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Our Nevada Clan
An Adoption Journal
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
A WORD OR TWO ABOUT GUIDES - by TODD
NOTE: there are changes in italics below to try to clarify this post. We like CCAI very much and very much loved and appreciated the guides for their help. In the original post, I made some speculations as to the reason that we might have been brought to these specific shops, but I really have no proof of these things, and there are definately alternate explanations (e.g. the shops were reputable, but, without the paticipation of the guides, the shops realized they had a captive audience, and thus would not bargain - also the fresh-water salt-issue could have been an isolated mishap). My fear is that, in trying to just tell people to not take things for granted and to use their judgement, that I might get someone in trouble. Our guides were great and I love CCAI... Id use them again. So these changes reflect the wish not to accuse anyone of anything but to act as a caveat to everyone to use the same "shop around" cautionary philosophy you would use in the US.
I have been swamped this week at work, and I wanted to get some kind of post out (to let you know Im still intending on continuing). I figured Id sqeeze out a small post about guides - maybe doesnt deserve a full chapter heading, but it deserved to be in the book, so:
TODDS GINORMOUS GUIDE TO CHINA
PART 3: GUIDES
During your visit to china, you will have 2-3 groups of guides – one in each city that you stay in. They will organize the paperwork-filling sessions, arrange to get you to appointments, and arrange other optional excursions. Some of these excursions will be pure shopping, and others will be sightseeing (most of these have shopping too). Many of the trips to big stores (friendship stores, department stores) may be necessary or even mandated by regulations, but I was surprised (this is likely a product of my own naïveté) that when the guide...
Our Nevada Clan