This is where Chris came into his own, he had booked the appointment and rung the night before to remind the office we were coming, he steered the staff, as soon as we arrived, into filling out the form and getting the all important stamp. It just remained to hand over the 900￥and we were ready to go, but the familiarity of the building stopped us from leaving. I asked if we could see the room where we sat waiting for our daughter to arrive, where we finally became four. Without question we were guided into an all too familiar room and sat in the same chair looking into the expanse of a now cavernous and quiet space. We viewed pictures of children on the wall and were given warm water to drink and as we left the morning exercise routine for the staff began and the door closed behind us.
The journey to NingYuan took about five hours and cost 4000￥, a very expensive trip but it was the only way to get to the back of beyond and the principal destination of our trip. The weather changed and the sky slowly cleared, the dirty streets of ChangSha became an almost Scotland like countryside, beautiful houses, rolling hills and terraced fields, with lakes and rivers. The most noticeable feature though was the soil, it was a deep rich red, and Chris told us it was good for growing spices and tobacco. It was not until we reached NingYuan that the concrete began again.
The hotel was the Yong Shun holiday hotel and right off the bat we knew it was 'not the Dalton', but it was what it was and we were not here to be pampered. However the banging music up to midnight and the semi clad ladies on the calling cards slipped under the door gave us a clue as to the primary business of this establishment. The windows did not fit the frames and the bedding, although clean, had seen better days.
Chris informed us the director of the welfare institute had organised an evening meal in a local restaurant, so we decided to take a walk beforehand to explore our daughters place of origin, we were the only non Chinese in town. We followed the main road down to the Leng Jiang and watched the river flow by. A man sat washing his vegetables in the flowing river, which initially looked nice, but as we walked upstream and came across an open sewer emptying into the river, it took on a rather different meaning. So we distracted ourselves by admiring a pagoda and playing on the exercise machines on the way back.
The evening meal was huge and six people turned up plus another child, so we were eleven. The director was a small but amiable man, I think a nephew of his was next to him, curiously holding a jerrycan, a stern lay who turned out to be the assistant director of the local civil affairs office, three other ladies and the child. One of these ladies was presented as our daughter's orphanage mother, but more about her later. My feelings of distance began to disappear and we were presented as a family and our daughter was among her own, a child of Húnán.
I was my usual sceptical self, but it was hard to maintain, especially when the jerrycan came into its own as it contained the local hooch and faces began to flush and the talk got louder. I tried to say a few words in Chinese, I know what I wanted to say but who knows how it came out! It was then I realized we were seeing Chinese culture at its finest, food and family. I felt jealous and then sad, as it became clear I had brought many preconceptions to this meal, all of which were wrong.
The only downer was a large plated fish was presented mid banquet and I was told we were very honored as this was a rare local river fish. Our animal welfare roots made it difficult to accept this gift but having visited the local river made it harder to eat.
The director paid for the meal and we arranged to do the same the following night but we would pay to return the gift they had given us that night.
It was interesting to see Chris with a flushed face wobble happily from the restaurant.
第6天是2016年12月21日，下雨。我们再次背起行囊，和把一个大的粉红色泰迪熊装入一辆小巴，今天我们要去宁远。我们必须停在长沙民政办公室，获得访问福利院的许可。我们以前去过这个办公室，这是在2007年2月26日他们把我们的女儿交给我们的地方。
这是克里斯来到自己的地方，他已经预约好了，并在前一天晚上打电话提醒他们说，我们会来到办公室，他指导工作人员，一旦我们到达，填妥表格，获得所有重要的图章。这只须缴交900元人民币，我们准备去福利院，但熟悉的建筑阻止我们离开。我问他们，我们是否可以参观坐在那里等待我们的女儿到达的房间，那是我们终于变成了四个人的地方。毫无疑问地，我们被带领进到那个很熟悉的房间，坐在同一把椅子，看着一个现在篓空和安静的空间。我们看到墙上的孩子们的照片，并给我们一杯温水喝，当我们离开后工作人员的日常晨练才开始，大门也在我们离开后关上。
到宁远的旅程花了大约五个小时，费用4000元，一次非常昂贵的旅行，但它是唯一要到偏远的地方的办法，这是我们这次旅行的主要目的地。天气变了，天空慢慢地清了，从长沙肮脏的街道几乎变成像苏格兰农村，美丽的房子，连绵起伏的丘陵和梯田，湖泊和河流。最明显的特征是土壤，它是一种深红色，克里斯告诉我们，这对于种植香料和烟草是很好的。直到我们到达宁远，才又看到混凝土。
酒店是永舜度假酒店，我们马上就知道这不是道尔顿，但它是什么，我们不是来这里享受的。然而，直到午夜还有轰隆的音乐声，以及可看到一些半裸女士的名片滑落在门下，这给我们提供了关于这家店主要业务的线索。窗户不是很合窗框，床上用品还算干净，但尚可过个几天。
克里斯告诉我们，今晚福利院主任在当地的一家餐馆组织了一顿晚餐，所以我们决定事先散步去，探索我们女儿的出生地，我们是城里唯一的非中国人。我们沿着主干道走到冷江路，顺着河流看去。一个人在流动的河水里坐着洗他的蔬菜，最初看起来不错，但当我们向上游走去，看到一个开放的下水道直接排放到河里，这呈现了相当不同的意义。所以在回来的路上，我们藉着欣赏一座宝塔和玩着运动器具，来分散我们自己的注意力。
晚餐是盛大的，六个人出现再加上一个孩子，加上我们十一个人。主任是一个身高不高但很亲切的人，我认为他的侄子在他旁边，他好奇地拿着罐子，一位严肃的女士，原来是当地民政办公室副主任，其他三个女士和孩子。其中一个女士是代表我们女儿的孤儿院母亲，以后会提到更多关于她。我的距离感开始消失，我们被当作一个家庭介绍我们，而我们女儿则是代表她自己，一个湖南的孩子。
我是我通常怀疑自己，但很难维持，尤其是宴席中他们喝了点酒，加上一喝立即就脸红的当地烈酒和更大声谈话，这样让我放松了不少。我试着说几句中文，我知道我想说什么，但谁知道它是怎么出来的！就在那时我意识到我们正看到中国文化的最高境界-食物和家庭，我感到嫉妒，然后难过，因为很明显地，我先前对于这顿饭，已有先入为主的成见，但所有这一切都错了。
唯一令人沮丧的是一大盘的鱼呈现在宴会中，并告诉我们，这是非常荣幸地以一条当地河里罕见的鱼招待我们。使得身为动物保护成员的我们很难接受这种礼物，尤其看过了当地的河流，使得我们吃起来更加困难。
主任付了这顿饭钱，我们安排在第二天晚上回请他们，以回报他们那天晚上招待我们。
有趣的是，看到克里斯红着的脸从餐厅里快乐地摇晃走出来。
