Huffman Coding

… with a bunch of Family Stuff too

China

Departure

I think Maoming wanted us to leave. When the maid made up our hotel room last afternoon, she took our half used soap and did not replace it. We could not wash our hands for a day. At our last breakfast in the hotel, the buffet table had one fork, so I had to share […]

 

The balance of Katie’s day

As wonderful as the care is of the children in the Maoming orphanage a few of things did disturb us during the visit. It seems at times, in an attempt to save effort or in keeping Chinese tradition of “saving face,” the director was willing to tell us convenient stories that strayed from the truth. […]

 

Katie’s Orphanage Visit

Because our tour company doesn’t have a guide in this city, Jason from Zhanjiang is our guide for the trip to the Maoming orphanage. He and the driver spent last night in Maoming, but probably not at our hotel. We never had the chance to visit the Social Welface Institute in Maoming when we adopted […]

 

Off the beaten path

Thursday morning another guide, Melody, picked us up at the White Swan and transported us to the airport. She’s Katie’s height. We are changing guides very quickly now, because of the logistics of getting many tourists through the city. There appear to be two sets of guides: those with better English speaking skills who take you […]

 

Empty examination room

When our overnight train arrived in on Wednesday in Guangzhou, we were met by Jocelyn after a munching on Pringles purchased in Guilin for breakfast. Since we were here last time, motorcycles have been banned from the streets of the city. The city also has a two-lane elevated inner belt that winds between the high […]

 

Exit through the gift shop

On Tuesday, Andy took us to the Elephant Trunk Hill Park, another karst in the shape of an animal. There is a legend behind this limestone rock too. An emperor took his sick elephant to recuperate in the city and the locals and elephant got along so well that the emperor had to fight to […]

 

Li River Cruise

We spent Monday morning on a boat cruise down the Li River starting a Guilin and ending at Yangshuo. It was beautiful scenery of the karst hills, local boats and water buffalo, but the constant haze diminished the view. The boat had three levels including an open air roof to take in the view. Along […]

 

Reed Flute Cave

Sunday morning, another family separated from us to visit their daughter’s orphanage and have Alice (Sporty Spice) to accompany them. Katie and Claire may see their best buddies Josie and Emelie morning of the day we fly home if we are lucky. The rest of us were assigned Rebecca (Ginger Spice, with dark auburn hair) […]

 

Chicken feet and clubbed frog

After the panda reserve, we did some shopping Saturday at a market. Alice referred to it as “Chinatown” but that seems redundant to me. Wouldn’t it just be “Town” when we’re already in China? Katie acquired another glass bauble and another fan. Apparently you can never have to many of those. Claire, in keeping with […]

 

Chengdu Pandas

I have been remiss in not adding photos to each of my blog entries, but today for some reason I bothered to download and resize one. Today we went to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, a short drive from our hotel and the whole reason we are in this city. It is […]

 

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