Another Free Day (China Day 10)

Helen woke up in a great mood today after a full night's sleep:

We had breakfast and then the three of us ventured back to Shamian  Island to do some more shopping.  I think we mentioned before just how beautiful and peaceful that place is.  This time we took lots of pictures.  The island is full of local shops, and it has a very nice park.  It was bustling with activity, from shopping tourists to locals playing mah jong, playing badminton, or "jamming" in a band...of sorts.  If it's this busy now, we can't imagine what it was like back when all of the adoption appointments were held here!  There are so many talented artists there as well; painters, carvers, etc.  There was even a shop that shared a name with our little miss.  The owner gave Helen a free little bracelet for sharing her namesake.  We think pictures tell the story of the island best, so here you go:

Helen posed for some pictures on the island.  Below you'll find, of course, at least one mandatory picture of  Helen scowling for the day:

There's a famous statue on the island, titled "Lingering Music".  It's of a woman playing violin with several children following behind her.  There's a space before the last child where you traditionally have your own child stand for a photo opportunity.  Helen wanted no part of it.  We're definitely printing the picture below for her high school graduation party:

When we got back from the island around lunchtime, Helen was feeling a little warm.  She had a slight fever of 99, so we put her down for a long nap.  Steve headed out with the agency for a tour of the jade and pearl wholesale markets.  The jade market was mostly outdoors, and there were more than 100 different vendors selling their goods.  People were tough negotiators there!  Steve eventually found one lady and negotiated her down to less than 10% of what other dealers were asking for the same jade pendant (he's proud of his mad bargaining skills).  This felt much like negotiations when we were in Kenya.  Sadly, just like in Kenya, unknowing tourists (usually rich, older westerners) will pay those outrageous prices without negotiating, so the sellers don't want to budge on prices for non-locals.

The wholesale pearl market was a few blocks away, and this was basically an indoor shopping mall... that was seven stories tall!  There were hundreds of stores inside.  This is where dealers come to purchase strands of pearls and other jewelry wholesale to resell.  They were even tougher negotiators, but Steve got a really good deal here as well.

Unfortunately, Helen's temperature rose a bit more while we were out for dinner with some of our new friends.  She had a fever of 101 when we put her down for the night.  We gave her Tylenol, but please be praying that the fever breaks overnight!!

We have only four more sleeps in Guangzhou, one sleep in Hong Kong, and then we'll be home!  The end is feeling very near!