Guangzhou

Guangzhou has been a interesting place to visit. Before I left for China everyone I talked to said "Guangzhou is what China is really like" with it's industry, and little tourist economy. Every where I would go there is constant construction and cleaning going on. Guangzhou is being honored by hosting the up coming Asian Games, so the government decided it was high time that it got a face lift.

Everywhere you go, you will see people working on building exteriors, or ripping up part or all of the sidewalk to give it a cleaner look. But while this is all going on the residents of Guangzhou are keeping about there daily lives as if nothing was happening.

The best example of this is along both sides of the river, you will see people fishing using nets instead of rods. They just stand or sit along the other side of the barrier looking, waiting, and catching all sorts of river life. One guy had a net big to catch a full grown man if he had wanted to.

Another interesting thing is that Guangzhou apparently is the last stop for parents wanting to adopt children from China. My second morning here I was eating at lunch at a little deli on the island that I was staying at. In the span of a half hour there were at least 5 western families with Asian children. So after I was finished eating I walked up to a family that had just sat down, and wasn't eating yet, why there where so many of them there, and that was what they told me. All of them have been of waiting list for 2 to 5 years before they where finally able to come and take one home.