March 16 Wandering in Guangzhou alone...

Mary and I were brave today...walked 14 km in the neighbourhood...bought our train tickets to Hong Kong, Mary bought a designer blouse 80% off, bought food from street vendors and some souvenirs. It is warm and damp here. When you look at pictures and see what you think is fog, it's fine mist...sidewalks are wet. There are many ceramic tiles used for steps and sidewalks (Craig you would crazy) that are wet and slippery all the time. Even at the beautifulUniversity campus....but this is Spring...it will dry up in the summer. The dampness makes it fell colder than it actually is.We sort of got....lost...a bit but Roy and Martine had given us their phone so I called to re-orient us. We bought flowers and potato chips for our hosts.Ate at a cafeteria style Chinese place for $3. last night. Maybe 50 people in a winding line-up when we arrived ..were fed a glass of sweet hot boiling water  as we waited to get in..line up went very quickly...you pointed to what you wanted and it was quickly put on your plate...no asking questions...the attendants pushed our trays so they touched the ones on either side of us to push the line along quickly...it sat about 150 people...didn't get to sit together...but OK... watched a downloaded movie and went to bed, exhausted again...but happy. Our hosts are wonderful! ....not getting stared at as much as we thought...We are not drinking the water at all, not even to brush our teeth...no ice cubes in our drinks...no salads or cold food...lots of choices though...sorry...hadn't talked about the food or water situation yet...so far very healthy.