I arrived home Sunday morning from my first around-the-world trip. It consisted of U.S. -> Dubai, United Arab Emirates -> Islamabad, Pakistan -> Guangzhou, China -> U.S. - not including the many layovers in other countries.

Rumor about Guangzhou was that it’s mostly industrial and not very beautiful. We must have done it right then because we saw a gorgeous part. The last day before our flight home I blindly lead my colleague on a tour of Yuexiu Park. It’s 868,000 square meters of park and consists of a massive collection of trees, plants, water, flowers, bamboo, sculptures, an art gallery, amusement park, dance area, lawn bowling and anything else you might want to enjoy outdoors. Entry into the park cost 5 RMB which is about $0.63 USD. We spent a few hours and could have spent a few more but needed to get back to prepare for our departure.

When I’m traveling I tend to notice funny (at least in my mind) circumstances, such as my plate of food one night at the hotel buffet. My American style fries and ketchup were sitting right next to my dragon fruit and rice. Where else can you do that?

Four evenings during my stay I went for a massage at the hotel spa. How can you pass up an hour massage when it only costs $12.50 USD? That ought to give a clear perspective on the labor costs in China. I sure got spoiled.

Another note about my stay in Guangzhou was the language barrier. Typically, the staff in these hotels speak quite good english. However, this time only the upper level management and a few people could speak fluently. And forget about the stationary shop across the street. The rest of the staff knew typical greetings but that was all. Guess I need to brush up on my Mandarin… no, wait, Cantonese… but only for Hong Kong or Guangzhou? But Mandarin everywhere else? Geez…