money had to be 5 yuan or greater, or US dollars. A bird flew up to all of our kids, but I was only able to get a shot of Noah before they flew off.

After we left the mountain, we went to a Cantonese restaurant. It was a true cultural experience as they catered to locals and had no silverware for the kids. They are getting better with their chopsticks and were put to the test. We had a lunch of green tea, fried rice, fried noodles, sweet and sour pork, some tofu with corn, but the highlight had to be the steamed chicken. The plate was brought and the kids were stunned for a second--they steam the whole bird and then cut it up, and that is how it is served. Imagine our surprise to see a chicken staring back at us.

(Melissa is now blogging)

There were certainly no Americans in this restaurant, as our guide asked us if we wanted "real Chinese". As we walked up I was a little nervous and started praying because the smell was not at all appetizing! To the side was a blood stained bucket and MANY bones and feathers. When we got into the restaurant our guide asked us what we wanted since the menu was in Chinese.

All of the chicken/pork had bones in it. No such thing as boneless chicken breasts! Another sight is all the stray dogs that walk around the restaurant while you are eating. This was quite interesting for the Millers but this must be a common sight in outdoor Chinese restaurants since no one else seemed to notice them.

Sarah Beth was quite excited about the chopsticks and instantly picked them and tried to use them. This was her kind of food!! She loved the rice, noodles and especially the tofu soup. Her little mouth stayed open just about the entire meal. Her favorite food so far though I think is a Dove chocolate ice cream bar. My kind of girl!! Will post pictures of this treat later!

She is now playing with her stacking cups. She has now turned the "cups" into "bowls" and has J, A, and N lined up and is pretending to feed them, all the way down the line. I bet her foster Mama lined them all up and did the same. So cute!!!! We cannot get enough of her.