ChimeLong Hotel

Bob had a conference in Guangzhou last weekend and E and I tagged along for the ride. Literally. To get there we took the bus to the MTR to the train to another bus to the hotel. It was practically a 5 hour process from where we live in Hong Kong. Ethan loved it of course since he likes riding buses and trains. As soon as we got to our room in the hotel he was asking for another bus ride. =P As a perk for being there on business (well Bob was anyways) we got to stay at the Chimelong hotel - a 5 star resort central to several nearby attractions.

Ethan always tests out our bed first thing. He gives it two thumbs up!

There were white tigers lounging around outside our breakfast area.

And also flamingos and these orange birds.

The Chimelong Hotel was really nice. There were a lot of restaurant choices, a kids club, outdoor swimming pool and just a lot of space to run around in. They also provide a free shuttle ride (5-10 minutes away) to the Paradise Amusement Park, Xiangjiang Safari Park, Chimelong Circus and Water Park. The standard rate should come with free breakfast buffet, and there is quite a bit of variety from traditional Chinese breakfast (congee, noodles, dim sum) to Western breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, yogurt, pastries). The food was quite delicious!

Quick Facts:
Address: Yingbin Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou.
Telephone: (86 20) 8478 6838
Hours: Check in at 2 PM, Check out at 12 PM.
How to get there: The hotel is located 70 km from the New Baiyun Airport and about 50 minutes from the Guangzhou East Railway Station (the hotel provides free shuttle to the railway station).

Xiangjiang Safari Park

While we were in Guangzhou we took the afternoon to see the Safari Park. This zoo contains over 460 species of animals including giant pandas, koalas, polar bears and white tigers. We were able to see all the exhibits of the zoo in 3 hours (we did not really linger at any exhibit), but there is also a section of the zoo where you can ride a train through the open plains.

Goofing off with the park's white tiger mascot!

Some animals we saw:

Mommy and baby elephant. We didn't, but you could buy some bananas to toss to the elephants to eat.

These gorilla statues were actually trash cans.

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Highlight of the park! Bob and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park a few years ago and I was hesitant to pay to feed the giraffes there (a whooping $3). Lame I know, but we were fresh out of college with debt to pay! So I was excited when we went back to San Diego. Only it turns out when we went last month they had stopped letting the public feed the giraffes the year before. Oops. Well we finally got our chance at this zoo! The diet was a bit different from what I remembered. In San Diego they at giant singular leaves versus these small tree branches here (bark and all).

Completely out of focus, but the giraffes curl their tongues around the branches to lift them to their mouths.

Other highlights from the Safari Park:

Quick Facts:
Address: Dashi Town, Panyu District, Guangzhou.
How to get there: The park is located 30 minutes driving from the heart of Guangzhou.
Hours: Open from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM.
Cost: 110 RMB per person, half price tickets for children between 1.1-1.4 m tall and people older than 65 years old. Children under 1.1 m tall are free.