Yuexiu Park. A park in China during the New Year, with pictures

In 2011, we were on our third Chinese adoption.  When we went to Guangzhou, we had to stay at a different hotel.  This hotel was the Marriot at 122 Liu Hua Lu, Yuexiu District.  Across from this hotel was a huge park.  It is the Yuexiu Park.  From our hotel, we could see decorations at the park.  These decorations were for the recent New Year celebration.  Our travel happened after the New Year celebration in China.  As far as I know, no one goes to adopt during major holidays.  Most Chinese go home during these week long holidays.  There is a documentary called  Last Train home that documents this.  If you have not seen this, check it out.  It was very interesting.

During our stay, Angie would rest at the hotel from other ventures.  I did not always want to rest.  I wanted to explore.  One day, I brought Kayla over to the park.  We walked around and looked at all the decorations.  Near one of the entrances, they had paddle boats.  I thought that would be fun for us to go on.  We paid for our rental.

Getting on the boat was a challenge.  I did not want to fall in the water.  Once on the boat, we started to work the paddles with our legs.  I do believe I did all the paddling.  Kayla's legs were barely touching.  I had to get the boat moving.  When I did, navigating became an issue.  I would try to go straight and the boat would go to the left.  I would go right and the boat would go straight.  After some maneuvering, I was able to get the thing going.  I know we were probably entertaining for the people around us.

If you go to China for an adoption or sightseeing, exercise before you leave.  Get your body used to doing it.  Between all the walking, the Great Wall, etc., you will become worn out quickly.  We kept chugging along, trying to not run into others and the sides of the lake.  At the same time, I was becoming winded.  We managed to go around one time.

After, we walked around and looked at the New Year's displays.  We even got to see a group of people playing instruments.  One thing I saw, but Kayla did not, was that this park had an amusement park inside it.  If Kayla had seen that, I would not have been able to pull her away from it.  Before leaving, I got her an ice cream treat from a vendor.  As we left, Kayla got to pose for a picture with a child.  All in all, it was a nice visit to the park.