China - day 2

After a short wander around looking for a suitable breakfast we ended up at McDonald's and...yes it tasted it just the same as anywhere else. From here we wandered through some narrow streets and found ourselves at a park. Music was blaring out so we meandered over to it and found that it was a live band playing with an older lady singing in a high Chinese voice. Right beside there was some other music playing and they were doing the old fashioned dancing.

The sign on the rock reads - "I am small, please don't trend on me. Lucky Grass."

Wayne is outside a beautiful temple at the end of the park.
I am still amazed at what they load onto their bikes!

China - day 1

Our hotel in Zhu Hai was wonderful, it had a revolving restaurant, where we had dinner. Unfortunately it wasn't revolving for breakfast. After checking out we asked if they could book us a hotel in their hotel in Guangzhou but unfortunately they were full. We then went over to their business centre and they handed the phone to Wayne and we had a hotel booked. Only problem was the lady couldn't write it down in English....she gave it to us in Chinese.

We bought a bus ticket and was on the bus to Guangzhou. The bus ride was interesting - mainly through the outskirts of the the two cities. When we arrived at the bus terminal it was like 'now what'...so we followed the locals around to where the taxi line was and the queue went for ever. We were approached by a young lady who seemed to have a minimal English and understood what we said, more importantly she could read the note from the previous hotel. We agreed on a price and went with her to a car that was obviously not a taxi but he took us to the correct hotel. Wayne had agreed to a hotel that was in a great position, in the middle of Haizhu Square
The view from the hotel window was of houses and hoses and more houses. Walking around in the early evening was incredible. We couldn't decide or find a place to eat so ended up back at the hotel and ate at their local restaurant - Cantonese. The food was absolutely lovely - and not a chilli in sight.After checking in we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We were objects of amusement and were stared at. This is one thing I have not been able to get over...but don't mind now as they are seem to be curious and are not threatening in anyway. I try to tie my hair up as much as I can as this seems to be their focal point. In the above photo is a guy with a cart, he is moving rubble from a building to this area. There was lots of building and maintenance going on all over this city.
This bicycle was parked on the side of the road and it had a funny little box attached to the back of it. On closer inspection it was a firebox for cooking satay (we found this out later)
Down by the river were all these fisherman and women. Looking into their catch buckets we found little turtles. They were so cute but I believe they eat them. They have nets on long poles and wait for the turtle to surface for air and then quickly scoop them up.
These guys are playing cards on the river front. They just gather together down and start playing. I gather its for money and I think friendship. There are always onlookers.
I am still continually amazed with what they load onto their bikes and still manage to pedal. Event he ages of the people pedaling is incredible.
Street vendors selling satay, fruit and many other interesting items off the bbq on the back of their bikes. These were very popular with the locals. I couldn't bring myself to try one...the smell was not the pleasantest.
But the river view was cool from the top of a bridge. The pollution levels must be very high...as there was always smog around.
Another bike laden with cardboard. After taking this photo he got on the bike and rode down the street.
After visiting the Shamian area where we played with all the bronze type statues it was time to head back to our hotel for the night.

Macau

The next day we were up and off to have breakfast before catching a ferry across to Macau. After going to the wrong ferry terminal we found the right one and purchased tickets for the 1.30 sailing. It was only a short ride and we were there and going through customs and immigration. Once through we looked for a place to book accommodation in Zhu Hai, across the border in China. Finally found and we were off. Only to be hassled by taxi drivers for a ride into town or a tour. We walked out and got onto a bus that was going to take us to a casino...finally Wayne was going to allow me in!!!!! but no we just used the bus to get closer to the town centre.

This is the town centre, it was just amazing. Walking past the casinos was thought provoking - you see all the glitz and glamour of the building but you see people from all walks of life coming and going. Some don't look like they have enough money to gamble away. Next time I will walk in and have a go!
We are not sure who this guy is but everyone was taking photos with him and we just had to do the same.
We found our way to the facade left of a church. It was incredible to see and to see the view back to the casinos. There was also a fort and this also had great views. We wandered backdown some alley ways -
They were quite pretty but certainly not of the quality of the the casino area. We happened upon a market that were performing Chinese Opera....nothing like opera that we know!

From here we found our way to a delightful restaurant for a local lunch. The waiter didn't have much English but we were able to order some yummy food. From here we caught a local bus to the border to cross over into China for a couple of nights. We were the only white people on the bus and arrived at the border to be met by a huge number of people...and it was more than huge! We lined up and filled our forms in while waiting then realised we were in the wrong queue...we were in the one for the elderly and the ones that needed help. Too bad...we stayed in the queue and were finally through to the other side only to be met by a barrage of people wanting to sell items to us, wanting to offer us a taxi to anywhere...but we knew our hotel was within walking distance of the border. Off we set trying to read the road signs...we knew which road it was on but couldn't read the signs - surprise they were all in Chinese. Finally I asked at a Watsons (like a chemist) and the lady couldn't speak English...had to ask someone else and they couldn't speak English either and she asked someone else who said go down the road and turn right...pointing with her left hand in a left direction. We carried on walking and yes we did find the hotel.