The morning was spent at Liu Mei’s school. Pam held a question and answer session for a large group of the teachers. At the same time, Peggy was with another group consulting on the classroom layout, and Kara was showing others how to load and use Board Maker. Some time during the morning they picked up our luggage from the hotel in preparation for our departure to Zuzhou in the afternoon. What wonderful service. After the required group picture with the teachers and staff, we headed to a restaurant with a “western style” buffet lunch, well, kind of a western style lunch. We ended up eating more Chinese food than Western.

Our hosts insisted that we wait in the lobby of a hotel in order to be more comfortable before departure for the train station. Their idea was to leave the hotel at 2:50 for a 3:38 train. They planned for a 30 minute trip to the station and 18 minutes to get through security and to the departure track. We thought that was a bid tight of a schedule, so they offered a departure time of 2:40. We settled on a 2:30 departure for what turned out to be a 55 minute trip to the station and a mad rush through security and the terminal. We arrived at the track 90 seconds before the train arrived. Méi wèntí - no problem. Damp and exhausted from the heat and the run, we settled into very comfortable seats for the three hour ride to Zuzhou on the high speed train, average cruising speed of 180 mph, and equally important, air conditioning and western style toilets.

We were greeted at the train station by staff of the Zuzhou Behavior Support Centre for Children. We piled the five of us (including Hope), two of them, and all of our luggage in one small van for the 30 minute trip to the hotel, which was followed by dinner with many rare delicacies to honor our visit. We ended the day in small but luxurious hotel rooms with all of the amenities including soft pillows and great showers. Pam even had a newly found pet gecko in her room. The next time you are in Zuzhou, I would highly recommend the Zuzhou Garden Hotel on Liu Yuan Road.

Gary