Greetings from Guangzhou, China!
For the first week of March, I continued my extended stay south of the border in Mexico. I ventured from Cabo back up to my van in Puerto Penasco. I had such a great time down in Puerto Penasco. Every single time I leave, I find myself enjoying that town more and more.
On March 9th, I crossed back over the border & dropped my van off in Pahrump, Nevada. From there, I flew to Moab, Utah for a team meet up with a handful of my co-workers. We explored Arches and Canyonland National Parks.
From there, I flew to Singapore to meet back up with Avy after being apart for 1.5 months. Together we flew to Guangzhou, China. China is not a country I really had on my list wish list however, a few of Avy’s friends were planning a group trip there & I was invited along. Him and his friends all speak Chinese and English so I figured this would be the perfect time to go there, especially for my first time.
The people in China were nice I didn’t have any problems at the airport or immigration. The only slight thing I had to work around was one of the requirements for the 10-day USA tourist visa didn’t allow me to fly into and back out of China from the same destination. For example, I couldn’t go from Singapore to China and then back to Singapore again. The 10-day USA China tourist visa only works if China is considered a stop-over on a trip from one place to another. I had finagle around this a little bit and if I ever go back to China again, I’ll be more prepared for this catch next time.
One of the highlights for me was during a trip to the zoo. We had just finished eating lunch and there a was large group of school kids on a field trip. I almost missed it but as I was walking away, I heard a kid give his best attempt at saying “hello” in my direction. I had to a double take and there was an entire group of kids all being quiet to see if I would reply. This warmed my heart. I smiled, waved and said hello back to them. They all giggled and seemed very happy about this exchange. The zoo was in somewhat of a more rural area of China and on my trip to the zoo, I didn’t see any other white people there. I’m guessing they might not experience too many foreigners there. I know this a small thing but I have grown to really cherish this little moment.
My trip to China was short, only 4 days but I had a great time & I’m happy I got to check off another country on my travel list! To be continued….
