China Trip 2000

Welcome
Prologue
Lucy First
Curt Arrives
Train to Beijing
Beijing
Forbidden City
Great Wall
Ming Tombs
Summer Palace
Hong Kong
Stanley
Epilogue
Reference
The Cast

Curt arrives in Hong Kong

Curt arrives at the Hong Kong airport at 6:30AM and is greeted by Lucy's brother, Chi. I knew I was in a different place right away. Things were the same, but different. When I walked out of the nicely air conditioned airport into the parking lot my glasses instantly fogged over due to the humidity. The first things I saw were this big bus and these misty mountains.

Next Chi and I met up with some cousins and took a short train ride from the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong into the province of Guangdong (maps) to where Lucy's Aunt lives. Here we feasted on home cooked duck, fish, chicken, pork ribs and goose with the cousins and family friends below.

The next morning after a much needed timezone re-alignment we headed off for a hearty brunch of Dim Sum, a Cantonese meal of appetizers, which translates as To Touch the Heart. The bite sized morsels are shared among the table along with pot after pot of tea -- this leads to the more common name of dim sum, Yum Cha, meaning simply Drink Tea. When someone says "Let's go yum cha", you know you're in for 2 to 3 hours of peaceful snacking and tea drinking.

This particular morning Lucy's great Aunt came to yum cha from a neighboring town to check me out, to see if I'm worthy. The language barrier did not matter much as Chi translated the things she said -- "tall, handsome" and she gave me a big smile and a thumbs up. I figured I met her requirements for her grand niece.

After yum cha, Chi, the cousins and I headed to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province (maps) to catch a train to Beijing....

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