Last Thoughts on Guangzhou

We have now spent about 10 days here in Guangzhou and we leave tomorrow. Though it's been very nice here, we're really looking forward to getting home and getting on w/ our lives w/ the rest of our family. I must admit, it's been nice to have breakfast cooked for us every morning, and our apartment cleaned every day too. But there's more to life than a clean apartment and breakfast! Guangzhou is surprisingly modern, even more so than when we were here 3 years ago. Compared to being in Lanzhou, this is not what you think of when you think "China".

The subway system here is excellent. Super clean, fast, efficient and cheap (like 70 cents). You can get almost anywhere you need to go in the city. We were surprised as well to find that people actually stood up so we could sit down w/ the baby. Is it true that someone's actually been teaching the Chinese some manners? (But they still do cut in line when you're trying to buy your ticket.) The hotel apartment we've been staying in is very modern w/ excellent service as well. This one really does fit the 5-star standards, unlike the hotel in Lanzhou. The shopping malls are crazy huge (there's two we could walk to from here). We were always surprised when we were able to find our way out of those mall mazes. Though the air here is not so clean, there are surprisingly not that many public smokers and we've seen very few spitters either :), and only one snot-rocket! They're building like crazy. Building cranes fill the sky and we listen to construction building all night long (they work 24/7). I expect that if we have the opportunity to return when the girls are older, we will visit a much different city.

It's super HOT and HUMID here. Almost unbearable, so we try to stay inside, or use the subway tunnels to walk from one place to another. Here's Mike looking kinda dorky. I think he was the only guy in the city carrying an umbrella, but he was trying to shade Kari from the sun. Come to think of it, he was probably only one of maybe three guys in the whole city carrying a baby on his back too :). Good thing is, when it's hot here, boba tea is cheap! About a dollar. Mmmm... my favorite. Oh, and from our hotel there are like 3 Starbucks w/in walking distance! Talk about modern. But Starbucks is even more expensive than it is in the States - about $3 for an iced coffee.

Just for kicks, we have to include some funny random photos.