Colton's China Blog 2010

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5/10/10 Last day! In Guangzhou that is

Morning and midday were uneventful, it was the night that was cool. Most of the day we packed and packed. My sister, Abby, asked my dad if we could get a massage. Now a massage in the U.S. costs almost 100$, right. A foot, back, and neck massage for three people only costs 35$ here. First the massagers came in and gave us hot tea and oranges, turned on the TV and air conditioning, and left. Next a man brought in buckets of steaming hot water for us to stand in. Then three massagers came in and dumped a black liquid into the buckets. Next they worked out all the kinks in my back, neck, and feet. It was heavenly! after our masage we headed back to the White Swan.

5/9/10 Happy Mothers Day!!!

Today we planed something special for my mom that will blow her mind. We are taking her to a beautiful hotel resort in southern China on the pearl river. Also we are letting her get another kid(okay, that's what we were going to do anyways but it feels good being able to say I did something incredible for my mom)! The best we could find was a Thank You card. Other than mothers day, today was uneventful.

5/8/10 White Cloud Mountain

Finally we got to get out to see more beautiful, natural China. As soon as I herded the name White Cloud Mountain, I thought about that song that that giant African-American guy sang about over the rainbow. White Cloud Mountain is close to that perfect. White Cloud Mountain is a beautiful mountain covered in green tropical trees, waterfalls, ponds, rivers, and temples. Most people walk up the mountain. My family and I are not those people. We hired a tram to take us up the mountain, having only one stop to see some temples. At the top we took some pictures of the city and got on a gondola that took us too the bottom. All in all, it was a good trip.

5/7/10 Everybody Leaving but us

Today was more of a resting day than anything else. A lot of the adopting families left today wether to another part of China or to the U.S. In a few days were headed for Hong Kong. After that were going home! Right into testing at our school! Write again later!

5/6/10 Contstant Day

Today we went to the American contstant. An American contstant is a place for Americans in foran countries to get help at. We went there to get final permission to bring Tai back to the U.S. First Tai took pictures with the other family's children. After that we got in a shuttle that took us to the contstant. When we arrived we had to put all the stuff in our pockets(including money and expensive electronics) and walk through a metal detector. After sitting in a large dull room for 30 minutes(give or take a few) my parents were called up. They talked with the person at the counter, showed some some documents and ID, and we left. Luckily, Tai is coming back to the U.S. Yay!!!
Click to enlarge

5/5/10 Zoos and Circuses

Today we went to the zoo. When we got off the bus we found a gate that was covered in designs and colors. After we bought tickets, we walked in to find clowns on stilts. That's when we realized that we were actually in the circus. We finally found a worker who could speak English. After explaining that we were looking for the zoo, she changed our tickets and pointed us in the right direction. As soon as we walked in, we could tell this was no ordinary zoo. They had every thing from red ibises(tiny red birds) to pandas to tigers(my favorite). There were some things we got to do that you can't do in the U.S. We tossed bananas to hungry elephants, feed branches to giraffes, and took pictures with baby tigers. After our walking tour, we got in trains that took us in a driving tour. It was like a safari park tour. My favorite animal on the tour was the white tiger. After the tour we were all exhausted and crashed back at the hotel
Pandas at the zoo
Click photo to see more zoo pictures

5/4/10 Six Banyan Temple

This temple is actually a temple. As soon as we walked inside the gates, we saw a giant Buddha inside. After we walked past the Buddha we found a giant tower! Our tour guide said it was about 17 floors high. Although it doesn't seem like very much, this was an old tower. After the tower we went to this room that had small pictures of different people. Our tour guide told us that these people were people who had worshiped Buddha at Six Banyan Temple. Next we went to this room where there were three giant Buddhas. One for the past. One for the present. One for the future. We kneeled and bowed three times (three is a lucky number in China). Then a guy came out, sang some nonsense, and sprinkled water on us. After that we left the temple.

5/3/10 Chen Family Temple

Today we went to the Chen Family Temple. The Chen family was a very powerful family in China. Their temple actually was more of a home and school for the Chen family. The temple was very much like the Forbidden City meaning that the architecture and the atmosphere were similar. There were beautiful statues too. One of the statues had a sign that said "No visiting" (when they said no visiting they meant no touching the statues). After we were all done touring we swam and went to bed.

5/2/10   Health Exam

Tai has to be very sore! Today Tai had to have a medical exam. Without this exam, Tai won't be able to go to the U.S. Us and a bunch of other adopting families walked to a small shop. A woman took pictures of the adopted kids and their parents. Next we walked to a hospital where all the adopted kids(including Tai) got their size, weight, and condition checked. Then came the hard part. After Tai was evaluated, we walked over to a room inside the hospital. While mom, dad, and Tai went in while Abby, Meilyn, and I stayed outside. We heard screaming. After a couple minutes mom, dad, and a crying Tai came out. Dad told me that they had to hold Tai down while the doctors gave him 6 shots! I felt sorry for him but without the shots he wouldn't be able to come back home. After a quick swim in The White Swan's amazing pool, we went to bed.
Click to enlarge

5/1/10 Guangzhou

This morning I hopped on a bus that took us to ANOTHER airport! After ANOTHER 2 hour flight we landed in Guangzhou. As soon as I walked off the plane, it felt like I was breathing pea soup. Dad said that there is 95% humidity in Guangzhou! We got on ANOTHER bus that took us to our hotel. The hotel we were staying at is called The White Swan. It's a five star hotel! As soon as we walked in, my mouth fell open. In the middle of the lobby there was a giant water fall! It had had to be at least 40 feet high! there was a beautiful pond at he bottom and trees and vines all over the place. And this was all inside the hotel! After we checked in we went up to our suite. When they say suite, they mean suite! Every thing was perfect! From the furniture to the pillow arrangement. After a little bit of shopping we went to bed.

P.S   (This P.S. is for my class so if you aren't in my class, stop reading this.) Today I got souvenirs for everyone in my class.
Waterfall in the White Swan Lobby
Click to see more pics of our first days in Guangzhou

4/30/10    ............

Not very much to say about today. We rested. Nothing more. We are leaving to a city called Guangzhou tomorrow. Write again later.

4/29/10 Daming Lake

Baotu Springs and 1000 Buddha mountain aren't the only beautiful outdoors sites in Jinan. Daming Lake is a large lake (duh, it's a lake) in the middle of Jinan. You say Daming Lake like Dawming Lake. there were tons of trees and beautiful ancient Chinese architecture. Dad forgot the battery for his camera so I had to take all the pictures. We found out that Long Long has a very tiny bladder. He had to go to the bathroom at every bathroom around the lake. It took us awhile but we got to the gate on the other end of the lake.
Click the picture to see my photos of Daming Lake

4/28/10 Baotu Springs

Our tour group went to a place called Baotu Springs today. Like Spokane (a city my family lives near), Jinan (the city we're staying in) has an aquifer running under it. It was beautiful! There were flowers and beautiful green trees everywhere! Fountains and koi pools were numerous, too (to my classmates who requested it, I took pictures of the koi). We found an large empty pool on our walk. We were going to walk past it when two freshwater seals swam into the pool. After we took pictures we continued our walk. When we got to the end, we walked to Wal-Mart (yes, they have Wal-Marts in China). There were some new things to us in there. They had Pringles and Chips Ahoy but they were shrimp flavored Pringles and Chips Ahoy with orange chips. After we got everything, we went back to our hotel. Until my next entry - zaijian (good bye)!
Click photo to see my
Baotu Springs Pictures

4/27/2010 Buddha x 1000

Without our tour guide, today was crazy. My family went to 1000 Buddha Mountain today. The name says it all. It's a mountain with 1000 Buddhas on it. Buddhism is the main religion practiced in China. A Buddha is a holy man who they believe had a connection with God. We climbed pretty far. My estimate is that we passed about 400 Buddhas. Two of them were over 40 feet long! On the way down I bought an instrument. I wanted to get a crossbow, but Dad said it wouldn't get through security coming home. Luckily, everyone was exhausted and fell asleep at the hotel.

4/26/10 Paperwork

Although Tai is with us now, we still have paperwork to fill out. My Family and I got up early and got in a van that took us to a hotel. There waiting for us was the director of Tai's orphanage. He gave my parents some papers while my sisters and I took a seat. After about an half an hour then we left. The van took us to a large building were we found the director with more papers! Another half an hour passed. We gave the director our big bags of donations, took a picture with him, and left. Finally we went back to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day.

4/25/10 Meeting Tai

I can't believe I've met my new brother! This morning we got in ANOTHER bus and went to ANOTHER airport and got on ANOTHER plane that took us to a province called Shandong. Right after the plane ride we went to our hotel, got settled in, and got news that Tai was being brought to our hotel room. Dad gave me the video camera and told me to take video of the first couple minutes with him. When he first came through the door everybody swarmed him but me who was standing back trying not to take video of peoples backs. He looked very shy and acted shy to. after the people from his orphanage left he didn't say a word. We tried entertaining him with bubbles, colorful balls, and light up tops. Eventually he started playing and talking, in Chinese. Every one was worn out by 7:00 and went to sleep quick and easy.
Click to enlarge

4/24/10 Beijing

Today we went to The Forbidden City and The Great Wall! My family, our tour group, and I got on bus that took us to Tiananmen Square ( the largest city square in the world ). as soon as we got of the bus people swarmed us taking pictures and trying to sell us stuff. Mom said they don't see foreigners often. The Forbidden City was beautiful! We walked for over 3 hours! Next came The Great Wall. The steps were so uneven and the climb was so steep that I only got to the first guard post which is very high up anyways. I bought a medallion that says I climbed The Great Wall! After the long day we got to sleep as easily as on the first day.
Click photo to see more Beijing pictures

4/22/10 - 4/23/10 Planes

Today was very boring. First we got on a 1 hour flight from Spokane to Seattle. Then we got on a 13 hour flight from Seattle to Tokyo! The first thing I noticed was that there were TVs in the seat backs. During the flight I watched "Avatar", "Fantastic Mr. Fox", "Toy Story", and played "Bejeweled." We were served lunch, dinner, and snack. After that horridly long flight we got to the airport and got on another plane! Finally we got to Beijing and met our tour guide. We rode into Beijing on a bus and at 11:00 we crashed in our hotel room.

Hello Hello Hello!!!

Hi! My name is Colton Dotson! My family is going to China to adopt a little boy named Long Long. He is three years old and was born without his right hand. This is my blog where I will post pictures, videos, and stories of our trip to China.

I was born in the year of the Earth tiger. This is why I chose a picture of Earth and a picture of a tiger for my banner. The symbol in front of the Earth is the Chinese symbol for tiger. 2010 is the year of the metal tiger.

My sister and I have been collecting donations for the children in Tai's orphanage. Our dentist donated toothbrushes and toothpaste, and our friends and family donated money and clothing. So far, we have collected $200 for the orphanage, and over 8 pounds of clothing!