Finally in China

15 hours of flying and losing a day in the process. October 6, 2006 Well everyone said that the 15 hour flight would be a killer. It wasn't too bad. I liked the fact that the plane left so late and I was able to sleep for about half of the trip. But I guess over all it was quite long. The plane landed around 6:00AM or so this morning on friday (thursday never came) and we proceded to choose the slowest customs line but that OK. By the time we got through we still had to wait a few minutes for the bags to finish coming out. After we got the bags our travel group met up with the CCAI guide, Jason, and loaded the van to head to the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. I will tell you, the smog is lovely:). It is a sunny day but I have yet to see the sky. The architecture here is not what I expected. I was expecting to see the traditional Chinese architecture but it is all very old (mid to late 1800) and it's all stone and very European. We are going to explore the city a little more after lunch. I didn't get to finish updating the BLOG before lunch so I am back now and have a few more pictures to add. We ate at a Cantonese restaurant and the food was really good. After lunch we set out to find some good deals at the shops. First we headed over to "Susan's Place" where you can find anything from Louis Vuitton hand bags to Chinese Blankets to PS2 games. It's like a Chinese walmart crammed into 100 square feet (litterally). When we were finished there we noticed that all of the stores were closing up for the day because of the Harvest Moon Festival. I guess there is a parade tonight. So we headed to 7-11 to get water and then back to the Hotel. Well I am going to sign off for now but please enjoy the pictures and check back later for more updates.