Travel in China - The First Days

Long distance plane flights are only good for getting to far-flung places quickly.  Otherwise, brutal would best describe them.

Case in point, getting to Hong Kong.  First, a one hour flight from our Kootenay valleys to Vancouver, often chancy because of our weather and the state of our local airports.

Then a wait of 8 hours before the international flight, leaving at the ungodly hour of 2 am. 

Sitting for 12.5 hours gets me to Taipei, where I wait for another 3 hours for a short hop to Hong Kong. 

Hong Kong, one airport that will be in serious trouble as sea levels rise.

For a busy airport, getting out is quick and efficient.  I get my bus ticket and after a short wait, leave for a 3-hour ride past Kowloon and Hong Kong, across the border into China and past endless river delta to Guangzhou.  Not exactly sure how many teeming millions live here, but I was told that this area of China has perhaps 100 million.  This is Canton.

Amazingly, after all that time and distance, I get off the bus at the arranged meeting place, Jinan University, half an hour earlier than planned.  I still think there's a certain WOW factor in that.

My traveling partner arrives.  He's been here for a couple of days. We walk, take the (very fast, very efficient) subway to our hotel, located on the Sun Yat San university campus.  A shower, water and a rest top the list of priorities.

We meet a university colleague of his for supper.  Bonus, she's Cantonese, so she can order and deal with the language and cultural issues.  I'm feeling a bit wiped out but revive with food and a beer.  I manage to make it to 9 pm when I pass out.

Guangzhou is warm.  It was about +31C when I arrived and it doesn't cool off much at night.  I sleep with a wet facecloth on my face, all blankets pushed aside.  Surprisingly, in the morning, I feel OK.  That's a good thing.  We have things to do and a city to see.

In the first picture is the Canton Tower and one of the Pearl River bridges in the foreground.  The tower is a bit higher than the CN Tower.  It's quite pretty at night when it's all lit up.

The second photo is a mango drink I found.  It's mango juice covered with a creamy coconut cream, topped with mango slush surrounded by big slices of mango.  It's almost a meal!