The Red Couch

"People who adopt children from China often learn the legend of the red thread, a mystical tie that will lead them, despite setbacks and challenges, to those they are fated to love.

At the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China, there is a red couch that has come to embody both that cultural legend and the adoption dreams of thousands of families.

The couch has become famous as the place where many parents take some of their first photos of their newly adopted children.

It is a literal love seat, a resting place that says the journey to find each other - to follow the red thread even as it twists and tangles - is complete."  (Excerpted from The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 28, 2011)


As a symbolic final act before leaving for the airport today, we took Jia to the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island (Guangzhou, China) to have her photograph taken on its famous red couch.  Here is our lovely daughter, pictured on the red couch in the traditional garments of her amazing homeland:

And here are some additional photographs taken that same afternoon at the beautiful White Swan Hotel (and yes, those are essentially the same clothes we will be wearing when we arrive in Norfolk, some 30+ hours later...):

In the lobby of our hotel, our adoption group prepares to leave for the Guangjhou Airport: