Happy Birthday to Me

Today was my birthday and I woke up in China. That's never happened before! After waking up totally confused about what time it was, we met our travel-mates for breakfast here at the White Swan Hotel. The White Swan is lovely, and the "famous" breakfast buffet is all we'd come to expect, as it is spectacular. The folks at the White Swan had this beautiful birthday cake delivered to me in our hotel room. We then proceded to explore Shamian Island here in Guangzhou, where our hotel is located. This island was built up by Europeans during the early 1800's, and therefore looks very European in it's archetecture. The entire island is now built around commerce geared toward adopting western families, and they go to great lengths to entice you to "come into my shop to buy something for baby". What's truly "impressive" though is the weather. Lou and I have lived in Georgia, and other southern areas of the US, so we thought we new what hot, humid summers feel like. We had no idea! The air here is, sadly, very polluted, which seems to create a giant sauna where heat and humidity build to unbelievable levels. It lends a surreal quality to the experience because the entire city (of 12 million people!) is clouded in a haze. We used the remainder of our time today getting ready for the BIG day tomorrow! I think we're as organized as we're going to be at this point, and getting pretty anxious but very, very excited! Here are some photos of our day!

Lost in translation? Lou had to control himself in this park. We didn't want him to be "amerced within a range...:.

A view from our hotel room window.

The heat and humidity left us feeling like this man we saw by the street.

This statue is dedicated to the evolution of the Chinese woman.

This statue is called "American woman". Oh, my.