We arrived in Guangzhou in the morning, with my mother-in-law arriving 15 minutes earlier than us. If OneTravel hadn’t changed our flight, we would have been in Guangzhou one night earlier, allowing us to get some rest before heading back to the capital city of my home province, Guiyang. My brother, who lives in Guangzhou, had bought tickets for us. We took the subway from the airport to the high-speed train station, traveling from the very north to the very south of the city, and it took us an hour and a half.

Guangzhou was hot and humid. For the first three stations, we managed to find seats, but when we transferred to line two, we had to stand among the crowded people for the remaining 20 stations! Finally, when we arrived at the station and made our way to another building to collect our tickets, we emerged from the underground and saw the sky of Guangzhou—a grayish-blue sky, basking in the strong sunshine.

During my time in Guangzhou, working as a salesperson for a foreign trading company, I had taken high-speed trains many times, accompanying my customers to places like Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Zhongshan to visit factories. In my memories, there were many quiet and cool restaurants in the station where I had planned to take my family to rest. We all desperately needed a break; we were utterly exhausted!

We climbed up to the third floor, went through the check-in process, and arrived at a vast waiting room that didn’t have enough seats, leaving many people sitting or standing on the ground. On the floor above, there were several restaurants encircling the big hall. Carrying our large luggage and my son, we walked from the first restaurant to the last one, assuming that the food would be delicious based on the pictures displayed outside. However, once we sat down, we realized it wasn’t as cool as we had hoped. The restaurant was open to the big hall, lacking air conditioning, and a fan was blowing hot air in our direction. The food also didn’t live up to my expectations! Both my mother and my husband, Tyler, had no appetite, even though I knew they were hungry.

Even I myself couldn’t bear the hot weather, let alone my mother-in-law, who always keeps her room temperature at 66 degrees, which is 6 degrees cooler than my room. I noticed she looked pale and very uncomfortable, and I worried that she might faint.

At the elevator entrance, a company representative gave us a name card that said “rest house with air-conditioning.” We decided to go there. The price was 98 RMB for three hours for every three adults, while kids were free. As soon as we entered the air-conditioned room, we immediately felt refreshed: it was so cool, comfortable, and quiet! I’m proud of China’s rapid development, with its huge and brightly lit airports and train stations, high-speed trains, and convenient subways and buses. However, I hope more attention can be paid to details, such as ensuring comfortable air-conditioning and clean restrooms in the waiting areas.

We took the 2 pm train to Guiyang, and my friend picked us up at the train station. She then invited us to a local restaurant to have sour soup fish. Three girls who were my roommates in college, along with their husbands, joined us, as well as a friend who, like me, used to be a teacher but resigned due to being tired of teaching. Now he is a sales leader at a medical company.

It was so enjoyable and pleasant to reunite with all of them. We had many exciting memories and stories to share! Our laughter filled the air. Here in America, I don’t have any close friends, and I had almost forgotten the feeling of being surrounded by friends. Despite feeling exhausted, with wrinkled clothes and greasy hair from not washing it for 48 hours, I didn’t care; I simply felt happy. Thanks to the warm-hearted welcome from my friends, my journey started to reveal its charming side.