Guangzhou: Buildings and Streets

广州 (Guangzhou), is a rapidly changing city, so much so, that it seems I am able to see and feel the changes that are happening right now.  This city is alive!  Guangzhou is listed as #2 in a ranking of city population  (according to wikipedia) behind Dehli, India.  It all makes sense now, why when I visit my home, the streets seem so empty.  I am going to share a quick glimpse through some pictures of the buildings that make up some of the city.  Obviously it is so large that mine will only be a sampling.

The Canton Tower (formerly the Guangzhou TV Astronomical & Sightseeing Tower.  It was the tallest T.V. tower (600 meters) in the world until 2011.  In 2012, Japan built the Tokyo Skytree (634 meters) which is the current tallest T.V. tower.

Street performer see downtown.

This type of scenario is ubiquitous in China.

Month of June -- trees and flowers everywhere!  Guangzhou is green and lush.

City towers as we get closer to the center.

Umbrellas are out rain and shine.

Bikes are as common as cars and busses.

Pedestrian walkways covered with green plants.

This is a newer area of the city called Zhujiang New Town.

A futuristic-meets-traditional kind of place.

Liede Bridge, Guangzhou

Borneo, Yes It's Cool.

Oh Borneo! I hope you are well cared-for because you are beautiful.

Borneo is the largest island in Asia and is divided among three countries: Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.  We landed on Kota Kinabalu and then visited Sandakan, Semporna and Mabul Island.  All these places were inside Malaysia.

We love adventure and out-of-the-ordinary -- and our most recent visit to Borneo in February fit the bill perfectly.

See for yourself!

Borneo is the only place where you can see Proboscis Monkeys in the wild.   This picture was taken at the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.  But later you will see the pictures of them in the wild.

We spotted these two birds as we walked out of the monkey sanctuary.  It was amazing to see them in the wild.

Unfortunately, the palm oil trees on the right, although they look beautiful and so tropical are currently grown on so much of the land (to make money), that all the other beautiful and wild vegetation has no where to grow.  It's sad to see really.  I wish I had some amazing solution that would benefit both the people and the land.

These Orangutans were at the Orangutan Sanctuary in Sandakan-- a place where they rehabilitate them and help them return to the wild.

This picture was taken at Mabul Island Scuba Junkie Mabul Beach Resort where we stayed for about 5 days.  Both Greg and Parker became certified scuba divers (I already had my certification).

This little girl  was living in a very poor fishing village right next door to the Scuba Diving place.  And although it was obvious that there wasn't a lot of money, the children seemed to be very, very happy playing and running around.

Mabul Island

Local children on Mabul Island.

Kinabatangan River

Greg, taking in the incredible landscape at Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge.

I love this picture because the water has a rich muddy color.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but the entire ride on the river was amazing!  The weather seemed to change every 10 minutes -- but I loved it.

Looking for wildlife

A little rain

We saw a whole herd of elephants from afar, and I couldn't believe they pulled the boat up so close.  It was incredible to see them so close.

Greg spotting an Orangutan. . .

This is a wild Orangutan that Greg spotted at our lodge.  He also took this picture.  I think she had a crush on Greg.  They passed through the lodge day 2 and 3 while we were there.

A Lantern Bug in Borneo -- two actually, but only one in focus.

 This Proboscis monkey was in the wild.

Black-crowned Night Heron. . .I think I am starting to like bird-watching.

More amazing scenary

This could have been a long-tailed macaque monkey using a line that the locals tied between two trees so they could cross over the river.

Rhinoceros Hornbill...in the wild!  So very cool.  He was eating those berries or small round tree fruit attached to the tree.

Palm Civet at night on our river excursion

King Fisher (AKA Greg's favorite bird to try to spot along the river)

Some houses on stilts as we left our river adventure. . . sigh

We definitely earned those water bottles.

We took a bike tour with Bike Borneo.  Not for the faint of heart, but completely exhilarating for the intermediate biker.  Not sure what a more advanced biker would think -- but nothing beats a trail through the jungle.  Notice our nice muddy shoes.

Mamutik Island in Kota Kinabalu