Exploring Nanning

We took some time this afternoon and walked a few blocks from the hotel. We took Lauren in several of the little shops lining the streets. These shops are pretty much the same all over China... very small spaces (maybe only 8' by 12') that sell a particular kind of merchandise... some sell clothing, some sell cigarettes, others are tiny grocery stores with most of the essentials you need. We got Sprite for Lauren, some Chinese version of Oreos, chips, etc.... snacks to keep in the hotel room. These shops are open all across the front and close by pulling down a door similar to a garage door. Nanning has quite a bit of traffic...bicycles, bicycle carts, motorcycles, cars and trucks all mixed in together. Some of the bicycles are so old they look like antiques. It has been overcast here with drizzle and rain for several days. We're hoping for sunshine in the next day or two. Hannah told us today that Lili will be having part of her medical exam tomorrow morning and we may not get to see her until late in the day...maybe 4 or 5pm. Lori had been expecting to get to see her at 9am tomorrow and although she is dissapointed in the delay, we know that getting the medical exam out of the way is a plus for us. It's now 7:30 here and I'm the only one awake... the rest of the crew are all sleeping soundly...(still trying to recover from the BIG travel day). Things are going great so far. Our guide seems to be nice and very capable. We can't wait to get our arms around Lili... please keep us in your prayers that everything will go smoothly tomorrow.....Rick.