GuangzhouJul 5, 2008
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In the morning we were to catch a train for a 2 hour journey to Guangzhou, our frist destination in mainland China. When we got there we immediately decided to buy our train tickets to Guilin for two days time. Now I don't know if it was totally the wrong thing to do but we let a chinese guy (who spoke no English) to buy our tickets, cut the massive queue, and pocket our change from the tickets. It wasn't like there was a foreigners counter or any english writing.
Anyway we made it to the YHA and felt so much better when we had a great comfortable room with a nice shower (compared to the one in HK) We hadn't eaten much all day and by late afternoon we wanted some good food and to explore. We made it to Shamian island, but there didn't seem to be as many restaurants in Guangzhou as HK. WE made it to a main street and found somewhere to eat. Back by our hostel overlooking the Pearl River the street had transformeded into a lively walkway. people rollerskating, cycling. green lighting on the trees, it really was quite nice to walk down - like a mini HK
6th
We spent the best part of today in Yuexiu Park, This place was great, every where you looked there were sculptures, lakes and statues. We walked around the many paths , went up the Zenhai tower(an old watch tower) but unfortunately we got stuck in the rain just after Finding shelter was the only thing we could do. We made a dash for the 5 rams statue then the metro station. I say dash but the place is so big it took us 15 mins to walk back out. We went looking for a place to eatand had a quality meal for 80p each!! Thats what I love.
In the evening we made it to dinner which was a little strange experience. The place which boasts a menu of 200 dishes gave us no menu. A woman gave us starters from a trolley including the delicious dim sum but how do we get our mains? Everyone else had them. Eventually we got them to give us a menue and ordered. Only mine came, but it was huge We ate, payed and made a swift exit. It is alittle embarassing when everyone is looking at you eat. At least they give you free chinese tea,. One thing we have been doing is chosing random soft drinks from the 7-11 shop to try. Mostly are tea related (ice teas). The weirdest was 'Sarsae' which unmistakeably had the taste of listerine. We had also bought a phone as I can't seem to use my phone to call, only text, not sure if it was worth the money yet
