Imagine all the services of a 5 star world class resort with beautiful palm trees, a tropical 86 degrees with high humidity, the smell of fresh flowers in the air, beautiful marble floors with a two story waterfall in the lobby, personal attendants on every floor that know you and greet you at the elevator to hold the door for you, and drop that somewhere near the U.S. Mexican border in the city of Tiajuana.
The service is so great here, that even last Sunday night when I went accross the cobblestone street at 9 p.m. to get some bottled water, a doorman opened the beautiful front glass doors to the outside, and a beautiful women immediately met me accross the street for a "saggie". Now, having a degree in International Relations I was able to translate her broken english, non the less excellent attempt at communication, to understand she was offering a massage. Now, jetlagged, post mortem stomach flu, and carrying a baby around for days I was definitely pondering how good a massage may feel so I inquired in a naive manner as to where her professional five star salon may be. Well, in the cutest way she was able to clearly say "your hotel room." I wasn't ready for that one.
Our hotel is on an island, that is very well maintained but surrounded by treacherous moats. If you cross those moats, you will definitely be found in alleys that offer unlimited opportunities for adventure/purchase. You may realize by now that after two cities in China, the initial shock value is lost. Or is it. The alley ways of Canton, (the english translation for Guangzhou, Guangdong because it is one of the only areas of China that speak Cantonese) would have blown most of us away, but our guide had warned us on the bus coming into town. Miles and miles of shops about as deep as a storage shed, one after another selling anything from chipmunks (and I am not talking about Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) to fish, dogs, cats, turtles, ferrets, mice, rats, and a number of other leaner meat dishes you would typically find roasting on a Sunday afternoon in a slow cooker with a little bit of onion soup mix, a can of cream of something soup, a touch of garlic powder for a gourmet touch, and of course some tripe or lung for texture.
The world class service is continued where all of the trinket shop owners are very willing to give you "besht price" on anything they may have to sell. If there shop is not fortunate enough to have air conditioning, they will have a nice young child "fan" you off the old fashioned way with a hand held bamboo fan. And believe me, you would not believe how much stuff you really need that you never knew existed. And I have to buy for him, and of course I can't forget her, and oh I almost forgot Larry because he said hi to me at work one day...
Culture shocked not really. Ready for home, definitely. For those whose children are from Guangdong province and only spend their time At the White Swan Hotel in Shaiman Island definitely leave with a different perspective of China than for us who "marinated" for a week in our daughter's province well North from here, and noticeably more poor than here. It has been truly a unique journey through a country that has so much more to offer that I did not see, but for that I look forward to Bob Costas and the rest of the television crews narrating those histories to me on my high definition televison in between the few events I may get to watch live due to the time difference during the upcoming Olympic games.
Mark
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