Our Daily China Itinerary

Before I post this, for security reasons I want to let everyone know that yes, we've got someone to stay at the house. Our next-door neighbors have three college-aged kids who will ALL be home due to our trip coinciding with Christmas break. They and their friends will make use of our vacant home as a place to stay, hang out & watch television. Perhaps that will also be good for our cats.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I'm thrilled to share with everyone our daily schedule while we're in China:

December 23rd
• Fly from Springfield to Chicago to Hong Kong
December 24th
• Arrive at Hong Kong International Airport
• Check into airport at Hong Kong airport
• Ask for train tickets during check-in (they should be waiting for us)
December 25th
• Take train to Guangzhou
• Meet guide at the station and go to hotel
December 26th
• Free Day (we may meet up with a family from Florida adopting 8-year-old "Natalie" from the same orphanage as Shaling)
December 27th
• Go to Civil Affairs office to meet Shaling & sign adoption agreement at 2:30 p.m.
• Guide will takes us to a department store to buy daily necessities for Shaling
December 28th
• Go to Civil Affairs office for adoption registration & notarization
December 29th
• Pick up registration certificate
• Apply for Shaling’s passport (pay fee for expedited passport)
December 30th
• Meet guide and take a van to Long Gang SWI (Shaling’s orphanage)
December 31st
• Pick up Shaling’s passport
January 1st
• Take Shaling’s photo for her visa
• Shaling’s medical exam & TB test
January 2nd
• Visit the Guangzhou Safari Park
January 3rd
• Pick up Shaling’s TB test result
January 4th
• 9:30 a.m. – Shaling’s visa appointment & our oath-taking ceremony at the Consulate
January 5th
• Free Day
January 6th
• Pick up Shaling’s visa in the afternoon
• Local guide will have our train tickets & take us to the train station
• Take train to Hong Kong
• Check into hotel at Hong Kong airport
January 7th
• Fly from Hong Kong to Chicago to Springfield

Our flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is just over 15 1/2 hours long. Our flight from Hong Kong to Chicago is around 14 1/4 hours long. However, based on take-off & landing times, the flight TO China looks like it takes 30 hours and the flight home looks like it takes 15 minutes.

The time change is 14 hours, such that if it's 8 a.m. here in Illinois, it is 10 p.m. in China. If it is 6 p.m. in Illinois, it's 8 a.m. the NEXT DAY in China.