I am sitting in the front of a projectile moving nearly 340 km per hour. We are sitting in in China’s newest class of high speed train jetting away from Wuhan on the way to the southern city of Guangzhou. Because of trains such as these, what used to take 19 hours takes only 5 hours. This is truly a symbol of the new China. You may recognize the name Wuhan because of the recent serious and deadly flooding there.

We leave Anhui province with a smile on our face. We were able to see Charis’ orphanage before it was torn down, we were able to see the hotel where we first met her. We were able to see the place where she was found and learned of the noble history of the people an the land she came from. We were able to see some of the unique animals from her country. We are so thankful to alwaysforever.us agency for setting up the trip and for our guide/interpreter Cherry and driver Mr Youn for making it so special.

Today we are off to Guangzhou where we will meet our very first Chinese friendship partner Jake and his family and our other friend Phil. It marks the last stop in our extended stay in China. Tomorrow we travel to Hong Kong to stay though with a day trip to the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and after a weeklong excursion into Japan an overnight stay in Shanghai before flying home. We are about half way through.

Jake, a electric utility executive, is an important to us for a number of reasons. He was the first but just as important, he came with his wife and daughter when Charis first arrived and his daughter and here were the same age and fast friends.

The time has flown by. It seemed like just yesterday we were flying into Shanghai and now after visiting 7 cities so far we are nearly done. Its been some experience for all of us. Just yesterday I tried to order food at a Chinese restaurant and you should have seen what we got… From Chicken legs to bony pork… Yet the wonder of it, the kids actually ate some. What a change!

Lift up out time with our friends in Guangzhou and with our visit to Malone who just got back from the US as a student with his wife and new baby in Shenzhen. Also lift up our conference time in Hong Kong and visit with my good college friend Andy.