Shamian Island

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You spend 2 weeks with a group of strangers all adopting Chinese children, so you begin to bond with them. "Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much..." came on as we sat around talking and laughing. Before we knew it, we were all singing and swaying to Dan Hill's vocals.

As we left, we were approached by a non-Chinese tourist who tried to get us to exchange his $100 bill that was clearly counterfeit. When we suggested the currency exchange desk in the hotel, he booked.

Adopting parents will buy a special gift to give to their adopted child each year up until the child turns 18. This day is called Gotcha Day, which is the day the parents first were handed their child. Most people wind up buying an extra suitcase just for the gifts.

In addition to the shops, there are some amazing restaurants and one little grocery store called The Friendly Store, where we discovered Mint Sprite, Salmon Lays, and the most incredible Kit Kats ever--orange-flavored, not white chocolate dyed orange, but creamy, dark, chocolaty orange-flavored Kit Kats. (Gimme a break--sell those here!)

The temple is also famous for the Flower Pagoda (or Hua Ta), which rises about 200 feet straight up. Once again, I stayed below and waved to those who went up. Please note: There are no railings anywhere on the outside of the tower.

Three Buddha statues are housed at the temple, one each for the past, present, and future. While we were there, a monk performed a Buddhist blessing ceremony for those of us who wished one for our new children. The monks asked for a small donation; some of us gave $5, which was a huge donation to the monks.