We reached an important mile post today. In the morning, our bus took all of the adopting families in our group to the US consulate in Guangzhou to review our paperwork and take the oath of US citizenship for Qiuchan. While the US embassy is in Beijing, all adoption approvals and oath taking ceremonies are handled out of the US consulate office in Guangzhou.
All of our paperwork was in good shape and the oath ceremony went off without a hitch. Oddly enough, Qiuchan will not officially be a US citizen until she sets foot on US soil, which will be Dec 12th. I'm not sure why the consulate does not count as US soil for purposes of citizenship, but apparently it does not. Now, we are just waiting for the US to issue her visa allowing her to immigrate to the United States. The consulate officials have assured us that we will have that before our flight on the 12th.
After taking are of business at the consulate, we spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping on Shamian Island in Guangzhou - Chinese silk outfits for Qiuchan, silk pajamas for Gray, t-shirts, a stamp with "Greer" in Chinese characters, etc.
Last night, we took a dinner cruise on the Guangzhou river front area. It is amazing how many new, enormous buildings there are in this city. In the area around the new television tower, property averages around $650 per square foot - not cheap. It is amazing how many enormous cities there are in China that most of us have never even heard of.
Tomorrow we wait for the visa and leave for Hong Kong for a few days before heading home. Signing off for now, Sasha, Qiuchan, Gray and Lee.
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