Taking the train tomorrow to Guangzhou

Well, it's almost midnight here & our guide is picking us up at 9:15 am. Not sure why so early because the train doesn't leave until 1:08. We had fun today - went to a local neighborhood that had basketball courts and there were lots of guys there playing. George, our guide, lent us his basketball and Ben got in there and joined with the others. George had planned on doing this with Ben, but he had to assist another family, so we haven't seen him today. He had a good time and the weather was ideal. There was an old man there, just waiting outside the fence area the whole time and people would give him their empty water bottles through the fence. He looked very poor and old and was just waiting and pacing for anymore to come through the fence. When we finished and were walking out, Ben pulled all of his Chinese money out of his bookbag, stuffed it in his empty water bottle and handed it to the old man. This is why I love this boy. We then went to the Kungfu show, which was pretty neat. Ben and I decided that we liked it, but liked the acrobatic show better. We stopped to eat at this tiny noodle restaurant before the show. Ben ate a huge bowl of noodles & some mystery meat on a stick. He added so much hot sauce to the noodles that he was just pouring sweat. But he loves it that way! While there, Ben kept noticing a local family sitting closeby to our table, who was giving their daughter beer - she looked like she was maybe 9 yrs old. We returned to the hotel and Ben wanted to go eat something (again) and I hadn't had lunch or dinner, so we headed out and found KFC. Then Ben wanted to go to the walking street again. It is totally fun, so we spent a few hours doing that. I am exhausted :) It is very interesting to see how the people look at the 2 of us... they're really curious about us signing to each other. When an aggressive salesperson (if you've been here, you know what I mean) approaches us & I don't want to "deal" I just sign only and pretend that I'm deaf too. Several nice merchants asked me if he is my son. They seem so surprised, but friendly. We didn't take too many pics today, but here's a few from this afternoon. I really like the one of the lantern & the church. I think it's beautiful. The street is lined in lanterns. The basketball picture is a mural on the side of a building. The huge crowd was dancing again tonight. Ben and I have concluded that these people don't sleep! But I do, so will close for now. Will blog again from Guangzhou.