Guangzhou Day 2-Part 1

The second day was very busy. The city here is much like Mobile or New Orleans, lots of tropical plants, humid conditions, lots of water and very green. There are pockets of French and English buildings and influence everywhere. It feels very much like being on Government Street or in the French Quarter.

We started the day as always at the big breakfast buffet and then boarded a bus for the Pearl and Jade markets and gift shops. We found great deals on pearls and bought several necklaces and bracelets. You pick the pearl and they string them or have them in set lengths ready to go. The Pearl Market is huge and resembles a large mall with shops outside and in and multiple floors. There are many Pearl shops and many clothes shops. Our guide Kelly suggested several of each as being good to deal with. After the pearls we headed straight for the kids clothes. Mom shopped, haggled and shopped some more. $575 Yuan later and she had 20 outfits! I know that sounds like a lot but it translates to about $75 US. You can see some of today's haul in the picture with Lian. She loves to look at the new clothes.

After the markets we came back to the hotel. A quick trip to the room to tidy up and drop off the clothes and we were off to tour the island. We shopped in all the little local shops and found more great deals on clothes, shoes and toys. We walked to the park area, which is beautiful and runs next to the Pearl River. There are many statues there and we took pictures of the girls with several of them. We walked along the river and we heard music coming from what we thought were speakers. It turned out to be a band of retired Chinese men and women playing at a gazebo on the river walk. We watched for a long time as they played Mexican music and some of them danced the tango dressed in full ballroom gear. While we were there they played songs from Mexico, Hawaii, Jewish songs and even some traditional Chinese music. They had everything from a full drum set and horn section to an according, 2 violins, 2 6-string guitars and a steel of sorts. We had a blast watching and dancing to the music.

After the music we walked to the kid's park and let the girls play a while and then started back to the hotel. On the way back we ran across the Ferlands headed for Lucy's so we went too. Nothing ends a great day like a good cheeseburger.

Tomorrow, we go back to the clinic to have the TB test read and then we are off to a safari park. They have 2 sections, 1 section to walk through and the other to ride a small train through. You can feed the giraffes, take pictures with the tiger cubs and they have 18 Pandas!

We are really having a good time here in GZ. I had too many pictures to choose from so I cut them down to 20 and then broke them into 2 parts.

Good night from GZ.