Shantou and White Swan - Guangzhou

We didn't get a photo of our Shantou room, just the umbrella they loaned us. The first half of the trip was so hot. And then it rained a lot the 2nd half.

The White Swan. My favorite hotel.

Guilin

Our first night in Guilin we stayed at a hotel along the river. Then we moved to an apartment in an apartment building. This was nice. Very nice decor. Roomier. It had a small kitchen. The bedroom area is separated from the living/dining by a screen. I could see why everyone enclosed their balconies. It made the living room much larger. We had breakfast brought to us each morning.

Nanchang - Sleeper Train - Nanning, MingYuan

Our Nanchang room. Many times we had 2 next door rooms or nearby rooms. Occasionally we got connected rooms, which made everything so much easier. It was a good thing we always had 2 rooms, as I don't think we could have managed well in one. When a cot was added, there was usually no space and one bathroom would not have been enough.

The sleeper train. A bit old, but the girls still talk about it. No one in our car spoke English, but one student spoke a little. I slept down the hall with 3 other women and 2 children. That worked out well. It was a bit tight, but the trip was from supper time until morning, so we mostly slept.


This is the building L and I stayed in originally. The balconies were open then as I recall. This building is now closed for remodeling and the front door area was all torn up so I didn't step in a take a photo.

This is the new Ming Yuan, where we were mistakenly taken. They were preparing for a wedding. Between our 2 buildings was a lovely outdoor pool where you had to buy and wear bathing caps.

Next Topic - Hotel Rooms

Our first room was Holiday Inn - Downtown Shanghai. We arrived there very late in the evening, after 1st being taken to the wrong hotel. We all agreed, this was probably our nicest hotel.

Next was Jiujiang, which was probably the least nice hotel, but Jijiang is a 'small' town. Again we arrived at about time for supper and went to the hotel's restaurant, where we were the only diners and non of the staff spoke English. But it actually was a fun evening with all the young waitresses. I'm sure we were unusual guests for them.
Here are some views out the windows and the tv show is Peaceful Sheep - a show we saw everywhere in China. Even our Guilin guide went on and on about each of the characters. It's a very simple plot. A wolf with a mean wife tries to catch the sheep, but he is always outwitted.

Homecoming

Photos from Homecoming.

Teng Pavilion in Nanchang

L, M and I had been to the Teng Pavilion before. I was surprised to see that they are building a highway through the courtyard. It pretty much ruins the expansive grounds and the serenity of the place. Now the pagoda is separated from most everything else except the river.

Reed Flute Cave

This was a beautiful cave. Not chilly at all. At one point they had lights in the floor and lasers they ran around the room. There were large pools who's reflections doubled the size of the room.

Under Foot in China

Water Village near Shanghai

An old style canal village near Shanghai, though Joyce, our guide told us the buildings are built to look old by the government. The cicadas were incredibly loud, especially since it was morning. It was hot and shop owners were sitting on their stone docks in the shade. The main feature was a huge bridge. There are photos of the steps and us at the top. It is also shown in the background of the photo of us on the boat ride. Afterwards, you can wonder through all the narrow shop areas and bargain.