72 Hours is enough time to do China right?

I forgot to post this last Sunday and for that I will hope that you can forgive me Andrew Brownlie.

My first country almost turned into the only one, Duh duh duh... I very nearly missed my flight from Delhi to Guangzhou due to the delicious Maharajah Mac and Delhi airport's "silent announcement policy". Keeping it strictly veggie I opted to steer clear of the Chicken option at Maccas. It deserves 11/10 as veggie guy is fire

*The Mc Cruncher in Ireland gets an honorable mention.

Whilst basking in ambience of McDonald's Golden Arches it became apparent that time had runaway with me. What started out as a quick walk progressed into an jog and finally a run after catching a glimpse at the departures board. Luck however on my side, making it onto the plane with moments to spare.

The flight passed without issue and I awoke slightly jetlagged, slightly stinky Englishman in China.

To boost tourism and otherwise increase China's stranglehold on the west they allow visitors to stay for up to 72 hours for free with a visa on arrival. Anybody who has tried to stay in China longer will be aware of the pain. When discussing the Chinese interlude within my "world tour" the only option was to to seek advice from the great Tom Haverford and "Treat yo self" so I booked a 5 * hotel.

To say The Garden Hotel, Guangzhou is fancy would be fair. They had 6 restaurants including 1 revolving gourmet buffet (£65 a head no chance) 6 high end fashion retailers and 2 banks on site not to mention a full spa, 24 hour gym and not 1 but 2 different artificial waterfalls in their back garden.

Upon arrival it became clear that there was something big happening that evening. A 30ft Christmas tree dominated the lobby with all the check in desks turned into snack and beverage stations. Given the odour exuding from my body it seemed apt to bathe before pilfering all the food and drink possible.

After a brief trip to freshen up I jumped in the elevator to head out and ended up gate-crashing the KPMG Guangzhou/Macau Christmas party! 8 glasses of champagne and 2 new Chinese friends acquired it was time to go and see the city. Guangzhou feels ike a hybrid of Manchester and London, but much cleaner and nicer than either of our fair cities.

Taking the time to walk around and get lost in a city is always fun in Guangzhou it was business as usual. Before arriving I was aware that I wouldn't be able to use any of my many Google products due to China's ongoing disagreement with the tech giant. As a result I had  to rely on Bing maps. Sadly Bing didn't live up to my expectations and failed dramatically when trying to direct me to an awesome bar. The bar was located inside and old bomb shelter and was quite the hip-happening place on a Friday night with live music, cocktails and craft beer. Sadly I was soon to find out that nothing stays around for long in Guangzhou and the bar had been replaced with what I shall call a gaming hall. Filled with about 400 computer's and kids playing clash of ponies or whatever the kids are into these days.

With my tail firmly between my legs I walked back from the nerd layer in need of a drink and some food. Through the magic of Google translate (offline) and the power of chance I found a 7/11 and a place for tasty noodles on my way home. Nailed it.

Day 2 arrived and I was still so sleepy I managed to stay in bed till 11:45 which didn't bode well for my busy plans. First on the agenda was visiting the one of the tallest building's in the world and the biggest in China.

After this it was a quick hop, skip and jump across to where they host the China games and their city lights festival which I missed by a day! Never mind there was easily the coolest library and museum across form each other. I even managed to find 10¥ on the floor *winning*. After wandering the city for a few hours I decided to head back to the hotel for a shower. However date threw me a slice of craft beer based serendipity hit me.

"Beer Hardcore" are a small chain of beer shops that host approx 6 taps and a healthy selection of bottles. Being in China it felt right to grab a Chinese beer and I was not disappointed by a delicious IPA. Whilst basking in the ambience of delicious beer and surveying the finer part of town in Guangzhou. I made the acquaintance of an American gent from Portland, Oregon a we immediately bonded over beer, twizzled moustache's and fixed gear bikes. The 3 common denominators in any hipster cities.

My evening consisted of a trip down Shangxiajiu pedestrian street. Well known for its traditional markets and street food. Despite not finding any deep-fried cockroaches (much to my fans dismay) I did have some banging noodles from a street vendor.

Nice and quick China was all done and dusted. Now heading out NZ where I'm hanging tough for 3 months.

Peace out