Layover in Guangzhou - Ghost town

We have a 19 hour layover in Guangzhou and the China Southern Airlines has us up in a place for free.

I've stayed in Guangzhou before and I swear, if I didn't know better, I was in a completely different universe this time. I remember a vibrant, bustling city with evidence of life everywhere. Rows upon rows of towering apartment blocks each with its own air-conditioner hanging on the outside and clothes hanging om the balcony. The streets bustling with life from people going about their daily lives. I still have fond memories of a five block radius of shops that only sold shoes where I was in 7th heaven.

This time, however, in the 30 minute drive from the airport, the rows upon rows of apartment were still there but they appeared utterly deserted with only the occasional glimpse of life. Most looked abandoned or never lived in. The concrete highway contained barely any cars at just 7pm. Some tiredness from our flight where we watched 4 movies in a row had us feeling a bit like we were in a twilight zone. With each increasing minute without evidence of a population that is supposed to be the second largest city in China, I started feeling like Will Smith in 'I Am Legend' minus the dog.

This eerie feeling only increased at our hotel. Set over sprawling acreage, the Dragon Lake Princess Hotel is modelled on being a

European village with 'streets' named after European countries, a cinema, church, art gallery, amusement park and wine shop. Apparently a thriving place for Chinese tourists on the weekend, it felt like we were the only guests in a tiny town. Our room was bigger than my apartment and featured chandeliers that appeared all through the resort. After dumping our bags, we went for a walk. Giant carton characters in amusement park alleyways loomed over us like a ride through the Haunted House. After encountering not a soul, Jamille and I went into an empty wine bar where the man in charge was snoozing on a couch. He jumped up sleepy eyed and served us a beer while we sat in antique-like leather arm chairs. The World Cup played on the big screen. As the only guests, we eyed each other like "did the world fall prey to a zombie epidemic while we were in the air?". Fifteen minutes later, a youth turned up in a tshirt, rushed to the back and emerged seconds later in a suit to serve us. Naturally, we had to have another drink.

A few more signs of life the next morning reassured us that there had been no Apocalypse in China and we were ready to continue the journey.

A fairly intimate pat down at customs while going through the x ray machine had me asking the female customs officer what she was charging for the massage. She didn't really appreciate my sense of humour.