China Day 1

We woke up this morning around 4:30 after only a couple of hours of sleep due to jet lag. We enjoyed the upgrade that the Marriott gave us to the executive lounge for free breakfast and lots of coffee. During breakfast we Skyped the kids. Brooks stuck his bottom lip out and was teary but, mom said he had been happy all day. She relates it to hunger and fatigue which sounds about right for our boy.

After breakfast we went back to the room where I wanted to spend the rest of the day sleeping. Of course we knew that would only make the jet lag worse so instead we got up and walked around Hong Kong Park. It was very cool with lots of Koi Ponds and beautiful gardens. We made our way to Victoria Peak which is a trolley car up a sleep mountain side. The views today weren't very good due to smog. After the peak and a walk to the waterfront we decided to head back to the hotel for some down time and lunch before our train for Guangzhou left at 2:30.

The train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou is called a high speed express train. Let's just say that is a generous term. We learned a few things today at the train station. First, we are so happy we purchased our tickets through a travel agency before leaving the US. We got to the station 1.5 hrs early and the tickets for the whole day were already sold out (including the 4 trains that left after ours). Second thing we learned is that there is no such thing as a line or personal space as we know it in the US. We were practically trampled going through security at the train station. Someone threw her bag on Brad's in hopes of getting through faster. Mind you, we sat outside the gate for over 30 mins after security. People ran and pushed through the gate. We thought seats might be limited but once the attendant translated our ticket for us we realized there were assigned seats. I still don't know what the rush was all about.

It is fun watching us go through small towns. I wish I had stayed up for more of the ride though. I fell asleep before we left the station and woke up 1.5 hrs later. Twenty minutes until we are in Guangzhou, the town where we will meet Olivia. Our guide will meet us at the train station and and we will find out our "Gotcha Time" for tomorrow!!!