New city! Arrived in Canton at 9am this morning from Guiyang. Some adjustments were made to the itinerary so now I’m taking Tenzin’s route through the eastern coast of China instead of traveling through the southwest near Tibet to the north near Mongolia and Russia. So I’ll be in all of the big modern cities instead of the way-out smaller cities. Part of me is a little upset because it’s the smaller cities which I seem to enjoy most, but on the other hand, I’m going to Shanghai which I like, and Beijing which I’ve never been to but I must see.
It’s really hot and humid here. The food is delicious; almost as good as in Sichuan, but much more formal and fancy. Everyone speaks Cantonese and I can’t understand them. It sounds really different from Mandarin, and I think it’s what most people in the west stereotypically think of when they think of Chinese. All of this “bing bong wing wong” business which isn’t in Mandarin. I’m at an internet bar now which is super posh and expensive. Literally 15 times more expensive than the one I went to in Guiyan, but this one has huge leather couches, webcams, headphones, etc. Seems to be a fairly large complex as well, housing about 200 people that I can see.
I didn’t sleep last night at all really, but spent time with Chun Li. That’s not her real name, by the way, but it’s the name that I’ve given her because I can’t remember hers. She reminds of someone.
Yes, Chun Li from Street Fighter.
I would have liked to have spent a few more days in Guiyan hanging out with her, but duty calls. Kim arrives tomorrow at noon, he had to take a 24-hour long train trip because his visa isn’t ready yet and he can’t board a plane without it. I loaned him a book and a handful of CD’s to keep him from going insane, because he doesn’t speak Chinese and there almost definitely won’t be anyone on the train who speaks English. Everyone is playing Warcraft III and Counterstrike all around me.