AUGUST 13, 2003 » Photos: Final Day in China » Wrapping Up the Trip, Going Home AUGUST 12, 2003 » Photos: U.S. Consulate » Finishing U.S. Papers AUGUST 11, 2003 » Photos: GuangZhou » Medical Exam AUGUST 8, 2003 » Photos: Passport » Finalizing Paperwork AUGUST 7, 2003 » Photos: Trip Through Hunan AUGUST 6, 2003 » In the Orphanage » Photos: Orphanage - Cameras Not Allowed AUGUST 4, 2003 » Changsha, China » Photos: First Day as a Family AUGUST 3, 2003 » Paperwork and Waiting » Photos - Come Together Intro » Adopting a Child from China

In Changsha:

What struck me most, as I arrived in Changsha, was its size. I had expected to see a small, sleepy town of perhaps a couple hundred thousand people. But Changsha, as it turns out, is a medium-sized city of almost 6 million, and geographically it is larger than the whole of Massachusetts.

The city is a mix of old and new. It is not uncommon to see modern high-rise buildings rising from among old three-storey apartments. The roads are lined with commercial stores, many of them selling local liquor and cigarettes. As with the rest of China, motorbikes and bicycles are a common sight. Even the pedestrian overpass has a bike lane!
-Aurora Santiago