July 29

Monday July 29 was an exceptionally busy day. Because Sol lives in Foshan and not in Guangzhou we were going to take the metro to get into the city.

On the metro I quickly noticed the extra bonus security before even getting to the ticketing entrance. The extra step did confuse me t first, especially because that is not a part of the Taiwan Metro travel. After roughly two hours of travel on packed subway cars, Sol and I made it to our first destination - Shamian

Shamian felt like an alternative world to the Far Eastern culture of China. It seemed out of place. The island is full of old embassies from other countries. Some from the Soviet, some from Poland, some even from France. The area had buildings from France that reminded me of the buildings from New Orleans Square in Disney Land. It was completely weird to see an entire street filled with European architecture after living in East Asia for the last two months.

By this point in my trip I began to really realize how much I enjoyed having one of my good friends around with me, and how much fun it was to have her in my pictures. It was so much fun! Besides just visiting old embassies, we saw plenty of construction and many intriguing statues around the entire street.

Next stop of the day was Chen Clan Ancestral Hall. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what was happening at that location. But at the Ancestral Hall I was able to capture some gorgeous pictures of the alleys and corridors. It was quite wonderful.

After an afternoon of sightseeing and picture taking, Sol and I took a break and we went to a sushi place. Lunch was great, and I think it was at that moment that I really realized how much WeChat is a part of the Chinese culture. We didn't order lunch with a server, but just from Sol's phone on WeChat.

After lunch We were onto our next location of the sightseeing, Guangzhou's "Mall of the World." This Mall actually kind of reminded me of the National Mall in DC. This spot is known for it's outdoor garden/park, however, from a birds eye perspective it looks like a fish. I didn't particularly see the resemblance. However, this location was pretty great because it was the first time that I was able to see Guangzhou's famous Canton Tower. It was from a distance, and the perspective made it seem tiny against two large skyscrapers

At "the Mall" the Canton Tower didn't look that tall. But boy, was I wrong. From "the Mall" we traveled to the Tower. The first thing we did was take pictures, along with the other hundreds of tourists. This building was humongous. I remember the first time I saw Taipei 101 at the beginning of the summer, I thought that was big. I can only imagine what it would feel like standing next to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The pre-tower experience was quite interesting. At ground level, the ticket office was a giant mess due to the sheer number of tourists. The best part definitely was at the ticket office with a real life wax figure of Mr. Bean. Honestly, it took me a second to realize that Mr. Bean wasn't actually standing in Guangzhou. I was particularly excited that we were able to see the tower before an insane storm rolled in.

The Canton Tower was wonderful from the 107th floor. When up there, it was nighttime and you it wasn't like you couldn't definitively see buildings, but it also wasn't the most clear nights. I always find it completely awe inspiring when I am a tall height able to see the world beneath me. Whether it is in ridiculously tall skyscrapers, or even simply in a plane traveling to a different city. Seeing the world from a birds perspective always proves to be a wonderful experience.

After our exciting adventures of the day, we were able to finish the day of tourist sight seeing Guangzhou from the Pearl River on an evening tour. The best part of the evening boat ride was the view of the Guangzhou and the Canton tower. I specifically enjoyed how the tower lights up in the evening.

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More blogs to come soon. Again, sorry for being so incredibly behind on these blog