Henry Business Hotel Guangzhou

... before we became too familiar. We recovered at a coffee bar and 7 eleven with a couple of slurpies and would be retail threapy but sarah packed too much stuff alreadly... WE all told her so. now were sucking on a sugar cane stick and she insists she feels alot better, but thats what she said this morning about the 'fresh' air, and it indeed is ''fresh''! pictures to come, wish sarah well, the poor little dumpling...

... ride to guilin today, the tourist mecca of zhong guo, thats china for all you non-chinga people. simon got his hair cut by the barber at our hostel, its looks great, he is a true asian now. they were pasting black stuff on the guy to my right and i asked for it too, so i now have black hair. simon has had lots of chances to practise his mandarin which has been exciting. yesterday we went for lunch at ...

... acceptance, I have found a new peace in just smiling and letting things take shape of their own accord. I am but one person and although I can determine the size of the ripples I make, it is of no use to cast stones in an empty pond. I finally found the acceptance I needed after I read the following words from the Sutra of Hui Neng:

"He who treads the Path in earnest, sees not the mistakes of the world;if we find fault with others, we ourselves our also wrong. When ...

Enjoyed our meetings and colleagues. Went to dinner at a typical Guangdong/Canton restaurant. Menu was very creative. Plenty of exotics - baby pigeon, sting ray, fish guts, beetles, snakes, chicken feet. Was a bit naseous, but likely because of jet lag.

Arrive after 11 pm and my company screws up the pick-up. 20 guys trying to sell me sim-cards are chasing me around baggage claim because I'm clearly not moving out. After an hour and deciding I won't be picked up, I bee-line for the first cab in lineup. The ...

... was brought to the table and placed on the center piece and was spun around until each person had had their fill. It was brilliant. Instead of each person getting their own dish, everyone shared the entire meal. I was totally stuffed as we left the restaurant and we still had heaps of left overs.

The restaurant was owned by some Buddhist friends and students of Master Yang, whom I had the great honor of studying under 4 years ago in Fort Collins. Master Yang was the person ...

... ias, they have swimming pool, tennis courts, basketball courts...I think you cannot get bored th**e. And from east**n gates they have connection with subway, so you can get anywh**e you want in really short time just for 2 or 3 kuai. Next day we went back to the univ**sity again by taxi. From the hotel to main gates of that univ**sity was usually 23 kuai. But we ran into a taxi driv** that wanted to rip us off, so he took us the long way. He was ...

... is perhaps a result of a defiant psychology formed under the planned economy. That is why the black-and-white photo that we have this week can be regarded as a classic. It contains a scene that used to be very familiar to all Chinese households but is hardly seen today, especially where the photo was taken in 1982. It was in Shanghai, now the largest modern business center in the Chinese mainland. But back then, right ...

... have been very happy to never hear from the Qing, Yuan, Song or particularry the Ming dynasty ever again. I'd also lost any appreciation for Jade statutes, pottery, and vases of any shape or size. Rob unfortunately was still culture-vulture-ing about the place at this stage so I endured a monumentally boring exhibiton of "ceremaic pillows". That afternoon ...

We are now safely in Guangzhou. This is a big city with many Western influences. Even during the time of Mao when China was closed to all Westerners some were here in Guangzhou. We did her medical check today and LOTS of shopping! Hope you are all doing well! I will write more soon! Amber