I was scheduled to fly from Christchurch, NZ to Guangzhou, China to Shanghai, China to New York, all on Chinese airlines. When the first of my three flights left late, I missed my connection in Guanzhou, and — to my delight — found myself with fourteen hours in Guangzhou, China.
I was determined to see the city, in spite of the heat, humidity, and smog, to say nothing of the considerable language and culture barriers. It wasn't easy, and the guide I finally found would only show me approved sites, but I managed to see a tiny bit of the 16-million person metropolis that is Guangzhou, China.
The room was fine, and the buffet-style food was plentiful and impressive, but the city's heat — the heat index was nearly 110 Fahrenheit — was only minimally offset by the hotel's largely symbolic air conditioning. For reasons I still don't understand, the only room cooler than 80 was the elevator.
The island itself, built up largely by England and France in the 1800s, still attests to colonial European involvement in the East.
