On to Guangdong

Today we left Hong Kong and arrived in Guangzhou. It wasn't the most exciting day but it may have been one of the more interesting. Unfortunately, we are unable to view our blog from here in Guangzhou. We are able to email our post to the blog, so hopefully they'll come through okay.

We took it easy this morning and just got everything ready to go. After breakfast, we packed up to go and took the MTR train to the station where the Intercity trains leave from.

The train ride was nice. it was interesting to see the countryside and we also traveled through Dongguan, which is where Dexter's orphanage is. It is a huge area.

The most interesting and least fun part of the train was when we arrived in Guangzhou. After going through Customs and Immigration, we were swarmed by people trying to get us to use them as a taxi service. All the books say to ignore them because they don't have the same certifications as a regular cab driver. But as we tried to get by them to find the taxi stand, they continued to follow us and make uncomfortable comments.

The taxi ride after we got to the taxi stand was almost as interesting. They drive like maniacs around here.

We were relieved when we finally got to the Victory and checked in. It is a nice hotel and we have a two room suite that is Japanese style with the bed on the floor. The suite is spacious, which we will really appreciate once we have Dexter with us.

After unpacking, we decided to explore the area. We walked around and found the other major hotel that everyone stays at and a bunch of shops and restaurants. We ate at Lucy's which is a more American style restaurant.

After supper we came back to the hotel and checked it out. Went up to the roof to check out the pool. It is really neat but is kind of scary when you first look at it. It appears that you could basically swim off the edge of the building.

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and preparing for tomorrow. It will finally be the big day. We cannot wait.