Adventures in Guangzhou!

After eating some delicious latkes with the Yale kids and David, a friend of Ari's who teaches English at his school, we all went out for Hunan food. David, who is originally from Hunan Province, did the honors and ordered not only our food but also a private room at the restaurant. What was the number of the room you might ask? Well, it wasn't 18 or 7 or any other lucky number in Judaism or the West. No ladies and gentlemen, the number was 666! [editor's note: 6 and 8 are lucky numbers for the Chinese. Avoid 4 at all costs though...] This caused a little too much laughter and hopefully David was not insulted by our reaction. The dinner was delicious and the spice (as Hunan food is traditionally very spicy) did not cause too much harm. The greater commotion was actually caused by the duck head sitting on the platter in the middle of the table and the discussion about Komodo Dragons. Better watch out . . . Anyway, after dinner the Wolfe parents went back to the hotel to pack for the big trip back to Hong Kong the next day and the Wolfe children, along with the Yale kids, went out for a little K-TV. What's that you might ask? It's genius, that's what it is. K-TV is karaoke in China and we sang very well, even considering the alcohol that we just HAD to consume in the process. [ed. note: the best part of KTV is the videos they play during the songs. It's basically stock footage from 1970's B movies that have nothing to do with the songs. Brilliant.]

The next day the Wolfe clan hit the Gunagzhou east train station and boarded a train headed back to the SAR. Mysteriously, our train tickets cost less to travel to Hong Kong than they did from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Well, that's China for you. As the train pulled out of the station, I wondered if Hong Kong would seem different to me. I had now seen "real" China, with its busy streets, high rise buildings, and total lack of English and the west (except for Starbucks). We had been basically the only white people in town for a week, so would I feel overwhelmed by the handful of westerners walking around the city now? Hmmm . . . After checking back into the hotel on Kowloon Island, we decided to take a walk to Kowloon Park. "Oh my god, white people. How am I going to handle this?" This was Ari's joke as we continued to explore Hong Kong. [ed. note: I also wondered aloud if they knew how to use chopsticks] Although the walk to the park took only ten minutes at the most, I swear there were at least ten white people, as opposed to the two or three that we saw earlier in the week. But more importantly, I finally got to see some Kung Fu in the Kung Fu corner of the park. A week earlier Ari and I had explored the area and found some "dangerous" art in the sculpture garden, but there was a blatant lack of Kung Fu in the so-called Kung Fu corner. There really IS truth in advertising in Hong Kong! Our outing had to be cut short though because it was Saturday and New Year's Eve. The trip back from the mainland had tired us out, so we all rested before a delicious meal at Fat Angelo's, a fun Italian restaurant right in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. Much like Christmas Eve, we hit the streets after dinner and followed the hordes of people milling around. I had never seen so many people peacefully obeying traffic laws or wandering with no destination in mind. People were out just to be seen and see the lights of the islands. How odd. But when in Rome . . . well, you know. So, the Wolfes wandered the streets too and then finally settled into an Irish Pub where we would ring in the New Year. I mean, where else would you go in Hong Kong, but an Irish pub? As we enjoyed some drinks, a Celtic band played, and we counted down to 2006. [ed. note: I randomly ran into PiA-er Heather Gilmartin at this pub. It's a small PiA world! What are the odds? I guess just about as good as running into your R.A. from freshmen year atop Victoria Peak, which happened one week earlier...]

We were up bright and early the next morning because we were heading to Macau. Macau! Because Hong Kong and the mainland are not exciting enough, we had to throw Macau into the mix. Unfortunately though, the ferries were all booked and the trip was not in the cards for that day. As it was the family's last day in the far east, we wanted to do it right. Museums were out and shopping did not sound so exciting. Instead, we jumped onto another ferry and headed for Lantau Island and the world's largest, seated bronze Buddha. Why a giant buddha? Why not, is a better question. As we pulled up to the Po Lin Monastery, the buddha greeted us up on a hill and I was blown away by the enormity of the statute. As we climbed the steps to explore, I was more and more amazed. The buddha was huge but peaceful, and seemed to be watching over everyone and everything. It was definitely one of the more amazing sights of my travels. We also walked around the monastery and enjoyed a fine, vegetarian meal in the restaurant. Before leaving the island, we felt compelled to follow the signs that pointed to the "Path of Wisdom." I could use some wisdom, so why not take a stroll. As we cracked jokes about not feeling any smarter, we suddenly came upon the real Wisdom Path. It consists of 38 wooden beams in the shape of the symbol for infinity. The Buddhist Heart Sutra is carved on the 38 beams which sit on the side of the mountain. This site was just completed and was not in any of our guide books, so we were both surprised and amazed when we happened upon it. Ari and I were also amazed by the views on the Lantau Peak trail that we began to hike. If there had been more time Ari for sure would have hiked the trail in its entirety and if I had been more prepared for a real hike, I would have been right behind him. Sad to leave such a beautiful place, we had to head back to the hotel and get ready for our long journey back to Connecticut.

Before leaving though, what is the most important thing that we did? Eat peking duck, of course! We had ourselves a real Chinese meal and had a waiter who knew eactly how much food (and beer) to order us. Delicious! While the food was great, I think we were all thinking about how it was the last meal that the 4 Wolfes would eat together for a long time. Ari was staying behind and returning to his adventures in Guangzhou while the rest of us had to get back to work and school. It was a great trip though and I know that Joel, Bonnie, and I were happy to have made the trip east.

Our final goodbyes were sad, but we had to begin our 30 hour journey back to New England. And, after a five hour stop over in the world's quietest airport (Incheon in Seoul, Korea) and a four hour layover in Atlanta, we made it back to Connecticut. In my mind, it seems that we were never even in China because it is so incredibly different from here. I can easily see though, why Ari is so happy in Guangzhou. People are friendly (aside from the staring), the food is great, and it is an exciting time to live in a booming country. Every passover we say, "Next year in Jerusalem." Maybe during the holidays we should now say, "Next year in Guangzhou."

Stay tuned for more of Ari's adventures, as I'm sure there will be plenty. Although we miss him over here, we know he's happy and doing it up right in Guangzhou. Holla!
[ed. note: thanks much to my family for making the trek out. It's not exactly a quick trip but they were troopers and made the most of it. I hope it is a vacation they will not soon forget. And I hope that Mao statue is currently being prominently displayed in my sister's room. On a separate note, Happy New Years to all! I hope everyone experiences nothing but health and happiness in 2006. I haven't quite finished compiling pictures from the adventure, but here is a taste...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awolfe03 (click on Wolfe Invasion)