Where are we going?

Our route to China will start in Chicago again. We'll fly from Chicago to Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Changsha, Hunan. On the way home we'll most likely take the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Chicago, then one more quick flight home!

Hunan is located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, and has long been known for its natural beauty. Hunan is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north ... it's mixture of mountains and water makes it among the most beautiful provinces in China. For thousands of years, Hunan has been a major center of Chinese agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges.

Our first week will be spent in Changsha, Hunan. Changsha is located in the northeast part of Hunan. It's the capital city of Hunan as well as it political, economic and cultural center. Similar to Kunming, Yunnan (where we were with Anna), Changsha has a subtropical climate year round as well. Changsha's population is 6.13 million.

We will meet Isaiah in Changsha, however he is actually in Hengyang which, by high-speed train, is about 30 mins south of Changsha. Hengyang is the second largest city in Hunan with a population of over seven million.

Hengyang is located in the middle reaches of Xiangjiang River and to the south of Mt. Hengshan in Hunan Province. It is a historically significant city renowned as the 'Bright Pearl in Southern China.' It is also known as 'Wild Goose City' because flocks of wild geese flying south for the winter have been known to stop there to rest.  

We are fairly certain that we will be allowed to travel to Hengyang to visit Isaiah's SWI and meet some of the wonderful people with ICC that have taken care of him. Speaking of ICC - please take a minute to check out their website and learn about all the wonderful things they are doing. If would like to help support them and the children they care for, please check out their donation options here. 

The second week of our journey will be spent in Guangzhou (Canton), just like last time - this is where all families spend their 2nd week in China and where our US Consulate appt. will take place. We are anxious to visit Guangzhou again as last time much of the area where most adoptive families stay was under construction and we didn't get to see a lot of the architecture. Guangzhou is the largest and most flourishing industrial and foreign trade center in south China. The population in Guangzhou is about 12.7 million! The climate is humid and flowers bloom all year round; hence its name as the City of Flowers.

We are starting to get really excited to experience China again! It's hard to believe that we are be just over a month away from going!