Well after a good flight (9 hours) which went very smoothly we landed in Guangzhao. Flight had a few funny moments – for e.g. being told one of the meals was chicken it wasn’t, it was fish! It was fine though. Nic ordered a tea with milk and got green tea with milk… hmmmm. Airport was busy not unbearable. And our Visa’s worked! An hour and a half after landing we were out and searching for a cab.

The taxi ride was the funniest ride I’ve ever had. The driver had no English at all. Luckily Nic had prepared notes with the address of our hotel written in Chinese. He put my suitcase in the front passenger seat however the door of the car was broken and wouldn’t close! So he tied it shut with the seatbelt and some packing plastic straps!!! So off we went and at the first corner the door swung wildly open threatening for my suitcase to go flying out the car! Luckily he pulled over and tied it all in a bit tighter. And we were off again – with Nic and I sitting in the back which had no seatbelts, with my suitcase tied into the front, while he drove along typing frantically into his mobile phone and had another hand holding onto my suitcase incase it fell out the door around corners. Nic and I were laughing so hard we had tears down our faces!

But now for pictures! It’s a bit hard as these were from arriving at night.

Besides the crazy taxi ride Guangzhao is an amazing city which in many ways reminds me of Sydney or Singapore. The outskirts looked a little poorer but the inner city has very modern buildings surrounded by lush mountains and a large river through the city. The streets are immaculately clean and beautifully kept with trees and flowers. Cyclists ride everywhere ringing their bells and wearing no helmets – but riding right alongside the cars that seem to make up their own rules at times. The weather is very warm and humid – temp was 30 degrees on arrival and didn’t drop much. It’s super humid and very cloudy.

Overall we have had a great start and feel very welcome. The people are lovely and very eager to help.

The hotel is sensational and quite posh! Thank you SA government delegation for staying at the best place in town!

After checking into our hotel we went for a walk to find food and have a look around. We nearly ordered live sea snails/shrimp for tea but luckily Nic checked and averted disaster!

However we were both getting really tired and after a walk and a quick meal we headed back to our hotel.

And a few more…
View from my hotel room, on the 26th floor! Looking towards the river.

This one is for you Leigh… a craft beer bar called “Beer Hardcore”!

Stay tuned for more adventures. On Monday we visit our Printer Toppan Leefung for a tour of the factory and to discuss our printing.

Bye for now
Belinda