Day 1/2

Here's a few pictures of the Guangzhou airport, our room, and the view from our room.

During the ride from the airport to the hotel we found out exactly what people meant when they talk about the insane traffic. There really is no way to describe or understand how it works. Basically, the road is shared by cars, bikes, mopeds, and pedestrians all at once. Who has the right of way, who yields, and who speeds up must be one of life's biggest mysteries.

We didn't get 50 feet, literally, before the police waved our shuttle to the side. We waited for about 15 minutes while our driver was showing his papers while other officers were waving more drivers over. We never did figure out what it was all about.

After checking into the hotel, a shower was priority #1. Afterword, we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. The hotel staff wrote where we wanted to go on the back of their business card so we could show a taxi driver where we wanted to go. Oh, and a 10-15 minute taxi ride was $2 us.

The Hard Rock is in a hotel. We went to some doors inside the hotel but they were locked. As we started to walk away, a gentleman working in an art shop came out to tell us that the entrance was outside. He then became quite chatty (as a good salesman does) and the story of why we were in China soon came out. After his initial (and usual) reaction of shock at us receiving a boy and appreciation of what we were doing, he offered to write Josh's name in calligraphy as a gift. What an amazing gift it was. He didn't want anything in return, so we bought some art in displayed his store.

We then caused a scene at the Hard Rock. Jen's mom brought numerous pins to trade with the staff. In the end, we had probably 20 employees come to the table to see what she had. Every pin she brought was traded. One guy came up towards the end and said "I'll take all you have left, take what ever you want" as he threw down a pile of his pins. The whole thing was really entertaining.

We think we're going to go to the Olympic stadium in the morning and who knows what else.

til next time,

Matt and Jen