Trip to China
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Friday, September 5, 2008 ADOPTION PAPERWORK, VISIT TO THE HANGZHOU SILK MUSEUM AND A PERFORMANCE AT THE LOCAL THEATRE “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.” ~FaZhou (Mulan) Our guide met us this morning at 10:30 a.m. to take us to the notary office to receive three very important adoption documents. Because of the parking situation there and also because it was raining, she suggested that we take a taxi. Wow! What a ride that was! Just a few white knuckled moments and a couple of near misses… : ) We arrived safely and were presented with three copies each of Sophie’s Adoption Registration Certificate, Certificate of Birth and Certificate of Abandonment. Each has the official seal of the Hangzhou Orient Notary Public Office of Zhejiang Province. It was a short process as we only had to review the information and sign that it was correct and accurate. Sophie’s passport has been processed, and we should receive it from our guide later today. After receiving her passport, we will have completed everything necessary for her adoption here in Zhejiang Province ! After the trip to the notary office, we were able to take a tour of the Hangzhou Silk Museum and shopping center. Hangzhou is the largest silk producing province in all of China . The tour guide explained that the silk worms are larger here because of the climate and also because of the size and type of mulberry leaves that they eat. This makes the silk fibers longer, stronger and of a higher quality. We were able to watch a woman demonstrate how the silk fibers are unraveled from the cocoon and how the fibers are stretched to make blankets and other silk products. We were told that the dead silk worms are saved for other purposes such as for eating and also for cosmetics. The tour guide told us that there is more protein in one silk worm than in two eggs. She offered to give Ian some to prepare for dinner tonight : ) Yum! That might rival the fried fungus found at our hotel’s dinner buffet! The guide then explained that using skin products made from silk worms will keep your skin looking young and wrinkle free. The seventy- year-old Chinese woman demonstrating the process of separating the worm from the silk honestly had the most wrinkle free skin I have ever seen. By her smile, you could tell she was very proud of that too! Some other women demonstrating the process of stretching the silk for a blanket were anxious for me to join in and give it a try. They smiled, laughed and gave me a thumbs up afterwards. I think they found watching me quite entertaining! We were given three silk worm cocoons to take home for a souvenir and Ian took lots of pictures of the whole process. Looks like we have material for our next science fair project : ) We were able to purchase a silk blanket and traditional Chinese outfit for Sophie. Pink, of course! Tonight we will attend the local theatre with our guide to watch some sort of traditional performance. We’re not quite sure what to expect, but I’m sure it will be fun! More of that tomorrow… What can I say about little Miss Sophie? She is absolutely darling and melts our hearts a million times a day! Tomorrow, we will say goodbye to Zhejiang Province and fly to Guangzhou to complete the U.S. side of the adoption process. While I feel a twinge of sadness taking her from the place of her birth, I am also excited to begin the wonderful and exciting journey with her in our family. We have waited so long, and she has so many who already love her at home. I can’t wait for her to meet her sister, brothers and other family members! The local people have said that she is “lucky baby”, but I would have to disagree and say that, rather, we are the ones who are lucky! Or maybe a better word would be blessed… so, so blessed. “If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you’ve made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.” ~author unknown

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