It's time to go...
Guangzhou has a different vibe at the moment. We tried to go out on Tuesday night to a good Turkish restaurant RB's expat workmates like and it was completely jammed with people waiting to eat there. There was no such drama last time we went there. We then walked a short distance to an Italian restaurant and it was very busy too. We ended up with a table in a dumpy back room. That room then started to fill up with a huge group of Western business men and their Chinese female friends having dinner. The 99th Canton Fair starts later this month (April 15-30) and already western people are pouring into Guangzhou. We're not used to seeing so many other westerners on the street, in non-Chinese restaurants and in our hotel, which is now very busy. It is strange! We think it's a good time to leave Guangzhou. We preferred the feeling of "having it to ourselves" if that makes any sense? ;)
The "baby people" have also arrived at our hotel. Previously we had only seen them on Sharmian Island where they're known to stay at the swish White Swan Hotel, and another time at the Baiyun Hotel. Most of these new adoptive parents sounded like Americans. At our hotel, Ramada Pearl, we now have at least 5 or 6 French families with their new adopted Chinese babies. Breakfast in the hotel was mad yesterday with all these families there at once. There is hardly enough room for their strollers in the restaurant or even the hotel lifts! Some of them already had one child of their own while I saw two families that already had a Chinese baby girl of toddler age. It was quite strange to see these little girls playing together and speaking French. The Chinese waitresses in the restaurant seemed to be very intrigued by it all too, with two of them hanging out near our corner of the restaurant while usually the waitresses are busy at the coffee stations and resetting the tables. These adoptive parents must bond quickly with others as they are always hanging out together.
Last night I was coming back from a foot massage and trip to the Bakery and I passed through our local square. It is always busy in the evening after dinner time as people do their exercising and socialising. There are many little colourful things in the square for sitting or standing on that look like rides for kids but they're actually used by adults, even grandmas and grandpas, to keep fit. There is one were you sit down and pedal like a reclining bike, another where you stand on a disc and hold onto a rail at chest height, while you swivel your hips to make the disc rotate. It all looks rather fun. Sometimes people play table tennis in the square too.
My favourite though is to watch the ladies do their "dancing" exercise. They set up a portable stereo and stand in lines in a corner of the square as if about to do aerobics. Instead their dancing looks like a combination of medium paced tai chi and linedancing, as they're frequently changing which direction they face. It's great to watch and the little kids will often ride a bicycle through the middle of the ladies - little daredevils! ;)
Tonight we must pack up everything in the apartment. We have to get ready for leaving for Macau (via bus) tomorrow lunchtime with one bag , and leaving the other here to collect when we come back to GZ next Thursday to get our plane home. Hopefully we can fit a lot of things in RB's massive suitcase. We have a little pile of souvenirs in a corner of our room so I hope we can get everything home. I still plan to do some shopping in Hong Kong. I'm after a new pair of sneakers, and hope I can get them cheaper in Hong Kong than here on the mainland, where many imported things cost a little more.
So it's time to go on holidays for RB and I. We're off to explore some other facets of China, eat some more top cuisine, including Macanese in Macau, and enjoy some greenery on Taipa and Hong Kong Islands.
Catch ya later! :D
The "baby people" have also arrived at our hotel. Previously we had only seen them on Sharmian Island where they're known to stay at the swish White Swan Hotel, and another time at the Baiyun Hotel. Most of these new adoptive parents sounded like Americans. At our hotel, Ramada Pearl, we now have at least 5 or 6 French families with their new adopted Chinese babies. Breakfast in the hotel was mad yesterday with all these families there at once. There is hardly enough room for their strollers in the restaurant or even the hotel lifts! Some of them already had one child of their own while I saw two families that already had a Chinese baby girl of toddler age. It was quite strange to see these little girls playing together and speaking French. The Chinese waitresses in the restaurant seemed to be very intrigued by it all too, with two of them hanging out near our corner of the restaurant while usually the waitresses are busy at the coffee stations and resetting the tables. These adoptive parents must bond quickly with others as they are always hanging out together.
Last night I was coming back from a foot massage and trip to the Bakery and I passed through our local square. It is always busy in the evening after dinner time as people do their exercising and socialising. There are many little colourful things in the square for sitting or standing on that look like rides for kids but they're actually used by adults, even grandmas and grandpas, to keep fit. There is one were you sit down and pedal like a reclining bike, another where you stand on a disc and hold onto a rail at chest height, while you swivel your hips to make the disc rotate. It all looks rather fun. Sometimes people play table tennis in the square too.
My favourite though is to watch the ladies do their "dancing" exercise. They set up a portable stereo and stand in lines in a corner of the square as if about to do aerobics. Instead their dancing looks like a combination of medium paced tai chi and linedancing, as they're frequently changing which direction they face. It's great to watch and the little kids will often ride a bicycle through the middle of the ladies - little daredevils! ;)
Tonight we must pack up everything in the apartment. We have to get ready for leaving for Macau (via bus) tomorrow lunchtime with one bag , and leaving the other here to collect when we come back to GZ next Thursday to get our plane home. Hopefully we can fit a lot of things in RB's massive suitcase. We have a little pile of souvenirs in a corner of our room so I hope we can get everything home. I still plan to do some shopping in Hong Kong. I'm after a new pair of sneakers, and hope I can get them cheaper in Hong Kong than here on the mainland, where many imported things cost a little more.
So it's time to go on holidays for RB and I. We're off to explore some other facets of China, eat some more top cuisine, including Macanese in Macau, and enjoy some greenery on Taipa and Hong Kong Islands.
Catch ya later! :D
posted by Polecat at 7:40 PM
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