Finally found some time to update my happenings here in China. My holiday, well if one could call it that, started on July 9 and for two weeks I ventured across Guangdong Province.
First step was catching the bus from school to Guangzhou and when we arrived at the front gate of school, one bus had just left. I was informed by my trusty assistant :-)that another one will be here shortly.......An hour later it finally arrived! My trusty assistant then told me the trip would take about 55 minutes to reach Guangzhou and I thought that was quicker than the other bus one usually takes from school into the city. About 2 hours later, we finally arrived in Guangzhou and then proceeded to hike it to the Metro station to complete the last leg of our journey to Panyu, where I had previously booked a hotel and informed them I should arrive by 7pm. We finally made it to the hotel at 8pm and much to my delight I survived all the pushing and shoving on the train!
Next day I ventured to my friendly assistant's home and met the family. After this we ventured back into Guangzhou to locate some items I required and after a few more hours of associating with the locals, we decided to head back to safer ground and plan the next stage of our trip to Shenzhen.
Travelled from Panyu to Shenzhen by bus and the scenery was quite pleasant. A lot more socialising with the locals over our time there, plus we tried out some of the local food near our accommodation. so far, the weather had been kind to us and we didn't need to hunt for umbrellas as we both forgot to pack them. Here at present is the Wet Season, for those who don't know what I mean, it is the rainy season here and can be quite humid.
Next port of call was Zhuhai and we tested out the ferry system from Shenzhen to Zhuhai. The trip was quick, only took 1 hour, but the ferry smelt musty and it was hot inside once we were under way. The trip across was uneventful, thankfully as when I checked the weather forecast that morning they were predicting a Typhoon/Cyclone/Tropical storm to hit land that day. Luck was with us again as the storm did not arrive until a few days later. On the night before we were to leave Zhuhai, it did rain and we finally found a couple of umbrellas across the street from the hotel, though we searched high and low for some for about half an hour!
While in Zhuhai, I also managed to catch up with one of student's from last term and we spent an interesting night together once he finished work. My friendly assistant found out they liked Margarita's and unfortunately drank the second one a bit too quick. We made it back to the hotel in one piece thankfully and I didn't have to carry them back:-)
Onto Dongguan for the next leg of the journey. Once we arrived at our hotel, we found out we were quite a distance from where I wanted and needed to be, but all the same we made good use of our time there. So, I didn't get to see Dongguan at all and will venture back there again another day and check it out.
Back to Shenzhen by bus, for a couple of days to finish off some business. We stayed at the Railway Station Hotel, which was very convenient on the morning we left and headed back to Guangzhou so I could venture onto the airport for my flight to Nanchang and also so my trusty/friendly assistant could go back home and enjoy some well cooked home cooking, which was missed by them.
Now I am in Nanchang and will leave this afternoon for Hangzhou, by D train. When I find some more free time, I will up date the site again and fill you in on the latest.
