My days in China

I was unable to log on to Facebook in China. It is banned, along with Twitter and IMDB. These are my adventures, day by day, along with a link to photos. Please enjoy!

Chris, me and Julia

Monday 6/13

I finally feel like I’ve started my vacation. The airport bus that I took last night first dropped off a little boy and his parents at Disneyland Hong Kong. There were fireworks as we drove up and I got to see a bit of the resort – looked just like home. Then into the city where the bus dropped me off at the wrong hotel! They got me a cab and I got to the Stanford Hotel about 9:30 PM. Chris met me in the lobby and we had a beer and a good laugh about the whole thing. I found out that the tour consisted of us two and a couple from New Zealand, although there was some talk of us joining up with another tour on the mainland. I met everyone this morning, took a taxi to the ferry building and am now on the ferry to mainland China. They are showing “Karate Kid” on the monitor. Weird.

Tuesday June 14

After landing in mainland China, we had some lunch, then off to the train station. It is so hot and humid here -- and I HATE to sweat, so I'm having a bit of a challenging time. The witing room was pretty comfortable and, after downing a bottle of Gatorade, I felt much better. We spent the night on the train, which was quite comfortable, and arrived in Guilin. We immediately got in a van and had an hour ride to Yangshuo. It's a lovely little city, made for tourists, but charming all the same. The hotel is very nice, though traditional. We are meeting the rest of the group and our new tour guide tonight, but in the meanwhile, I'm taking a Tai Chi lesson! I'm looking forward to it.

The tour leader we are losing was delightful. Her name is Julia and she is so bubbly and sweet. I will miss her. Kathleen and Bob are the New Zealand couple and they are a lot of fun. I hope the rest of the group will be as much fun.

I strolled around the shopping street and picked up a few things. My impressions of China are quite different than what I anticipated. It's a much more sophisticated place than I imagined with very comfortable hotels and restaurants. We go to the country tomorrow, so that may change my mind, but I am enjoying it all so far.

mj
More photos:
http://public.fotki.com/mjlang4952/china-1/