Though we were here in China for about 12 days - I have little to comment on as there was not really much to do in Guangzhou...I liken it to visiting a city like...Cincinnati - Its a city so there's alot of business going on, some nice parks, shops and malls etc...but nothing that makes it stand out as a tourist attracting place like New York or Singapore.
So first, let me talk about the hotel we were at...The Ocean Hotel. Fairly nice rooms, though it seems like they are slowly renovating the place so every single floor has a different look and none of the rooms are exactly the same so you really don't know what you're going to get. Also, the maids that work there must be under some sort of Chinese Nazi-like regime. No matter if you put the Do Not Disturb sign on your door AND the Do Not Disturb light was lit outside of your room ALONG WITH the Im In The Bathroom Don't Bother Me light - they will still knock and bang on your door insistently throughout the day as if there is a fire in the building and if you don't answer soon enough, will come into your room to ask if you want it cleaned. If you say no - they will come back later and repeat and demand that you let them clean the next day. If you put the latch on the door to keep them from coming in on their own, after the banging and ringing, the phone will ring and someone will try to ask you in Chinese to open the door and the banging and ringing will resume. If you use your Do Not Disturb sign too much, they will take it away from you. If you move anything around in the room they will go berserk on you - one afternoon I came in from a sweaty outing and grabbed a hand towel to dry my face and left it on the desk. Later when the maid came in and decided to clean the bathroom since we were still in bed, she came out with one towel in her had screaming...SCREAMING 'There Were Two! There Were Two!' until I handed her the towel. Apparently the room service staff is no better (though I didn't order myself, I heard stories) with the staff rolling their eyes and being nasty to our company when they asked questions and tried to pay for their meals instead of charging them to the room. My suggestion is to not stay there...Oh, their pool...If you can find it (its hidden on the 5th floor and only available via one unmarked elevator) - is not chlorinated (don't drink the water) and the trees around it are FULL of bats...so yeah...don't stay at the Ocean Hotel.....
If fact, if you can help it...don't go to China. Of course, I really only got to see the one city, but as home-country sick as I am - thats enough.
I did have a few good times though (lol - its not all gloom and doom). The first full day there I spent in the hotel but that evening we went out to a little river cruise on the Pearl River to see Guangzhou by night. They do have a really nice skyline and some very prettily lit up buildings - like the Canton Tower, which is also the largest building in all of China.
Another day, a foursome of us went out to Pan Xi - a Dim Sum restaurant and had a really good meal - and even tried some of the local delicacy...Chicken Claws. They are not as gross as you'd think. If you can get over the fact that you're eating a chicken foot...its really mostly skin and very little meat. But hey, I tried it. Next to the restaurant was a really nice park that we walked around in for a while. While it was too hot out to really enjoy being there, it was very pretty and relaxing.
The shows here were the most surprising part of China for me. I was totally expecting crickets the entire time - as no one here speaks English almost at all. But the translations must have been excellent - as some of our audiences were louder than the ones back home. That made me happy.
But after our time here, I'm ready to move on to our last stop: Macau. Because that means we are so much closer to being home. Tour life is hard for long stints...most tours END around 6-7 months and during that time you usually get a few breaks. We've been out for 8 months with no break - and if you add my previous tour in (since I had no break at all between shows)....I've been out 11 months without a real break - and I've gone a little crazy over it. So come on Macau, lets do this!
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