Some Random Observations

- It is SO HOT and SO HUMID. OMG! We are going out early in the morning and walking around and shopping, before it is unbearably hot out.

- The stairs of the overpass to Shamian Island are quite a workout in this heat and humidity.

- This area of Guangzhou seems less polluted than when we were here in 2010. We are actually seeing the blue sky each day, instead of a layer of smog (which was the case in 2010). While Guangzhou still has the same "China smell," it just seems less polluted. Definitely less people smoking than 2010. I've heard from our guide that there has been a huge attempt (possibly some regulations) to ban smoking in public places in Guangzhou. It just seems cleaner overall.

- I miss seeing the students in their uniforms, since it is summer vacation for them.

- The breakfast buffet at our hotel is still fantastic.

- Sadly, the hot pot restaurant we ate at 14 of our 17 nights back in 2010 is no longer here. In that same shopping center there are 2 hot pot restaurants (right beside one another) but the food you select to cook in your hotpot is buffet style, which does not appeal to us...There is a very hopping/crowded Korean restaurant where you have a grill and a hot pot. We may try that, if the food is not buffet style.

- Near the subway about 10 minutes walk (or less, we are FAST walkers) there is a new, very modern and upscale mall. There is a FANTASTIC hot pot restaurant in there. We have already eaten there twice.

- At breakfast at our hotel most days, I find myself looking at other families. Chinese families.
Monday - 9 different families with children. 8 families had one son each. Only one of them a girl.
Out and about on the streets of Guangzhou, the gender imbalance is still very clear, but we are seeing more little girls than we did in 2010.
Interestingly, we are stopped often by people who say, "beautiful girl." They are women, often walking with a little boy (their son or grandson), and I can't help but wonder...did they have a little girl that they abandoned (or their mother-in-law abandoned, as is often the case), or if there were not a One Child Policy, would they want to try for a 2nd child...

- At that HUGE, very high-end, shopping center not far from Shifu, there is a grocery store which would be like a Walmart (sells everything including food). Tons and I mean TONS of American food. We were very, very surprised to see this type of facility here. It is quite new and it was very interesting to see the Chinese people figuring out the shopping carts. Normally the Chinese people shop for their food at open air markets. The food is very fresh and since they have very little storage area in their apartments, and many do not have fridges, buying large quantities is not feasible.
The stores in the mall were VERY HIGH END. Rupert was quite taken back that there was an Ashworth store...it's not like the average Chinese person around here is out golfing! Lots of window shopping going on. There were lots of restaurants in that mall too. It was air conditioned and not too crowded (compared to the streets around Shifu on a Sunday).

- I didn't mention this on Monday, but the bank was a nightmare. Worse than 2010. We were there 90 minutes and this time the workers were able to speak Cantonese, so Rupert could communicate with them, but it still didn't help. And talk about causing a scene. We held up one teller for 90 minutes...don't have to tell you how many Chinese people were staring at me...walking over near me to see what was going on (which of course made me so uncomfortable. At one point Rupert had to go back to the hotel to get the hotel address and phone number for one of the forms, leaving me sitting with the teller. A man kept coming close to me and I was thinking..COME ON, I'M SITTING HERE WITH $10,000 and you are seriously creeping me out.) One of Rupert's forms was rejected because one letter of his name was not clearly formed. Penmanship CLEARLY MATTERS to the Chinese. By the end, we had about 7 ripped up forms that had been refused.
REALLY REALLY feel that all agencies should be able to have their clients wire the SWI fee. If we had, we could have exchanged the rest of the money needed at our hotel each day. Definitely my least favorite part of our trip (both last time and this time). And it was SO LOUD. OMG! I shall never complain about having to wait in line at a local bank in Vermont.

- CNN is on TV. I strongly suspect it is prerecorded and that the government blocks the stories it does not want the people to see, but still I we were surprised. It was not a station here in 2010.

- YouTube is blocked completely in China. Even with a great VPN.

- PandaPow is a fantastic VPN. I can access blogger. Last time I could not even do that with a VPN.

- Blond hair still intrigues the people. Definitely less people are touching my hair though, compared to 2010.

- I have seen maybe 5 Chinese people in the whole time we've been here with sunglasses on...That's it! And it's really, really sunny.