Guangzhou Intinerary

Then we spend our last 4 days in Guangzhou China where the American side of our adoption is finalized and we get Kaiden's Visa to bring him home. We barely have any time here to go sight-seeing. We will be staying on beautiful Shamian Island.

Guangzhou

Name: Kelly

Accommodations:

White Swan Hotel

Phone: 0086-20-81886968

Date	Time	Events
03.28	1:10pm	Pick up families with CZ3162, and then send to WS hotel.
03.29	9:30am	Sightseeing tour to Chen family’s Temple
03.30	10:00am	Doing Medical Checkup and taking child’s visa picture.
03.31	9:00am	Guide goes to American Consulate to hand in family’s document.
04.01	3:00pm	Family goes to American Consulate for interview and get visas.
	6:45pm	Send family #1 away with HU7802. (need half-day)
	9:00pm	Send family #2 away with CZ327.(need half-day)
04.02	8:00am	Send family #3 away with CZ3101, and then arrive into Beijing at 10:55am.

Our fly in and out of Beijing so we have to leave Guangzhou Wednesday night to spend the night in Beijing so we can catch an early flight home on Thursday but we don't arrive back in the USA until Friday afternoon.

Beijing Intinerary

We just received our itineraries for China. We won't follow the Beijing one exactly since we plan to fit some 'down time' into it and time to visit with our friends living there. We are family #1 so we get there second out of the 3 families that we will be traveling with. We are also only staying at the hotel for the first 3 nights. Then we are going to stay with friends for the duration of the trip. But here is what it is supposed to look like:

Beijing

Guide Information:

Name: Michelle

Accommodations:

Poly Plaza

Phone: 0086-10-65001188

Date	Time	Events
03.14	2:00pm	Pick up family #3 with CO89, and send to hotel.
	9:50pm	Pick up family #1 with NW29,and send to hotel .
03.15	11:45am	Pick up family #2 with CZ3105, and send to hotel .
	2:30pm	Families go to Beijing CWI to meet children.
03.16	9:00am	Do relevant paperwork.
03.17	10:00am	Shopping for children.
03.18	9:00am	Sightseeing Tour to the Great Wall
03.19	9:00am	Sightseeing tour to the Zoo.
03.20	9:00am	Get the adoption certificate, and then go to police office to do passport.
03.21	9:00am	Sightseeing Tour to the Forbidden City and Tian An Men Square
03.22	9:00am	Sightseeing tour to the Lama temple.
03.23	9:00am	Sightseeing tour to the Summer Palace.
03.24	9:00am	Go to Hongqiao market .
03.25	10:00am	Get adoption certificate, and then do some paper work for passport.
03.26	9:00am	Sightseeing tour to the Jingshan Park.
03.27	2:30pm	Get passport.
03.28	10:15am	Send families to Guangzhou with CZ3162.

All Packed

I can hardly believe that we are packed and ready to leave for China! 6 people traveling for 21 days with only 3 suitcases. We leave in 12 days. Time is really starting to fly by now. I still have to pack the girls carry-on back-packs with new games and books but that can wait until next week. I'm just happy to have the big stuff done. I still have to wash a few outfits for Kaiden to toss in there but it's pretty much done. Now we just have to wait.

Intra-China

Our intra-China flights and hotels have been booked and paid for. We won't receive our exact itinerary until 3 - 5 days before we travel. Just 3 more weeks to go! Lots of packing for the trip and packing up of the house as well. We will be moving somewhere shortly after we return home from China. The less I have to pack with a new toddler at home, the better! We are packing lightly for China though. Intra-China flights have a 44 pound luggage limit and the friends that we are staying with have a washer/dryer that we can use. Of course this means many of our pictures will look like they were taken on the same day because we'll be wearing the same clothes!

Consulate Appointment

We'll be in China in 4 weeks! We received our appointment with the American Consultate today for March 31. Now we have our tentative itinerary. This means we are able to book our international flights. Once those are paid for, then our agency will begin scheduling our intra-China flights & hotel. Here is what our schedule looks like:

3/13 - Depart U.S. in the afternoon

3/14 - Arrive in Beijing

3/16 – Gotcha Day! (this is the day that we meet Kaiden and get to take him with us)

3/17 – Finalize Adoption at Civil Affairs

3/18 – 3/27 – Enjoy your time in Beijing! (spending this time with our friends that currently live there)

3/27 – Receive your child’s passport

3/28 - Fly to Guangzhou on the morning

3/31 - AC appointment

4/1 - Family goes to AC to pick up passport with visa and take oath in the afternoon then fly back to Beijing

4/2 – Depart China (and arrive back home on the same day because of the the time change)

Travel Approval

Travel Approval arrived today! Now our agency has to apply for our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangdzou to finalize the adoption in China. Once we have that, then we can make travel arrangements. That should only take 2 - 3 business days to get. We could still be in China in just 4 weeks!

Tentative Timeline

Here is what our schedule while in China will tentatively look like:

Here’s a current GWCA schedule for a family adopting from Beijing (I used tentative dates, yours will be for a different week, same time frame):

3/6 – Depart for China

3/7 – Arrive in Beijing

3/9 – Meet your child

3/10 – Adoption finalized

3/11-3/19 – Sightseeing and enjoying your time in Beijing

3/20 – Receive your child’s passport

3/21 – Fly to Guangzhou

3/23 – Consulate appointment

3/24 – Receive child’s visa

3/25 – Fly back to the US

The trip for a family adopting from Beijing is longer than for families adopting from many other provinces (although not as long as some). The standard trip is not quite 3 weeks long.