What an exciting day!

What an exciting day, should I say days?! We had to be at the airport by 11:00 am on Friday and we landed in Guangzhou, China at 6:20 am on Sunday morning. We spent close to 24 hours in the air and almost 36 hours in various airplanes and airports. We made it through immigration in China very quickly; you wouldn’t believe how efficient it is. The baggage claim area was not only efficient, but quiet. The people were very orderly. They even had signs telling people to be quiet, but I don’t think it was necessary because every where we’ve gone, no matter how crowded it isn’t very loud.

Bob brought us to the hotel and we were able to check in early, about 8:00 am. Our room is quite large, we have a king size bed and a bathroom that is almost as big as Isaac’s bedroom at home! I’m glad that the White Swan was too expensive because Bob told us that we are getting a far better deal on our room because it is almost twice as big as the room we would have had to pay double for at the White Swan.

We got everything settled in our rooms and went downstairs for lunch. It was like no Chinese lunch buffet I have ever seen. Even the fried rice here is different! Lunch was good, but we won’t be eating many lunches here because it was over $20 for lunch and it wasn’t that spectacular. (Bob says he will take us out to experience other Chinese restaurants. We’ll try Cantonese, Hunan, and other types. Here if you want Chinese you need to decide which province you would like to experience because the types of food are very different.)

After a brief rest Bob came back and took us for a tour around the area of our hotel. We were unable to stay on Shaimin (sp?) Island because it is very expensive due to the trade fair, but it is better because Shaimin Island is similar to Epcot (my friend Melinda was right) and the area near us is downtown and filled with all sorts of cultural experiences.

As we were walking around we came to a meat market, except it didn’t look like a regular meat section like we are used to seeing at the grocery store. They had snakes, turtles, fish, and other things. The proprietor of the market will prepare the meat for you to take home, that way you have very fresh food. Bob told us that they do not understand why we buy our meat prepackaged, it’s too old, he told me. I told him that if I had to buy my meat the way they do here I would have to be a vegetarian. We both laughed at our differences.

As our tour ended Bob told us about a medicine shop. We were able to get an awesome back massage and foot massage that lasted almost 2 hours for about $12 US currency. It was so wonderful and I could go back again and again! We soaked our feet in wooden barrels with hot water and tea while they massaged all of the kinks out of our backs from the long flight, and once they were done we leaned back on comfy chairs while they rubbed our feet. Ahhhhhh… It was wonderful! Here is a picture of Craig's sister Lynne and Bob at the medicine shop as we waited to get our massage.

After Bob brought us back to the hotel we left to explore around the hotel on our own. We wanted a cheaper dinner where we knew what we’d be eating so we ended up at McDonald’s. It was two stories high and make the McDonald’s on International Drive seem not too crowded after all. They make the same meals, but add other vegetables as toppings instead of what we’re used to. As we walked around near our hotel we said it felt like we were at Times Square in New York City. They had a HUGE television where they were showing commercials and stuff, but it made the one at Times Square look tiny.

We have had so much fun. After our excursions last yesterday we came back to our room and slept for about 13 hours. We’re ready to go meet Isaac!

In about an hour or so Xixi (pronounced she-she) will come to our hotel room and we’ll get ready to go and meet Isaac. Our appointment is at 2:30 and we’ll leave our room around 2:00 to arrive at the Civil Affairs office. I’m so excited!!