Tuesday morning, we met our guide and driver and set off to do some shopping. Shi Wu is always happy to get out and go somewhere in the morning.
Here is the trash truck that plays Christmas music. I thought that was a nice touch.
The shopping mall was very, very nice, and quite a lot more expensive than I thought things would be in China.
Shi Wu saw a display of children's shoes and her face was just enraptured. She was so thrilled that it was just a very special moment. We decided to try some on. She was very decisive in her selection, but we had to size up because her feet are so deformed.
Pure joy! Her first time to ever pick out a pair of shoes. She is all girl.
She was so excited to show them to the driver when we got back to the van.
Here we are at the 2nd mall. I said the first was too expensive, and I wanted to find a pair of jeans for her. She walks on her knees a lot and it is ruining some of the clothes I brought. We found a really cute pair of denim leggings, which were still pricey, but I bought them anyway.
After the shopping trip we went to find where Shi Wu was abandoned. We have the finding ad which gives the location--near the river by a certain bus station. Lanzhou is divided by the Yellow River, and the north side is where the poorer people and minority people live. The south side is the city center and the more affluent side. We were clearly on the wrong side of the tracks, and the farther we went there, the more uncomfortable our driver became. Here is the bus station:
We walked down this narrow street by the bus station to the river.
The water is much higher than normal, but I still cannot imagine anyone leaving a baby here, especially in the winter.
Some of the men loitering around came over to ask what we were doing there, and when our guide explained, this man gave me a thumbs up, and said something in Chinese. The guide said he said he was very happy we would adopt Shi Wu and we are very nice.
After the finding spot, the guide decided to try to find the policeman who made the report 3 years ago after responding to the call of a baby found by the river. We drove around and around trying to find the police station, stopping numerous times to ask directions. Our driver didn't like being in this area at all. We took as many pictures as we could from the van. I kept thinking that Shi Wu's biological family could live anywhere around there.
We finally found the police station after getting out of the van and going down a series of narrow alleys. The police officer still works there but was off duty for the day. The guide is going to try to arrange to meet him some other day.
The conclusion of our outing was lunch at a local spot that specializes in the famous Lanzhou Beef Noodles. The meat comes in a seperate bowl and you add it if you want, so I ate mine without the meat. They were steaming hot and very spicy. Hannah and I both liked them but the chopsticks were a challenge. My lips were burning and I really wished that I had a drink of water, but we were told that you aren't supposed to drink water when you eat them and I had left the diaper bag in the van so I couldn't sneak a drink from my water bottle.
