Pictures of Shamian Island

Jeff Shots

Touring in Guangzhou

 

Our flight to Guangzhou adventure

Imagine being the only Americans on a flight in China, and having your flight delayed for 1 hour.  And then when we got our bags put away and sat down in our seats the captain comes on the intercom and says we will be delayed again because of bad weather in Guangzhou (lot lot of Chinese chatter).  Four and a half hours later our captain says we will be taking off (cheers).  Two hours later we are over Guangzhou waiting for our turn to land and we are told they are not going to allow us to land ( more Chinese chatter).  The captain makes a decision to fly back to Shanghai (a lot more Chinese chatter).  We land in Shanghai while the captain and the Shanghai airlines discusses what to do next.  An hour later the captain comes on the intercom and says,  "sorry but this flight has been canceled".  A mad rush to get bags and off the airplane to the ticket desk to get the next flight out (a lot of yelling Chinese chatter).  It is 1:30 A.M. and the next flight out is at 8:00 A.M. and we were told we need to come back to the ticket desk at 6:00 A.M..  So we find a comfy spot and settle down for a short two to three hour nap.  Everybody comes back at 6:00 (a mad rush from counter to counter as people are getting there two hundred YUAN compensation, getting tickets for 8:00 A.M. flight and checking there bags.  Well we finally get to our gate and we sit down to wait for them to call us to start boarding.  But wait, the story is not over yet.  Our flight is 45 minutes late in getting here.  We finally board the airplane (a nice roomy 767).  We sit down in our seat and keep in mind that these are the same people that were on our last flight that was canceled, and the captain comes on the intercom and says, "Sorry but we will be delayed another 45 minutes".  The entire airplane explodes into a bunch of angry Chinese chatter that lasted for a good couple of minutes.  The good thing is Rebecca and me didn't have to do a thing.  Our guide did everything and I have to say she is quite the dealer and finagler when it comes to getting in front of the line and and making sure all of us are taken care of.  All Rebecca and me had to do was keep a three year old occupied,  which I have to say was quite easy with our Ella.  She was amazing through the whole ordeal.  So now here I am on a Sunday afternoon just down the road through a beautiful garden sitting at Starbucks drinking a frappy,  Ahhhhh this is nice.