http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Guangdong , Guangzhou en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:50:16 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:50:16 UTC The old jokes continued to pop up in conversation. It was early Saturday afternoon and 11 of us were on the subway headed to an area of Guangzhou where a travel guide book said we could find one of the best dim sum restaurants in the city. Our group was too big. Frank Stephen Jeff Linda Gwyn and I split apart from the others and were in a different train car. The guys and I were talking http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-351099.html And unlike Homer Simpson I'd be rightLast Friday the Shenzhen Education Bureau loaded up 12 buses of foreign teachers and a few Chinese people and sent us on our way to Guangzhou for the International Tourism and Culture Festival PPRD Tourism Promotion Convention Eveming Party of Opening Ceremony.For 3 hours we rode on a bus with no bathroom the AC blasting while the sun was too bright to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-350956.html Amy confirmed what I had assummed that Dobie was in Yantian the night before at Bradrsquos.ldquoWhy the fuck would she ask to hangout with me if she is with himrdquo I asked Amy a couple minutes into the bus ride to Guangzhou. ldquoThe guy was hitting on her and then turning around and listening to me talk about how much I liked her and telling me that he would never get with her. The http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-350693.html On Friday the Shenzhen Education Bureau bused a bunch of foreign teachers to Guangzhou the capital of Guangdong for the Guangdong Tourism Festival. Once on the buses they provided us with the most hideous hats you've ever seen the gray brim was about four inches too long and they were bright orange with Shenzhen written in pink across the front. I loved it and wore it as long as possible. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-350174.html A couple weeks ago our head coordinator sent out an email inviting people to Guangzhou for the night for the international tourism festival. A free dinner and a show Sign me up So Friday morning we also got out of teaching for the day an added bonus we all met at the stadium in Shenzhen boarded our respective buses and headed towards Guangzhou a city about three hours away. Our tour guide w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-349825.html I managed to keep myself out of trouble in Guangzhou.On Wednesday the 12th I got my Chinese Visa. I sent out Couchsurfing requests and on the 13th I took the subway to the end of the line at Lo Wu and crossed the border over to the mainland.The minute I cleared customs and walked out of the station into Mainland China it was like a breath of fresh air. All of the Hong Kongese will tell you tha http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-348984.html 20081119 BlogNovember 5Eli and I went to the China Hotel a 5star Marriott locale this morning to watch the election results. This was an event sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce here in Guangzhou and one of the few public places where CNN was available. All the rooms in highend Westernoriented hotels in China will have access to CNN via satellite but the content is too unpredic http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-346556.html 1020Today we made our visit to the Prosperous Company where we had been invited to assist it helping management reduce employee dissatisfaction as indicated by a very high rate of turnover. We were accompanied by four colleagues from social work here including two 4th year undergraduates who had completed a field experience in an industrial social work position in Shenzhen.We were met at the tra http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-341475.html Hi GuysI hope your all well and the weathers not as bad as it is here.That's right it's actaully raining here. Two nights ago I crossed theTropic of Cancer on the overnight bus and it hasn't stopped rainingsince It's been hard to catch up on news here apart from the stockmarkets in HK so thanks for some of those updates i head Andy Murraydid well and Celtic got gubbed in the Champions League http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-341238.html 101708 Blog Pictures this week taken on the mobile quality suffersLast week I spent parts of two days getting our absentee ballots and sending them back to the City Clerk in Montpelier. On October 3rd both Ellen and I received an email with an attached ballot. BTW we are both on the ballot this election running for one of 15 slots as Justice of the Peace all told there are about 30 people r http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-336851.html Days 42 45Woke up this morning and climbed down from bed not feeling so great after consuming all those beverages last night had to get a cab to the hostel as it was quite far but it was really nice and out of the way of the city which was nice.. Also on the river so a nice view on a clear day of the city.. So humid so i made my way down one of the side roads and stopped for a coke and a beer a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-336003.html Another school trip and this time to the Baiyun mountain. Baiyun montain is famous for 3 things according to me1 The mountain itself2 The gaming center over there3 The bird farmFirst I thought they would take us to the gaming center but later on it came out to be a science trip and it was to the bird farm..I had seen the bird farm twice already but thought that it would be a better experience i http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-333779.html 31008It wasnrsquot that cold as last night this morning. We adjusted the temperature last night because we remember that it was freezing cold last day morning. The weather was fine but I couldnrsquot hear any birds singing. I think it is because the weather was quiet cold so many birds went home to sleep. I washed my face and go down stairs to eat breakfast. The breakfast was donuts that cam http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-331390.html 21008It was very cold when I get up from my bed. We turn on the air conditional in lowest temperature and the weather was not that hot at the morning. I get up at 6 orsquoclock and we have to go to eat breakfast at 7 orsquoclock and if we are late we will get punishment. I can hear bird singing in the outside of our room. It was very nice to hear but I didnrsquot have time to sit down and http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-331068.html 11008I went to trip to Guangzhou Huadu mountain village with my friends and teachers in Guangzhou Korean church. I donrsquot want to go to the trip but my mom force me to go there. I went there with Amy Cherry Kevin and Ko myung in our school our grade but there were about 300 students and 30 teachers. We leave the church at 9 a.m. and took a bus. It takes to the mountain village about 1 ho http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-331000.html Several years ago the national leadership here embarked on a campaign to promote a ldquoharmoniousrdquo society. This effort recalling Confucian ideals that still pervade everyday life here has been used to both suppress dissent from the policies that have devastated rural life as well as take steps to ameliorate those ravages by addressing the growing inequality here. With instances of so http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-330627.html This blink of an eye is for Deb.Itrsquos strange but the more I am in this country the more I see and the less I know what to write and what I do write seems trivial and is only scratching the surface of this complex country and its people. I can tell you that I visited the Liu Rong Si 6 Banyun Tree Temple and when I climbed the 187ft pagoda built in 1097 it definitely moved in the breeze http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-330329.html October 1st Pearl RiverWe got out of the house around 630 pm just when it was starting to get dark. We planned to go to the Pearl River which again didn't take much time since it is holiday and the streets were not like before. When we arrived there were lots of people over there which i wasn't amazed of because every time I go somewhere it ends up being crowded. Well I am in China there's not http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-329802.html September 30 Tee mallWe went to the Tee mall and Jusco in Tianhe district in the city.The streets were so empty today so we arrived so fast. They say itrsquos always empty like that in holidays as most of the people go to their home town in holidays. It would be much better if Guangzhou stayed always like that.Well what can I say today was mostly about shopping which is the most thing I lik http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-329796.html September 29 2008 Baiyun MountainWe've finally decided to get out of the house or should i say out of golden lake in general and go do something more energetic and lively We headed to Baiyun Mountain from the early morning. Our luck turned out to be good as the weather was really nice and was getting better with fresh windy air and no rain. We took the telefric to go up the mountain we were to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-329069.html