Chengdu to Guilin

We got to sleep in a bit today and set the luggage in the lobby at 7:30. Then we ate breakfast and relaxed until 9:30. We headed to the Chengdu airport hoping to fly out at 11:30 to Guilin in the Guangxi province (Anna's province) but we were delayed until 2:00pm. The girls hung out and played cards and hackey sack. They have all bonded very well.

 Anna and Grace saying goodbye to our Chengdu local guide, Carol. 

Our national guide, Eric played hackey sack, too. 

Once we landed in our new city of Guilin, we met our local guide, Fran, and she immediately began talking to us. It is very beautiful here. Guilin is a small city for China. Five million people live here. That is small? Chicago is 8 million, right? The mountains are everywhere here as you drive through the city. Not a lot of tall buildings here. 

We went to Normal University and the girls were able to learn about Chinese painting from a professor there. They each painted their own version of what he painted. 

Because of the plane delay today, we were unable to go to Elephant Trunk Hill, but we did have dinner and headed to the hotel. We walked through the streets of town. All 45 of us. We are always quite the spectacle. We will hopefully see Elephant Trunk Hill another day. 

Walking to dinner in Guilin

We have 16 girls in our group that were adopted from China. I think the ages range from 5-12 or 13. We have two other sibling girls along as well. Here are a few before dinner. 

Anna saying Happy Father's Day 

Tomorrow we cruise on the Li River, as long as the water isn't too high. We just checked into this hotel tonight and we will check out in the morning. We will stay at a different hotel after the Li River Cruise and then this one again the night after tomorrow. We pack, unpack, and then pack. Then repeat. It is ok because this is how we are getting to enjoy China so much.

Goodnight from Guilin, China.