Backing up...Beijing was wonderful introduction to China...and a big part of that is due to our guide, Angela. She laughed with us...answered all our questions...educated and enlightened us...even helped us select the questionable snack...how to discriminate between a good/bad deal...thanks Angela! So...a chairlift ride up to the Great Wall...a toboggan ride down...a stroll through Tienanmen Square...a swarm of vendors selling their goods, and into the Forbidden City...dancing and Tai Chi in the park outside the Temple of Heaven...tried many different beers in the evening and ate many questionable things at the night market. We hit the "big" sites in Beijing...people, people everywhere...traffic unlike anything you've ever seen...we even missed one of our planned tours of the Summer Palace because we were stuck in traffic for almost five hours. I read a statistic once that 1 in 5 of all humans live in China...no shit, I believe it.
Changsha was all business. Densely populated...apparently, it is normal to drive your car up on the curb or even the sidewalk if necessary. Electric Scooters! Never seen so many scooters...up and down the sidewalk and they wait until they are damn near up your ass to honk the horn. Sometimes three to a scooter. Many are parked outside shops plugged into outlets in the wall. People...scooters...cars...traffic...non-stop...on and on and on...This is my son's city, and after what seemed to be a herculean task, I felt victorious when Kai became ours, officially.
Visited the Yeulu Academy...a 1000 year old academy where Confucius taught...Chairman Mao Tse Tung is from Changsha and went to the academy...all that is cool but I was ready to get the hell out of there and on to Guangzhou.
Bullet train to Guangzhou (217mph)...Kai was being a real pissant so we upgraded to a private compartment at the back of the train. Well worth it. Quiet and smooth...you could feel the pressure in your ears as it accelerated. Threes hours travel time...in Guangzhou around 10:50 pm and I can already tell this place is different.
This gentleman outside the Temple of Heaven was trying to sell watches. I told Trav, as a joke, to see how much he wanted for the box. He was trying to get about 150-200 RMB for each watch. Trav offers him 700 RMB for the whole box (about 100 bucks). He bought 'em!
The video below: In the Forbidden City...this guy was selling candy coated fruit on a stick. Supposed to calm your stomach after eating too much. Our guide, Angela, can be seen in the red coat helping Trav with his selection.
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| A used bookstore...nothing in English...go figure. |
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| Dinner at Food Street...Kai is being a pisser. |
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| Spicy Hunan Duck |
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| Where the hell are the diapers! |
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| ...sitting on an antique when no one is looking... |
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| Entrance to the Yeulu Academy |
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| Statue of Confucius |
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| Kai walking the corridors of the Academy |
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| Vendors outside the Academy |
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| The campus of this Academy is beautiful...students still attend. |
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| The Bullet Train Station - Enormous |
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| Our guide, Shirley, hanging out until we get safely onto the train. |
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| Ready to roll...Guangzhou bound. |
