Adventures in Guangzhou!

Most of the workers were wearing tattered clothing and the classic straw hat. Hard hat? Forget it. However, this is still a major step up from the beggars I encounter in GZ, most of which are missing a limb or two. Construction work is long and difficult, but it is a paying job that is needed in mass quantities around China these days. While a peasant is often forced to leave his family and village for an extended period of time, it makes financial sense and is thus very common. What a different world...

As I started walking up the car towards the infamous W.C., I stopped in my tracks to listen to the song on the P.A. system. It was a pop song that ripped off the McDonalds jingle (both words and melody) of "I'm Lovin' It" and made it into a full fledged pop song. Good lord. This is what the Chinese are taking from American culture? Couldn't they find something better? Regardless, I proceeded onward to the tiolet and was preparing myself for the worst. It wasn't exactly the worst, but it was *quite* foul in there. I tried to hold my breath, close my eyes (maybe that's what started the problem in the first place?), and be out as soon as possible. Luckily this was a quick pit stop and not a newspaper-reading session. For those of you who haven't used a "squatter" before, it is an experience in and of itself. The Chinese can do the squat quite naturally, but we westerners are just not built for it. It makes for a serious challenge! I escaped unscathed though, and with visions of a western toilet where you can actually sit.

One sidenote- the kid on the bottom bunk on my side had 3 cans of coke before noon. Is it me or is that just gross? I'm not a big soda drinker so maybe my opinion is colored by that, but it seems vile to brush your teeth and crack open a can of coke classic at 8am. Just sayin'.

I have no idea what caused the delay, but my 2pm arrival time turned into 4:45pm and it was not a moment too soon. If I had been on there too much longer I think I would have gone nuts. I was picturing the scene from the old Simpsons Halloween special parody of The Shining where Homer is off his rocker. He starts spray-painting "No Beer and No T.V. Make Homer Go Crazy." Go crazy? Don't mind if I do! Anyway, I get off the train into Hangzhou and take my phone out. Naturally, I discover that I have the Guangdong Province only model and can't call Andy, the PiA-er I was crashing with. Luckily the train had a public phone so I let him know I was on my way and headed over to the line for taxis.

First impressions: Hangzhou is much more clean and civilized than GZ. People formed a line for taxis and did not attempt to fight others for spots! The streets weren't covered in garbage! I didn't think the cab driver was going to kill me! It was quite a revelation. Anyhow, I got to Andy and Christi's building complex but couldn't figure out which building was theirs. Damn useless cell phone! I made friends with some random Chinese guy and luckily he let me use his phone to call Andy again and I found my way. After a satisfying shower and change of clothes, Andy and I met up with Christi and hopped in a cab to meet up with Tyler and Mal, the two PiA-ers from Wuhan. Along the way we caught up on the first month of Chinese adventures and just enjoyed English-speaking company. They also began to detail for me how Tyler and Mal are staying in a 5 star hotel, free of charge (MUCH more on that later).

We arrived at the restaurant which was right on xi hu, the famous West Lake of Hangzhou. As the old Chinese saying goes, "In heaven there is paradise, on earth Hangzhou." I had heard that this was an exaggeration, but I was impressed--the lake is beautiful! Sure there were a bunch of people, but compared to GZ, Hangzhou appeared both quaint and the epitome of natural beauty. As I took in the scene we all began to catch up and trade amusing stories. While we are all in very different areas of China, we are having somewhat similar experiences which is nice. We also ordered up a feast which just hit the spot. On my recommendation we tried the ginger and scallion frog on the menu and once again I was pleased. Who knew?

After the meal we retired to a dive bar called "West Town," or something like that. We caught up some more and partook in a number of local pijiu. We then went on to a place called the Reggae Bar which is exactly what it sounds like. After some more beer and more food, we went back to check out the infamous hotel where Mal and Tyler were staying. It turns out that it's a Best Western! A note of advice for everyone reading this- if you are ever in Hangzhou and need a place to stay, I highly recommend this place. The player piano alone makes it worth it. Anyhow, we hung out for a while longer and then crashed at the hotel. Might as well take advantage of such a luxury, right?

Okay, the following is a link for what should be my pictures from the trip. I gave up on Snapfish after 3 failed upload attempts so this is a new experiment. Anyhow, they are in reverse chronological order and include the entire trip so if you want to be surprised, you can wait to check em out. It may make you set up a free account and all that jazz. Try the slideshow option on the side...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96703995@N00/