Jiujiang Huili Hotel Foshan

i knew it would happen, but only four days in and sarah has chinitis, all the smells, tastes and intruguing aspects of CHina have resulted in symptoms including vomiting in front of a chinese family in Qingping markets. we walked through a really really fascinating marketplace full of kittens, puppies, tortoitses, so many fish, salamanders, chip munks, every manner of claw, dried lizards, mushrooms, fungi and bunny ...

We caught a train from HK to Guangzhou on the 4th. Its a very hectic city. Lots of people, bikes, cars and buses. people riding bike on the road with ridiculous things tied to the back. we are staying on an island in the city named shamian. its very pretty, but a true tourist hub. our hostel is lovely. we thought that we were truely livinh the high life until we visited a hotel across the road that ...

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 ...

Guangzhou was thankfully pretty uneventful except for this one little episode I thought I'd share...

Because of the 'swine flu' or H1N1 virus most of the border control areas scan your body as you walk through with your passport. I wouldn't have even noticed this had it not been for Ollie getting pulled aside for his very 'high temperature'. He was immediatley carted off while I had to go through immigration and wait for ...

Arriving to Guangzhou late at night was like being involved in a futuristic / sci-fi movie. Tiered freeways, 6 lanes wide weaved in and out of each other and highrise buildings – I expected the bus to hang a massive right and drive up a building at any moment – but then I realised that I was just tired and my imagination running away with me. Highly voyeuristic, peering into ...

... restaurant. When we entered they asked if we wanted the buffet, to which we said yes. Thinking it would not be very expensive. We didn't eat much, as we were still a little full from our late lunch, and the options were not that appealing to us. I will admit I am very picky when it comes to meat. I prefer clean cuts of meat without fat, gristle or bone and that is simply not a possibility here. The fresh squeezed orange juice was quite delicious though. When we ...

... the video of the cottage where I was singing "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White with Jonna in the background. I was singing very badly and pretending to be a man. Oh my. After that, I went on the computer and caught up with everyone for the first time since being here. It was fine. I told Danny about the tour guide. It was nothing, and I'll make sure nothing more happens with that in spite of the e-mails, it was fun to ham it up and gossip about it with ...

... Karst Hostel gwohnt. Vo denn ewaeg hani mis eigete Zimmer mit AC und Bad gha. Mit em Chlaettere hets ou Tip Top klappet. Ig bi scho am zwoeite Tag am Feuse gsi. I ha zwaer nuet uf d Reihe brunge, woeu ig ueberhoupt kei Kondition me gha ha. Die isch de i de naechschte zwoei Wuche na dis nah wieder zruegg cho. G'chlaetteret hani i de erschte Wuche houptsaechlech mit dr Miranda. Ansueschte ischs nid e so es Chlaettermekka wie Tonsai. Me trifft d Climber ...

Saturday

Awoke in the morning to a great view of Hong Kong from my bedroom window. Ate an early breakfast then took a local bus to Kowloon Station. Kowloon is the stepping off point for China and you do all the formalities before boarding the train. Lots of people in the crowded train station and took a while to find the immigration and departure areas. Went through passport control, checked my bags in and hung around for the train to leave. Once the train ...