Some Catch-Up

We arrived in Guangzhou yesterday afternoon after a questionable flight on Hainan Airlines. It seems that they don't believe in fliying over 25000 feet on short flights, so the upshot is the plane bounces all over the place. Needless to say this was not well received.

Guangzhou is a much nicer city (or at least it appears that way, since the sun is out). We are at the White Swan Hotel, which was billed as the ultimate hotel. It is not the ultimate hotel - it is ok, but a bit dated, and extremely crowded and expensive. The area is tailored to Americans adopting babies (since the US Consulate is here) so it is priced accordingly. Furthermore, the hotel is on an island - Shamian Island - that was built by British occupying forces early in the 20th century, so the buildings show a lot of colonial British influence. It feels a bit like Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas - tropical climate, British Colonial architecture, and lots of people trying to sell you everything. I'll add some of the video tomorrow.

Since I am catching up, here is a little more from Chongqing. On Saturday, we went to a park at the highest point in the city and climbed to the top of a pagoda to take some pictures. As it was all week, the city was socked in, but you can see some of the city:










Check out the twin girls we saw in the park:



And finally, as if this city weren't big enough - everywhere you turn, you see cranes and construction:




I will show you Guangzhou tomorrow!