We hung out in the hotel room for the morning and early afternoon. Davina got up and went to breakfast with me about 9, but then came back and napped for 3 hours. Teenagers!
In the afternoon we caught a cab to Yuexiu Park. This is a huge park but we went specifically to see the Five Ram Statue. This statue is the symbol of the city of Guangzhou. Apparently, about 2000 years ago this area was barren and five immortals came down on five rams bearing rice sheaves. The immortals blessed the area, left the rice sheaves, and the rams turned to stone and so Guangzhou was born. The statue was erected in 1959...no word on the original turned into stone rams. The statue was on the top of a high hill. Wish I had counted the steps. In fact, the whole park was very hilly. We were constantly going up hills and down hills. Sometimes on a path and sometimes up staircases. There are three big ponds/small lakes in the park, too. The whole place was beautiful, but also very hot.
I'm sure you can imagine, that being in Guangzhou is different than being in Tallahassee. Even in the park. There are obvious similarities, flowers, trees, families...but there are also differences (beyond the superficial one that I am often the only blond around). There are loudspeakers throughout the parks we visit. The music is not uniform throughout the park. Sometimes it is soothing music, but sometimes it is happy upbeat music. There are people gathered in small groups singing. I am not sure if they go to the park with the idea to sing or if people just join in. Sometimes there is a crowd listening, but often it seems that the group is just singing to amuse themselves. Because there is music playing everywhere, it is common to see couples dancing. And the parks we have visited all have statues. Lots of statues.
While in the park we saw some old buildings and part of the original wall that surrounded Guangzhou. I got the sense that Davina wasn't too much of a history buff and she was underwhelmed with these sites. When we left the park we started looking for a place to catch a cab. We walked along a busy street. We could see cabs, but I had no idea how to signal one. The roads are also very different in Guangzhou. The large busy streets are like divided highways. There is a fence between the two halves of the road so you cannot cross the street (or make a left turn)...there are periodic bridges for pedestrians and u-turn lanes for cars. On this busy street, there was also a fence between the sidewalk and the road, so there wasn't an obvious place to hail a cab. Once again, Davina successfully navigated for us and found a subway station. We rode the subway back...more interesting and cheaper than a cab. Cab ride was $3 but subway was 50 cents. It is always fascinating to me to stand in a train packed with people and to not see anything but dark haired people. I guess I sort of stand out.
At night Davina asked if we could go to McDonald's and I acquiesced. I picked something at random off of the menu that is unlike any offering at home. It was good but messy (sauce dripping out). There was rice and vegetables and some type of patty. It might have been vegetarian, although I am not sure. Well, it was good and the fries were familiar. Davina had a chicken sandwich. She liked it. I am not sure she had ever had McDonald's before.
One word about price...almost every night our dinner costs around 90 yuan. That's about $15. Pizza Hut was 104 yuan ($17). McDonald's was 37.50 ($6). So, at least it was cheap :). And be impressed...I paid with a 20, 10, 5, two coins that are worth 1 each, and five bills that equaled .5. Exact change with a variety of bills and coins.
At the hotel Davina was excited to remember that it was Saturday as her favorite two shows were on. One is a soap opera set in the Ming Dynasty and one is a variety show. I have no idea what is going on most of the time, but Davina laughs and laughs and I enjoy hearing that!
As we were headed to bed, Davina started dancing around the room singing, "we are going home on Wednesday." I told her that I would dance with her on Wednesday.
Today, though,we are still here, and I am thankful that even here I am not out of God's reach.
"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:9-10
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