When they say a bus for 16 do they really mean it?

This weekend we went to Guangzhou for a District Conference for church. Guangzhou is about a two hour trip north of Shenzhen. There are several ways we could have gotten there, train, public bus, but we had arranged with two other families to charter a bus to take us up and then back the next day. We had seventeen people and they said no problem we have a 16 passenger bus that can take you. Here in China there aren't any car seat or seat belt laws so we are used to having a few little kids together in a seat. The "bus" showed up and it wasn't a bus at all but a large van. How in the world did they think we could fit 17 people, 18 including the driver, and all our luggage in this 15 passenger van. It was quite the maneuvering trick but we actually did it. Comfortably? NO, but we did it. So when they say "No problem, we have a 16 passenger bus" they don't really mean that.

The drive took us about three hours because the driver kept getting lost but once we got there we were so glad we went. We ended up staying in a three bedroom apartment for the night. This place rented out furnished apartments just like a hotel. It was very large and comfortable. We got there about 5:00 in the afternoon and had two hours until the first adult session started. There were about 15 other families from our Shenzhen branch that went so all the kids had McDonalds in the rooms, while some of the adults went out for Chinese food. Imagine that? Chinese food in China. It was very good food though. Very similar to our favorite "Red Lantern" which has closed here in Shekou.

The sessions were really good and I am so glad that we went. We were able to mingle with other members of the church here in China. The District consists of all of China so this conference was for the members down here in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. They will have another one next weekend in Beijing for the members up north. All the speakers were very good and uplifting. We were able to listen to two General Authorities from our Area Presidency. It is so neat to know that it doesn't matter where we are in the world, we can hear the same message and feel the same spirit. It was a really good conference and we look forward to the next one next year.

We didn't have much time to see the city but what we saw was amazing. The architecture is incredible. There is construction of new high rise buildings going on all over the place and it is pretty amazing how some of these structures could even have been built. I didn't take a camera so below are some pictures of some of the buildings that we saw which I found on the Internet.

This is the Guangzhou TV Tower. It is completed by now and is incredible. I never thought I would find beauty in a building but they have some amazing stuff here.