Cruisin'

We have just returned from a dinner cruise up the Pearl River and back. Yet another vehicle has been added to our list: a riverboat. There was what we think was supposed to be a western buffet, but it was awful. Greg leaned over to me after dinner and asked what we were going to have for dinner. Mac and cheese with unidentified stuff in it. Meatballs made of fish. Deep fried bread chunks that I think resembled croutons, but no salad. Fried rice. There is always fried rice. Everywhere you look there is fried rice. Oh, well. At least you can always fill up on rice. The kids did enjoy the sponge cake. At least the boat ride was worth the RMB68 ($8) per person we spent on it.

We let the children roam freely on the boat. They were grabbed into pictures by locals, posed with repeatedly, and otherwise fawned over. We have said that if we charged RMB10 per picture, we could have paid for the trip! People stare, turn to look, take pictures, touch, laugh, comment, and ask questions when they know enough English. Kailey and Justin are pretty good about it, but they are starting to get tired of it. It is easier here are Shamian Island for them since they are much more used to foreigners.

Here is some perspective for you that I gained tonight. Guangzhou is one of the smaller cities in China. There are between 6-8 million people here depending on your source. New York City has a population of 8 million people. That blew me away. It also explains a lot.