Teng Wang Pavilion and other sightseeing

Emily slept almost 11 hours without making a sound.  So far, she is a good sleeper.  She may cry for about one minute, but then closes her eyes and is out - and undisturbed by TV, lights, water boiling (must boil water here to brush teeth or have coffee, etc...), cars honking outside.  I had hoped that we were "due" a good sleeper by child number 3. :)

 

We met our guide and her son and went to the Teng Wang Pavilion.  The actual pavilion was erected in 1985 (so not as impressive), but is supposedly in the spot of a 2000 year old similar structure after which the 1985 creation was based.  It is surrounded by smaller pavilions and koi ponds and gardens.  It's also on the banks of the large river that runs through Nanchang to reach what is largest lake in China.  LOTS of steps, but since Emily wants nothing other than to be outside (she yells something that sounds like "go guy yo" all the time and her orphanage people told us it was their local dialect word for "go outside"), she was in heaven.  She walked and walked and walked and went up and down stairs and in and out of rooms and shops.  She is one busy girl.  To keep up with her, I missed most of the tour and explanation of the rooms and art pieces, but somebody has to be with her and she is bonding well with me (and Justin too).  We saw a performance on the 6th floor of the pavilion with chimes and women dressed in traditional costumes.  It is very humid here (about like being outside touring in Atlanta) and we were sweaty and gross (which has become our norm).  Local men just pull their shirts up halfway and let their sweaty stomachs air in the breeze.  We didn't want to do that, so we just melted.  After going up and down 6 stories of a pavilion with Emily and otherwise chasing her all over the place, my shirt was all untucked and hair all matted, but we took pictures anyway.  She was so happy outside.  Lots of people saw her and told us how beautiful she is.  The sad part of that is that if she does NOT have on her sunglasses, some people just stare and make no comments or ask questions of our guide.  (but not all are that way - some have been very kind regardless)  With her sunglasses on, they think she is a little tow-headed American girl and very cute.  With sunglasses off, they can see that she is not American and she is perceived (by some, not all) as being unlucky.  She wore the glasses today.  If they are on and she is busy, she doesn't mind them.  If she notices them on - in a moment of peace, she rips them off.  She doesn't seem to mind the bright light.  She just squints a lot. 

 

After the Pavilion, we went to the porcelain district (Nanchang is known for porcelain) and bought a beautiful tea set.  Many families do this to have something to later give their daughters as a wedding present.  We had not brought very much Chinese money with us today and didn't expect the store to accept US credit cards (most places don't), so we may go back to the stores for more things if we think we can fit them in our suitcases and transport them home without having anything break. 

 

Later today, we will attempt the stroller again and head to a new park to explore.  Tomorrow morning, we are doing one final park and some other shopping.  We are ready to move on from here since there is not much more to do in town (outside of town, there are beautiful mountains and rafting, etc... - but we can't do those things on this trip).  We leave for Guangzhou Friday night. 

 

No crying today (yet) from Emily and she woke up happy and came right to me from her crib.  She definitely "knows" us now - even though we've only had her for 3 days.  She still prefers me to Justin, but she will play with him and do things to make him laugh.  If she is outside and on a walking mission, she will let him hold her hand.  She did some "exploring" on her own today in our hotel room.  (On prior days, she would stay only right beside us).  She even went around a corner where we couldn't see her and then popped back around and laughed.  I'm glad she is feeling more comfortable with us.  She has a beautiful mischievous smile.  Her eyes move a lot from side to side.  That is called nystagmus and is very common in children with albinism.  It can be corrected with surgery.  It doesn't seem to impact her vision too much -- or she has, at 18 months, already learned amazing means of compensating.  She does not seem to see the computer screen (or maybe isn't interested), but she definitely sees other things and - to our surprise - was very, very good with steps and uneven ground today.  She knew to raise her foot when the ground shifted or when a step appeared.  That is something that children with albinism often have difficulty with (depth perception).   Having learned so much already about albinism (especially from the Facebook parents group) and having been able to observe Emily for 3 days, I can now completely see why all the moms said that this "special need" is really no big deal.  If you didn't know Emily's vision has some level of impairment and you just watched her going around, you would never know. She has learned to adapt even at her young age.  I'm excited to think about all she will be able to do in the future.