UPDATE

Today was a free day. So we spent the day visiting the Guangzhou zoo. This was Brandon’s choice as he had never been to a zoo before. Both boys greatly enjoyed themselves and took lots of pictures. It also seemed to wear out all 3 boys which is helpful. At times it can be challenging keeping 3 sixth graders occupied and reasonably controlled in a hotel room. They are all doing great but it will be good to be home so they can burn energy playing basketball, jumping on the trampoline, riding skateboards/ripsticks, etc.

It has been fun this trip experiencing the public transportation systems in Beijing, Shanghai, and now Guangzhou (taxis, subways, city buses and bullet trains). Guangzhou has a fairly new subway system and is relatively easy to use. It is amazing how many people they move each day – the subways are quite full even in the middle of the day. One day we were riding in Guangzhou close to rush hour and it was pretty full, but our guide said it would be even worse in another ½ hour – packed so that you could hardly move – we were glad to not be part of that. It is also amazing how many people are walking and riding bikes. It is little wonder why you don’t see many overweight people here with all the exercise they get walking around!

We are waiting for the results of Eric and Brandon's TB tests (go back on Wednesday). Our final steps are Thursday we have an appointment at the US Consulate to do paperwork to request Eric and Brandon’s Visas for entry into the US and then Friday we will receive their passports with the needed Visa.