THE PRINCESSES OF NANCHANG

June 25-26, 2009

Following our three nights in FuZhou/LinChuan District where our daughter Hannah got to see her hometown and her foster family, we drove about two hours to the capital of JaingXi Province, the city of NanChang. I have to admit that NanChang is sort of a blur to me as I was really quite sick for the two days were spent there. No one else in our travel party got sick, so I am wondering whether it really was something I ate, or a virus I came into contact with.

Anyway, I definitely remember that we checked into our hotel, and then asked Cody to take us to the nearest McDonalds. If we thought the KFC in FuZhou was good, we were absolutely in heaven by the time we got to the McDonalds in NanChang. We all enjoyed our favorite, and even our normally vegetarian daughter Hannah ate a McD's fish sandwich with fries.

The McDonald's was located near a lot of shops, so we went shopping for a few gifts after dinner, then headed back to the hotel. The hotel was absolutely wonderful...truly a five star establishment. Everyone from the desk clerks to the valet parking attendants were professional, courteous, and friendly, in addition to being able to speak English!

This is the TengWang Pavillion in NanChang

On the morning of June 26th we visited the TengWang Pavillion (or pagoda, depending upon which guide book you read). This was our third time visiting the TengWang, and we enjoyed seeing the familiar sights, as well as buying more "stuff" from the many booths inside the building.

By far the high point of our visit was when Perrie and Hannah dressed up in authentic Chinese period costumes and had their pictures taken. In one picture they are wearing the type of clothes that an Empress might have worn, and in the other picture they are each dressed in the lovely gown of a young princess. Their favorite was the princess costume....of course, a princess costume for my two princess daughters.

That afternoon while I rested, Coby took Paul and the girls shopping, and of course the kids came back with more beautiful dresses. I have been told that the area in which they went shopping was almost as nice the area in ShangHai called NanJing Road where we also went shopping at the start of our journey.

That night Coby went above and beyond his duties as guide...because both Paul and I were so tired and overcome by the heat and humidity, he took our daughters to dinner, followed by watching a dancing fountain program ala Las Vegas, with plenty of colorful lights and dancing waters set to music. Thank you Coby for that night of rest.....you are THE BEST!~!!!