Arrival in Guiyang

Today we flew to Guiyang where we will meet Chinese educators at the forum. Our first stop was on the way to the hotel at the people’s square. There were many people there and most of them had never seen a foreigner before so we got a lot of stares. The people there were flying kites, playing chess and poker and one groups of ladies was singing and dancing. We listened to that for quite a while. It was a really neat experience and the people were very nice and very curious about us. Of course, they did not speak any English but were very willing to have their picture taken.

The square is marked by a large statue of Chairman Mao who has his arm raised as though he is waving at the people. Across the street, the other side of the square has a large clock and…..(wait for it)…a Wal*Mart. Yes, a WalMart. How ironic that capitalism has creeped in right across from the Mao statue. Also, the entrances to the WalMart are two glass pyramids that look like the entrance to the Louvre in France. I wonder whose idea that was. It is a much more pleasing look than what we have.

We had dinner in a restaurant featuring food from one of the ethnic minorities found in Guiyang. It was certainly different than what we have had so far. It was very mild and there were several dishes that were not recognizable. The eggplant there was very good!

After that, we were all exhausted. The Internet in my room was down so I will have to post this later.