In Guangzhou - is this still China?

Hello all, today was just a day of packing and travel. We arrived in Guangzhou late this afternoon and took our little bus to the White Swan Hotel. This does not feel anything like the China we have experienced so far. There is a lot of western influence here on Shamian Island in the architecture as well as the urban layout. The sidewalks are flat and clean. There is no traffic. Signs announce one will be given a fine for spitting in public. And many, many shops line the streets with English speaking women ready to sell us endless numbers of souvenirs for families adopting babies.

If our last hotel really was a 5 star hotel, this one is a 10 star hotel. The lobby smelled fresh, like flowers, which was a nice change. There are ladies at every floor of the hotel that show you the way out of the elevator (as if we needed help....). A man just stopped by our room to see if we needed our beds turned down. Not our usual standard of travel. He did bring some chocolates so that was nice. The other strange feeling is now being around a large number of Caucasian couples with Chinese babies. Before we were the oddity, but now we are the norm, but that in itself is an oddity.

The drive to the hotel showed us another part of the city. We drove along the freeway at about the second or third floor level of highrise after highrise building of flats. The city is a sea of highrise housing. It is by far the most densely populated city I have ever seen. Some of it is very modern and new, and much of it is old and cold and gray looking, the only color coming from the laundry hanging out of every flat. Many balconies are enclosed with iron grating, sort of like a million little bird cages (for people) sprinkled around the upper levels of the city.

All of this is in extreme contrast to our experience yesterday. We rode out to the ancient city of Anyi. It is 1000 years old. It is now part living city, part tourist attraction. One area of the city seemed partly vacant, though part of it was definitely being lived in. It is a simple life and people do not have many belongings in their small rooms off the narrow streets. The town is surrounded by fields (or paddies?) of rice with smaller vegetable gardens bordering the walks. We had Monica touring with us and teaching us about the various places we stopped. It was nice to have her as we would not have learned as much without her, although just being able to see this ancient city was impressive. Until one travels, it is easy to not realize the vastness of the earth and its population and the many types of lives people lead. Finding Neela has brought to us another perspective of life on this planet that we all share.

There is something of this lifestyle that appeals to me - maybe the simplicity, life in a compact little society, yet surrounded by beautiful landscapes, life separate from the hectic lifestyle we have come to believe is necessary. But then again, squatting on the stones in the river to do laundry and living in 1000 year old stone buildings with no heat, a lack of a large variety of foods and using only "squatty potties" definitely would have its drawbacks....

China is definitely a country of many contrasts. The swing from life in the small villages to life in Guangzhou is 180 degrees.

The cow is a lucky animal because it brings many good things to people through work and food. (We think it is more like an ox or water buffalo.)

The hay covers the harvested rice to keep it dry.

a typical home in Anyi

a wonderful vegetable garden within the city walls.

The home of the most important family during the Song dynasty. Apparently they were a very nice family and they had a front vestibule that people who had no place to stay could seek shelter in.

Wood carving in the large home of this important family.

Girls doing laundry in the stream.

Tomorrow we are off to the medical exam, which I think is just a quick once over for Neela and the now 3 other babies in our group. We will also get her VISA picture and then do a bit more paperwork. We now have Molly as our guide. Neelahas zonked out tonight. We're hoping she can make it all the way through the night tonight. She had only a short nap in the airport today and we have now realized that when she gets over tired she gets over active. As active as she is normally, she was bouncing off the walls this evening and getting a bit crazy. Dave has been holding her much of the day since we left for the airport and I think she was feeling a bit too constrained. (This does not bode well for an 11 hour flight following a 5 hour flight on Thursday...) This morning, however, she was very conveniently content to play inside the drawer we put on the floor for almost an hour while we packed.