Shanxi Province - Taiyuan

If you are not interested in traveling to Shanxi province…stop reading. I wrote this post primarily for other adoptive families who will travel to Taiyuan.  The odds of anyone else who reads my blog traveling to Taiyuan are slim.  Shanxi is one of the northern provinces in China - not to be confused with Shaanxi which is a different province.  Shanxi is pronounced “Shan See”. 

All adoptions in China are finalized in the capital of the province the child is from.  China has 22 provinces, in case you were curious.  My research told me Shanxi is one of the most polluted places in the world, Yuncheng City in particular (that is where Doodlebug is from).  Yuncheng City is one of the southernmost cities in Shanxi, about a 6 hour train ride from the capital.  Yuncheng means “transportation city” and their main industry salt mining. I learned all of this stuff from our guide, Lisa.  

All families adopting a child from Shanxi province must travel to Taiyuan (not Taiwan, don't get it twisted). If the children are living elsewhere in the province, they are brought to Taiyuan on their “gotcha day”. 

I’m going to write as honestly and as descriptively as I can about our experience in Taiyuan, for the benefit of other people who are reading this to get information on adoption travel.  I also want to preserve what I experienced so I can share with Doodlebug when he's older.  I imagine how he joined our family will be of interest to him at some point, and I want to be as descriptive as possible. 

I will start my descriptions of Taiyuan with a disclaimer:  I’ve traveled A LOT.  Different or weird doesn’t freak me out and I’m OK with being outside my comfort zone.  I’m not even sure I have much of a comfort zone anymore.  I try to be positive and appreciate the opportunity I have to experience a country or a culture that not everyone gets to experience.  I have not read many positives on Shanxi from other families who have traveled there, which makes me sad.  I hope I can offer a different spin on things without sugar coating our time in what is NOT the vacation capital of Asia.  I traveled with determination to keep positive.  Attitude is everything. 
 
How to get there (or at least how we got there) -

The nearest city is Beijing.  If you’re flying in to Beijing it is easy to get to Taiyuan from there.  We took the train from Beijing in to Taiyuan.  We explored the idea of flying – the flight was hour long and cost about $150 per person.  The train ride was 3 hours and cost about $120 for both of us, first class.  I’m not sure what “first class” got us, but I think it may have been just a reserved (non “cattle car”) seat.  We bought our tickets through the same travel agent that booked our international flight.  Our Beijing guide (also booked through the travel agent)had our train tickets and gave them to us right before we boarded. He practically put us on the train.  It was very easy. 

The train station was easy to navigate – super crowded, but fairly clean – and we had no trouble finding our platform.  You have to show your passports and go through  security before boarding, but that did not take especially long.  The train was clean and made minimal stops (Taiyuan is the end of the line so there was no worrying on what stop was ours).  Announcements were made on a PA system and were said in English.  There was also an electronic sign in our car that let us know what was going on.  The train had a snack cart with refreshments for purchase.  By the way, they don't have Diet Coke in China.   

Train station in Beijing, getting ready to board

I'd hoped to get a gander at some of the scenery, but there wasn't much to see.  I could see the air outside was very polluted and smoggy.  The train was comfortable enough and we managed to get a bit of a nap.  I would recommend the train to any traveler.  It is cheaper and faster, when you factor in drive time, standing in line to check bags, going through security, and so on.  There are baggage storage areas in each train car and there is no worrying about weight.  China domestic flights have strict weight limits on bags and I know we were over.  Once we got Doodlebug in Taiyuan, we'd have an extra traveler, eliminating our baggage weight problem.

The train station was very crowded when we got off in Taiyuan.  We were swept along with the sea of people toward the exit.  Our guide, Lisa was waiting with a sign that had our name on it.  I felt a little like a celebrity.  I was certainly getting stared at enough.  We had a short walk to the parking lot and I remember thinking “I’m not in Kansas anymore”.  I have never been to Kansas in my life, but I really did feel like we’d just dropped out of the sky in to a very strange land.  It was surreal.  This was my third day in China and I hadn't yet experienced this kind of staring.  There was no attempt to hide it.  I later learned we were probably the first westerners some of the locals had seen.   

Where to stay – we stayed at Shanxi Grand and found it adequate.  We got some feedback from other families and were told the Continental Hotel wasn't very nice and that the World Trade Hotel was great.  Our agency had made the travel arrangements and they had a partnership with the Shanxi Grand.  

Lisa actually took us to the Continental Hotel by mistake and tried to get us to stay there, but since we'd prepaid and had a reservation at the Shanxi Grand, I made her take us there.  She tried to tell us the Continental Hotel was nicer, but I insisted.  It seemed like a nice enough hotel to me but I wanted to go where we were booked.  

The Shanxi Grand was OK.  It was neither the best or worst place I’d ever stayed.  The lobby area was very nice with marble and sculpture.  There was a lobby bar where a pianist played most nights and a basement bar/ice cream shop.  We sat in the lobby bar to do paperwork a few times and it was pretty nice.  There was also a shop in the basement that sold sundries and trinkets.  It was really smoky down there.  

The hotel had 2 restaurants.  One was exclusively Chinese and one had more Western food on the menu (but some Chinese dishes too).  The Chinese place had good food.  There is some stuff on the menu that most Westerners would find gross (duck web, sea cucumber, abalone)but there were also more familiar Chinese dishes as well.  The wait staff in the Chinese restaurant didn’t speak  but there was an English/picture menu.  The staff in the Western restaurant spoke better English.  They had a variety of things to eat – sandwiches, burgers, steaks, pasta, and a few Chinese dishes.  The Western restaurant (and I’m sure it has a name, I just don’t remember it) had more extensive hours than the Chinese place.  The food was okay.  If you’re going to Taiyuan, you are probably not going for the food.  

A buffet breakfast came with the room.  They had an omelet bar/noodle bar, fresh fruit, cereals and pastry, and a wide variety of Chinese dishes (noodles, dumplings, rice) every day.  It was all pretty good and I got to try some stuff that I wouldn't ordinarily eat for breakfast.  

Our agency reserved us a standard room and we upgraded after our first night.  For a couple, the standard room was fine but once we got Doodlebug, we felt we needed more space.  The difference was about $30 a night and worth it.  You have a lot of down time on an adoption trip and it is nice to have some room to spread out.  

This was the standard room and our totally craptastic "crib". 

I always do this.  I know it's dorky. 

 

 

The rooms were OK.  They were clean and comfortable enough.  The bathroom was stocked with a variety of toiletries and the towels were nice.  We had a fridge and a hot pot and we got 2 bottles of drinking water per day (all standard issue with a hotel room in China).  The TV had 2 English channels – BBC and HBO.  Doodlebug also really liked the Chinese children’s cartoons (love me some Pleasant Goat).  

Housekeeping was great, but I will say I thought the hotel room smelled funny.  While the  room did not smell like smoke, the hallways did.  I took a few Yankee Candle "car jars" and they helped some.   

There was usually at least one person on duty at the desk that spoke passable English.  Word to the wise – speak slowly and avoid using twenty dollar words.  Stop periodically and make sure you are being understood.  If a Chinese person does not understand you, they are unlikely to tell you.  If you have any sort of regional accent factor that in to a non-English speaker's ability  Chinese person’s ability to understand you. You southerners who add extra syllables to words...I mean you.  This is one of the few places I have traveled where most people between the ages of 18 and 30 don’t speak at least some conversational English.  

There is an indoor pool with a nice shallow kiddie area.  Swim caps are required.  I packed these Hubs and I and they allowed our 2 year old (who had very little hair at the time) to wear the shower cap from the toiletry selection in the room.  It wasn't the best fashion moment for any of us.  It actually took me awhile to feel romantic toward Hubs again after seeing him in a royal blue swim hat.  I am sure I didn't look much better.  The hotel had swim caps available for purchase, too, but I was prepared and brought our own.  Based on what I saw, the Chinese are more conservative in their swimwear than we are.  I took what I considered to be a modest 2 piece bathing suit, but if I had a do-over, I would have taken a one piece or something with more coverage.  I did get stared at A LOT in the pool…most Chinese women don’t have a whole lot going on in the boob department.  I’m sure I was quite the novelty. 

There was a flyer in our room advertising massages – they were really inexpensive.  We decided we wanted to get a massage on gotcha day (we weren’t due to leave until 3PM) and we had some time to kill.  I might have been a tiny bit tense.  Weirdest experience – we went up to the “massage room” and there was a lady lying on a twin bed taking a nap.  I had gone in to the room first and I thought we had accidentally gone in the wrong door and I turned around and started to leave.  The lady stood up and said something like “You want a massage”…it was pretty obvious that she was the only one on duty giving massages and we didn’t have enough time to go one after the other – so we decided not.  We said no thank you and left…and the lady slammed the door behind us…I think she wanted to get back to her nap.  It was weird. 

The Shanxi Grand was in a good location.  There was a Spar supermarket on the next block that had a good selection of baby supplies and quick foods.  We bought some noodle bowls (super tasty, puts Top Ramen to shame) but the best part about this store was that we got to buy BIMBO CAKES!  Bimbo is a line of cake stuff (it looks like Little Debbie but without the girl in the cowboy hat). 

Shopping in this store was quite the experience.  We had fans - a group of store employees that followed us around the store looking to see what we bought. They would literally "oooh and ahhh" when we picked up an item and then giggle when we dropped it in our shopping basket or reshelved it. We bought noodles, Bimbo Cakes (they are yummy, by the way), bottled water (much cheaper than in the hotel gift shop) and baby powder.  I wonder if they were disappointed.  I should have bought something racy just to make it more interesting for our little audience. 

There is a “Super Store” next door to the Civil Affairs Office (where you go for your adoption appointments in Taiyuan).  It is like a super Wal-Mart. Tip:  it is hard to find apple juice in China but pear juice abundant.  

Front of the Shanxi Grand.  This statue played music.

 Some shots of the hotel exterior - I would call it a businessman's hotel

 Would I really make up a thing like Bimbo Cakes? 

There is a very nice park that is about a 10-15 minute walk from the Shanxi Grand.  It is called Yingze Park.  You go out the front door, take a left and then another left at the first major intersection (one word - FROGGER).  Travel down the main road and you will find the park just after the next major intersection on your left.  There is a large rock wall/fountain…it is hard to miss.  The park goes a long way back and has some fun things to do –(animal shows, aquarium, boats, kiddie rides, a playground and concessions.  It is a very nice green space to walk around in.  It is stroller friendly and there are some places to sit.  The pictures below don't do it justice. 

There was also a Pizza Hut/KFC combo across from the park.  We ate dinner at Pizza Hut one night.  It is different than American Pizza Hut.  It was a casual with table service that happens to have a few pizza dishes on the menu.  We had a pizza (Doodlebug was not impressed).   It was decent but not quite the same as American Pizza Hut.  We also had desert.  Hubs had some type of strawberry cake.  He ate it fast and didn't offer me a bite, so I guess it was good.  Doodlebug and I had ice cream, which he clearly thought was the bees knees. 

 

We never tried the KFC or tried to find the McDonalds (there was one somewhere in the general area) and honestly I was a little ashamed of myself for eating Pizza Hut instead of trying to find someplace cool for dinner.  Although we are wannabe foodies and always try to sample the local food, this was a little different.  We were tired most of the time and dealing with a baby who had a limited window of good behavior in a sit down restaurant so we didn’t eat outside of the hotel.  I wish we had.  

 

What else to do?

We spent 4 days in Taiyuan and 2 of them were devoted to  adoption stuff.  We had “electives” on the other 2 days.  First, we went to the City Museum.  It is very nice and  modern – 4 stories tall.  We went with our guide Lisa and another family that was adopting a little girl from another city in the province.  We probably saw about half of the museum.  It wasn’t super exciting for the little kids but our crew did really well.  We had a really fun experience while we were there:  2 school-aged children approached and talked to me (through Lisa).  They could not believe “real live Americans” were visiting their city.  They were very friendly and when I commented on her Angry Birds shirt she was AMAZED I had heard of Angry Birds.  So funny to experience that world view. Some museum pictures:

  

The second free day was spent at Yingze Temple.  This was about a 45 minute “death ride” from our hotel (seriously, I thought Hubs' driving was bad).  It was a nice, peaceful haven in the middle of a crowded, smoggy city. We saw lots of Chinese tour groups and I think they were most interested in checking us out than they were seeing the temple.  The air was cleaner here, which was nice.  Some pictures: 

Bee!

On our last morning in Taiyuan we had just enough time to eat breakfast and check out of our hotel.  Lisa brought Doodlebug's Chinese passport to us, which why we'd been hanging out in Taiyuan. "Orphans" don't get passports, so his identify documents weren't processed by the Chinese until we stepped forward as his parents.   It took about 20 minutes to get to the airport, which was new and modern.  The security was the most…um...shall we say thorough...I’ve ever experienced.  The girl “waving” the wand over my boobs totally owes me dinner.  Shots of the lobby:

 

We took China Southern Airlines to Guangzhou…about a 2 hour flight.  Nice airline…the flight attendants spoke decent English, and we got served a hot meal that was actually pretty tasty. If it would have been Southwest, we'd have had to pay for pretzel bits, so the "Lean Cuisine" was bonus. 

Go to Taiyuan with an open mind.  It will be “different”.  It will look different and smell different. Keep positive.  If you don't find your usual brand of Pringles, is that what's really important?  Try new things, get outside your comfort zone and soak up the little glimpse of your child’s home province that you get the opportunity to see.  You'll be the turd in the punch bowl.  Suck up the staring.  Ignore it or smile.  It is not rude, ugly staring.  The people of Shanxi province are generally friendly but you are just so far from what they are used to seeing.  Imagine if you had NEVER (ever, ever, ever) seen an Asian and one dropped in to your town for a visit.  The pollution is rough (take throat drops and eye drops).  Don’t harp on how the food/traffic/air/people is/are different.  It will be different.  It is half a world away.  Embrace it and remember why you get to be there – your time in Taiyuan will be over all too quickly. 

This is Doodlebug asleep in his crib on his first night as our son.  Worth all of the smog and staring.