Guangzhou

We arrived really early in the morning and checked into the pre booked hotel which turned out to be OK. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province which is one of the powerhouses of China's economic boom. The price for the astronomic development is high. Wild arranged highways cut the city into little pieces. Smog is always there and makes breathing difficult and surely effects local residents in the long run. If it's bad you can see about 400m. The river is dirty and not suitable for swimming. Adding to this sight was the fact that it rained most of the time during our one night visit. But it apparently is a very common thing (you should take into account that China has a lot of acid rain from all the coal energy plants). At one point it was pouring to an extend I haven't witnessed in years.
Whole districts of the metropolis are dedicated to only one product. You have hundreds of shops selling it all thinkable variations. In the case of jewelry even entire shopping malls. Because of the weather we had to flee to the hostel and leave early the next morning to collect my debit card from the Swiss embassy because it got cancelled in Laos because I tipped in the wrong PIN .