Zhongshan to Lollygagging in Zhuhai

Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

The day began with a wake-up call at 6:08 a.m.

Breakfast was outstanding! The best one so far. It’s as if they had pulled out all the stops. We weren’t just tourists, but special visitors.

 Breakfast

• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon slices cut in the shape of cleavers
• Sliced dragon fruit (first time on any buffet so far)
• A wide selection of rolls, white and whole wheat
• Whole apples, pears and baby papaya (lots and lots)
• Six various dry breakfast cereal + milk
• Three kinds prepackaged yogurt
• A cheese plate, including blue cheese and gouda (first time this trip)
• Five kinds of jam, including pineapple (Gosh, they were good.)
• Peanut butter
• Bacon, and chicken and beef sausages
• Eggs boiled and sunny-side up
• Romaine lettuce and fixings for salad
• A whole section for hot food: rice, green vegetables, baked beans etc.
• Coffee and tea replenished as soon as empty (all other hotels we refilled our own)

The service had been the best thus far as well.

We held back until the French Group was seated on the bus. I expect each of them had staked out his and her seat from the beginning. The worry it might be crowded, since the French group had huge carry-ons, soon evaporated. This was a 48-seat bus, but the overheads weren’t tall enough for my square overnight bag. Two seats across the aisle from Sue and I were empty. Soon we stashed our paraphernalia on them to keep the seats company.

The bus had left the hotel at 7:50 a.m. and the tour guide was still talking French at 8:37 a.m. Some of our group understood French. I managed with a little guesswork but missed most of the content. It occurred to me,  most information shared with the tour guide’s original group would likely be in French. We were outnumbered, after all. He made attempts to include the English speakers but the translations were much abbreviated.

© 2015 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles. All Rights Reserved

Lots of green spaces along the roadway: trees, shrubs, flowers; everything trim and neat. Gorgeous boulevards in Zhuhai. A water truck in the inside lane supplied water for the plants. Banyan trees  (small leaves and wispy beards hanging from branches) shaded one side of the road and palm trees decorated the other. I wasn’t certain where we were until the Fisher Girl statue came into view, and kept forgetting we were even in China. I blamed it on the palm trees and the presence of so many Caucasians

                                                                    © 2015 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles. All Rights Reserved

The bus stopped at tourist trinket shops around 9:15. The ladies lined up for the Happy House before heading down to the water to view the famous Fisher Girl and learn about her story. The highway we crossed to walk there was a danger to our safety: four busy lanes with fast traffic.

More Images of Fisher Girl

It has been unusual to see beggars or anyone with disabilities. I have where and when we had seen a few. My guess is they are well hidden and not allowed around well-beaten (tourist) paths. I couldn’t resist taking this fellow’s picture. When he realized what I’d done, he yelled at me but we walked on in a desperate hurry.

© 2015 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles. All Rights Reserved

Time for shopping and lollygagging over, I felt our group held back again as if we were the forgotten branch of the family. Don’t get me wrong, our fellow travelers were friendly and polite and yes, they spoke English a lot better than I managed French. Next stop, mysterious Macau at last.

~ * ~

Next on December 8th:  Zhuhai to Magnetic Macau

© 2017 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles

FYI: This is a re-blog of the best parts of my trip in 2014

~ * ~

I am currently on an unplanned sabbatical. I hope to return but when is the question. Thank you for your supportive reading, reblogging, and tweeting. I DO appreciate your kind and continued follows far beyond my inadequate words.

 

One Night in Zhongshan

Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

Through the window of our room on the 21^st floor, the view of the Pearl River was spectacular. Still in daylight, I spotted three cranes: two short, one in motion, and the third directly across from our full wall window. Construction is everywhere.

A lot of rooftops had water gardens with fish, a zigzag walkway over the water, a Pagoda in the center on another walkway and an old-style Chinese house with a fenced and bricked, L-shaped veranda affair at one side of the house. Couldn’t guess its use. Lots of fans and air conditions, another bricked patio, some with organized, potted gardens and others bare but swept clean. On the far right, I made out an old style boat on the Pearl River.

We were again joined by the French group during dinner. Afterwards, we learned The English Group Eight would no longer travel solo. Beginning the next morning and for the remaining days of our tour, we were to share the French bus and tour guide.

 Dinner:

• Sauces: ketchup, hot pepper, chili paste, soy sauce, sour cream, and chili sauce
• Spare ribs
• Sliced pork
• Egg pancake
• Pork with celery and carrots
• Sweet and sour pork
• Eggplant
• Bacon (boiled, ugh) with celery, red peppers and snow peas
• Rice with sliced green onions and egg whites
• Baby Bok Choy
• Apple strudel (in disguise)
• Fruit plate: sliced watermelon, cantaloupe, grape tomatoes

People gathered around in the lobby to check e-mail before calling it a day since the Internet was available there only. The huge and spectacular chandelier overhead made me somewhat nervous. 

A Starbucks Coffee Shop off the lobby opened to an outside patio. Room Service wine was 38 Yuan,  about $6.30 USD per glass. A bottle, however, cost 268 Yuan, approximately $44.65 USD. These ladies weren’t buying.

Our room had a glass-walled bathroom with a pull-down blind again. This setup was still a mystery. Why have glass if you need the blind? Why not a regular wall instead? Probably cheaper, too. Not one of our tour guides gave a straight answer, which only made the whole setup creepier.

Sue manually pulled down the shade for privacy as it had been left open. Later, sitting on our beds reading around 8:00 p.m., the whirl of a motor startled us and the shade rose. What? After playing with the button panel on the wall, success at last. Five minutes later, the shade rose again. Upon a second investigation, I noticed there were three buttons. If the bottom button meant down, the top one meant up, the middle one must mean hold. Yes. Problem solved. Fixed down again, no more musical blind.

This was only a one-night stay. We placed our bags in the hallway by 10:00 p.m,. in readiness for the next morning’s departure at 7:45 a.m. Why not bring our bags downstairs in the morning ourselves? Anyone confused yet?

~ * ~

Next on December 1: Zhongshan to Lollygagging in Zhuhai

© 2017 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles

FYI: This is a re-blog of the best parts of my trip in 2014

~ * ~

I am currently on an unplanned sabbatical. I hope to return but when is the question. Thank you for your supportive reading, reblogging, and tweeting. I DO appreciate your kind and continued follows far beyond my inadequate words.

Trekking from Guangzhou to Zhongshan

Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

We continued on into an industrial area of Zhongshan where I noticed palms along the waterways as I had along the highway (unexpected). Something beeped again on a seat at the front of the bus, but neither the driver nor our guide appeared to care. I almost laughed aloud while I observed one of the men lean into the aisle to watch the road. I realized we were all nervous about Mr. Li’s driving.

At a lull in the loud conversation in Cantonese, Carolyn called out to Russ from the back of the bus. Did he know what the large framed squares and rectangles of water were? Since he sat closer to the front, he raised his voice and addressed Helen, who gave a cryptic answer: fish farms. It’s difficult to tell the approximate sizes as we were not close, and looked downwards from a moving bus. My wild guesstimate is 30 by 30 or 40 feet. A tall apparatus poked out of the center of the sectioned areas and I wondered if might be some sort of filtration system.

Zhongshan Quick Facts

• Palm trees along highway and waterway seemed strange
• Squares/rectangles of waterways framed by grassy strips are fish farms (fish ponds)
• Fish farm water looked clean like a lake or river, but muddy / no rocky bottom
• These are privately run, but government owned
• Shacks here and there not for humans habitation, but for tools and supplies for fish farms
• Usually two, sometimes three rice crops a year
• More about fish farming here

The French bus passed us traveling in the opposite direction. The driver swung in a wide left turn off the highway into a construction site strewn with pipes and sporting newly planted trees. There wasn’t much room to turn around. At last, quiet reigned and we caught up to the French bus again. Two or three kilometers later, we reached Zhongshan and managed to find our hotel as we trailed the French bus.

After lunch, Sue, Lorena and her husband, Ernesto, went shopping for a half-hour until 2:00 p.m. at outside vendors. The rest of us stood around and chatted. Helen checked on us and announced she was going to the washroom. I followed because I had no idea where to find the Happy House. She walked into the men’s washroom—not an unusual mistake—rolled her eyes and changed direction with a loud laugh. Afterwards, since there was no paper and the hand dryer didn’t work, she offered me toilet paper from her purse. I said I carried my own, but she insisted. I told her I was prepared to dance and shake my hands to dry them if necessary. This is the second time we exchanged words.

The driver and tour guide continued to carry on a loud, spirited discussion. They weren’t quiet for a second. Helen kept playing with her hair, smoothing it and running her fingers through. Neither let up on whatever they were yakking about. He laughed. Nervous? She continued to push him with her voice. His knees bounced up and down. I wished he gave his full attention to driving. At one point he lowered his voice, knee still bouncing, and stared at Helen in the rear-view mirror. She kept nattering for the one and a half-hour bus ride to the hotel. Our English Group Eight kept moving deeper and deeper into the back of the bus since it was empty except for we Canadians. Sue inserted ear-plugs. Someone clapped their hands but it had no effect on the driver and guide.

Helen moved from sitting behind the driver to the seat opposite him. Why?  At least they gave sideways glances at each other instead of talking into the rear-view mirror. I wished Mr. Li kept his eyes on the road instead.

Lily, our previous guide, had mentioned Chinese people were not quiet. I thought I noticed a slight blush when she shared this information.

Helen and Mr. Li finally began a more animated conversation compared to what had sounded like murderous arguing. They smiled and sounded happier and were more relaxed, more companionable rather than quarrelsome. Mr. Li smiled, voice lowered, his face animated.

Sue snoozed and I scribbled in my notebook. She had been disappointed only 30 minutes of shopping had been allowed. She managed to buy another T-shirt and worried shopping around our next hotel may be department stores and not street vendors with whom one might negotiate a better price.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel in Zhongshan around 3:45 p.m.

Other areas in the lobby:

~ * ~

Next on November 24th^th – A Whirlwind Visit in Zhongshan

© 2017 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles

FYI: This is a re-blog of the best parts of my trip in 2014

~ * ~

I am currently on an unplanned sabbatical. I hope to return but when is the question. Thank you for your faithful reading. I DO appreciate your kind and continued support far beyond my capability to express. Please bear with me.

 

Guangzhou: Day 1, Part 3 to Zhongshan

We continued on into an industrial area of Zhongshan when I noticed palms along the waterways as I had along the highway. Something beeped again at the front of the bus, but neither the driver nor our guide appeared to care. I almost laughed aloud while I observed one of the men lean into the aisle to watch the road. I couldn’t help thinking this was to make sure Mr. Li paid attention to his driving.

At a lull in the loud conversation in Cantonese, Carolyn called out to Russ from the back of the bus. Did he know what the large framed squares and rectangles of water were? Since he sat closer to the front, he raised his voice and addressed Helen, who gave a cryptic answer: fish farms. It’s difficult to tell the approximate sizes as we were not close, and looked downwards from a moving bus. My wild guesstimate is 30 by 30 or 40 feet. A tall apparatus poked out of the center of the sectioned areas and I wondered if might be some sort of filtration system.

Zhongshan Quick Facts

• Palm trees along highway and waterway seemed strange
• Squares / rectangles of waterways framed by grassy strips are fish farms (fish ponds)
• Fish farm water looked clean like a lake or river, but muddy / no rocky bottom
• These are privately run, but government owned
• Shacks here and there not for humans habitation, but for tools and supplies for fish farms
• Usually two, sometimes three rice crops a year
• More about fish farming here

The French bus passed us travelling in the opposite direction. The driver pulled a wide left turn off the highway into a construction site with pipes and newly planted trees. There wasn’t much room to turn around. At last, quiet reigned and we caught up to the French bus again.  Two or three kilometers later, we reached town and managed to find our hotel as we trailed the French bus.

After lunch Sue, Lorena and her husband went shopping for a half-hour until 2:00 p.m. at outside vendors. The rest of us stood around and chatted. Helen checked on us and announced she was going to the washroom. I followed because I had no idea where to find the Happy House. She walked into the men’s washroom—not an unusual mistake—rolled her eyes and changed direction with a loud laugh. Afterwards, since there was no paper and the hand dryer didn’t work, she offered me toilet paper from her purse. I said I carried my own, but she insisted. I told her I was prepared to dance and shake my hands to dry them if necessary. This is the second time we exchanged words.

The driver and our guide continued to carry on a loud, spirited discussion. They weren’t quiet for a second. Helen kept playing with her hair, smoothing it and running her fingers through. Neither let up on whatever they were yakking about. He laughed. She continued to push at him with her voice. His knees bounced up and down. I wished he concentrated on his driving. At one point he lowered his voice, knee still bouncing and stared at her in the rear-view mirror. She kept nattering for the one and a half-hour bus ride to the hotel. Our English Group Eight kept moving deeper and deeper into the back of the bus. Sue inserted ear-plugs. Someone clapped their hands but it had no effect on the  driver and guide.

Helen moved from sitting behind the driver to the seat opposite him. Why?  At least they gave sideways glances at each other instead of talking into the rear-view mirror. I wished Mr. Li kept his eyes on the road instead.

Lily, our previous guide, had told us that Chinese people were not quiet. I thought I noticed a slight blush when she shared this information.

Helen and Mr. Li finally began a more animated conversation compared to what had sounded like murderous arguing. They smiled and sounded happier and were more relaxed, more companionable rather than combatant. Mr. Li smiled more, his voice lowered and his face became more enlivened.

Sue snoozed and I scribbled in my notebook. She had been disappointed only 30 minutes of shopping had been allowed. She managed to buy another T-shirt and was upset shopping around our next hotel may be department stores and not street vendors with whom one might negotiate a better price.

Finally, we arrived at our hotel in Zhongshan around 3:45 p.m.

Others areas in the lobby”

~ * ~

Next on April 24^th – Zhongshan continued

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