In Guangzhou a mystery unfolds…

Pulling into the station at 3:45pm today (only 45 mins late on a 22 hour journey- I tell you, British Rail would not be up to the challenge!) fifty interns duely unloaded their life's possessions in the form of backpacks and unwieldy wheeled cases. Sometimes both. Not pointing any fingers here.  Ahem.

Collection was a little bit like being picked for sports teams in P.E. class. The group for Hong Kong were siphoned off immediately, followed by trickles of other interns being grabbed by their smiling school contacts and whisked away. Eventually, all that were left standing in the chaos that is the arrivals gate of Guangzhou Station were five of us that ironically are going to be based within the city itself! Little awkward.

Following a flurry of exchanged phone numbers and promises to meet up on the weekend, Sophie and I were eventually claimed by a quiet young woman by the name of Carey. She was friendly and welcoming, if a little overwhelmed at the enormity of movement in front of the station. She duley herded us into a taxi and answered all of our incessant questions with the cryptic "You will find out tomorrow". The mystery continues.

We have been  dropped off at a motel with a key card and the assurance that we we will get a call tomorrow at 9, or 10, maybe 11. I can barely contain my excitement/anxiety- we have waited for so long only to be denied another 24 hours! I imagine this is a mental version of Chinese water torture.

So, brief summation of the evening as it contains first impressions of Guangzhou.

• Sticky. It is 22 in our room at the moment and when walking out for dinner you were aware of the humidity. Usual  humidity is around 80% and temperatures reach 35 degrees in the summer. Somewhat steamy
• Despite the heat, everyone is in long jeans and jackets. Hmmm
• BIG. The station gave some indication of this, but further research has revealed a core city of 12 million people. However, officially the outlaying mini cities are included in the 'megatropolis' as there is actually no break in the urban sprawl. This brings the grand total to 40 million. Yikes!
• Food = fish. Decided to be adventurous with my dinner and just point to something on the menu. Turns out it was some kind of seafood curry with rice. Yum :)

Must do better at shaky camera work. Apologies, but the stares were getting to me!

• Its deliciousness didn't stop me from getting it all over myself. However clearly Guangzhou is full of mothers as four women immediately handed me a pack of tissues.
• Food also = obsessed with some kind of sweet red kidney bean. Thought I would tune down the excitement by pointing to what I thought was a milkshake on the menu. Turns out it was some sort of tea with red beans at the bottom and sweet milk floating at the top. Kept taking sips to see if it got any better. It didn't.

Pictured: Hmmm (*Also before the seafood all over the shirt incident)

• Culture = Western yet not. Having felt like I could now handle Beijing all by myself, Guangzhou was a bit more of a culture shock. What I knew to look out for had suddenly disappeared. This may have something to do with the fact that I am no longer walking around with a group of westerners, but everything is slightly different here. Will keep you updated.

Pictured: Couldn't resist!

• On the topic of western yet not, walking around with dear Sophie is an experience. The combination of my height and her hair makes us and open air attraction. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. We'll be here for the whole monsoon season.