Asia 2005 Journey Day Fifthteen

                                   Huangshan, China to Guilin, China

                                            

                                            May 18, 2005:  Sunshine to Thunder storms.  Leaving yet another new China airport.  Most 

                                            U.S. cities would very much appreciate these new granite floored with huge expanse designed 

                                            facilities.  

 

                                            Our flight on China Southern airlines will connect in Guangzhou - southeast of Guilin.  However, 

                                            due to a severe thunderstorms, the captain did a full throttle abort climb while descending to the

                                            Guangzhou airport.  The lightning show outside the airplane added to the nervous expressions

                                            on most passengers.  

 

                                            Our flight was diverted to Shenzen.  We were parked on the tarmac for a few hours while skies

                                            cleared over Guangzhou.  We were in no hurry to return to the air.  However, the airline was

                                            very accommodating and order dinners to be delivered to the plane.

 

                                            Interesting side note about Shenzen.  This city had a population of 20,000 in the early 1980s

                                            and now has several million.  Shenzen was a "clean sheet" approach to start a new China city

                                            with full infrastructure in place.  Overall, China plans to move 400 million from agricultural based

                                            towns to cities.  Number of factories in Shenzen exceeds 1,500.  That, with yet another new airport,

                                            should allow for an interesting approach to reduce proverty by centralizing the masses.

 

                                            Completed the flight to Guanzhou's new extremely large airport.  Due to the weather, our original

                                            5:30 p.m. hadn't left and didn't depart until 11:00 p.m.  Again, we were provided yet another meal

                                            for waiting.  The final flight departed and thankfully, we had previously made arrangements with the

                                            Guilin hotel for shuttle service.  Very long travel day indeed.

 

                                           Travel specs:  Air Bus 320

 

                                            Return to Asia 2005