Our hotel

We are staying in a Chinese hotel.  This means a spacious room, with negligible English spoken.  But it ticks all the boxes.  Comfortable bed, good bathroom etc etc.

The view:

And some amenities that you probably wouldn't get in the Marriott.

And signs:

Can't say you weren't warned!

First day

Arriving Guangzhou (GZ) yesterday.  A massive urban conglomeration.

Today we saw Shin Fung Shan Park.  Like many parks in China (or so I gather!) it is well used with people hanging out there.  

This is the entrance gate, built in 2015.

They had a pigeon hut in the park....

to entertain the children!Actually, there were a lot of little folk in the park.

We are outside GZ city itself.  Our restaurant's toilet were all squat ones.  There was one with a seat, but it was locked, and this is how it was described...... 

We went to a famous garden developed by a former governor.

Minature turtles on an island in a pond

But people watching is often more interesting! Local tourists at the same garden capturing the scene (not the turtles).

The we went on a cruise on a small sampan-type boat in  Fengjian Watertown.

 And so far, EVs are not as ubiquitous as we expected.  Our guide tells us there are more in GZ itself, and there are folk who actually prefer "gas".  Anyhow, they have their own number plate - green - unlike the usual blue background and white lettering.  A Local BYD...

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First step to Guangzhou

 You may have heard of all the disruption to the Sydney train network.  Although it is now supposed to be fixed, temporarily at least, it is not the kind of worry you need when you have a plane to catch.  So we came to the airport this afternoon and will spend the night here.

The upside of this is that we have never seen Sydney airport as a tourist.  It usually is a place to come to at the last minute and rush to get out. 

We had dinner at a cafe in departures.  Thee were lots of photos on the wall, including the original QANTAS office in Winton.  Amazingly, it was the only photo that was not in my lifetime!!  

There were other milestones for Kingsford Smith Airport.

And for this one, I WAS THERE!  I went out especially to see the first A380 arrive in Sydney.

And the hotel.  This train strike cost us a couple of hundred dollars, plus dinner.  I hope the drivers get their pay increase.

Tomorrow morning we walk over the road and leave for Guangzhou.
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