Closest to China's Heart are Squatters & Communism: Guangzhou Pt. 2

The sun was blinding as we stepped out of the subway. It was as if we hadn't seen it for months (which is closer to the truth than not). There we stood in the middle of the sidewalk -- frozen as we stared at something so rare and beautiful: clear blue sky. We walked the entire city (my knee giving out long before Keegan and Drew grew tired). We eventually made our way back to the subeay and headed to "Xia Jiao Station" -- we would meet a friend there later that night for KTV (karaoke). By this point we were starving. As we made our way for the exit, we all agreed "we could go for some McDonald's". That was our plan... But as we ascended the steps, all we could see was clear blue sky. We didn't want sky, we want skyscrapers...and one of them to have a McDonald's. But there we stood on the landing with growling stomachs and an expanse of farmland in front of us. "Where ARE we?!" It was as if we popped up in the middle of the countryside. The tallest builiding was maybe 6 stories. But we did end up finding a restaurant with some of the best eggs and tomatoes we've ever eaten.
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I spent the next day on my own at Starbucks. I love coffee shops -- some of my favorite places in Seattle are coffee shops. (Caffe Ladro, Chocolati, Top Pot...I'll see you in July.) But what I loved about this one was the footprints on the western toilet. The preference to squatters still stands firm in China.
[For more info on squatters: http://www.banterist.com/archivefiles/000348.html ]
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Huo Guo (Hot Pot) dinner with some Chinese friends who Keegan knew. We spent 4 hours at dinner (which only felt like 1). I had an interesting conversation with one of my new friends. He and I both have degrees in business, so we started there, and from there, as all conversations do, it morphed into a variety of topics...religion being a main one. When I asked him of his faith, he replied that he belived in something but didn't know exactly what he believed. He said he went to church "for peace". He continued to explain to me the decline of religion within China; that it's mostly the oldest generation that holds firmest (if at all) to faith. "Communism is the religion of China," he said. So it is.