Guangzhou

We have finished our long journey through the Sea Roads and now we just want to relax. My hand has finally healed and I am back in my capacity as our journeys scribe. Its great to feel my pen back in my hand. The sea roads were hard on us all and we have found a inn in Guangzhou to rest in. We were forced to stay in the Christian sector of the city while Ibn was placed in the Muslim quarter. This bothered us because no city we had visited so far had such segregation. We soon forgot this because after a few days of nonstop rest and conditioning we ventured out. The Christian quarter had a vibrant Greek community along with many other ethnicities like Portugese, Italian, and Englishmen. We felt great to be in such a cosmopolitan city however it started to make me very homesick. At this point I just wanted to get home and hoped that this trip would be quick and painless. I found Ibn's journal and say that it read,“We entered the harbor in great pomp, the like of which I have never seen in those lands... but it was a joy to be followed by distress.” Then he describes the great Chinese junks that monopolized traffic to China.

The junks sails he said, “never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind.” "The sailors,” noted Ibn, “have their children living on board ship, and they cultivate green stuffs, vegetables and ginger in wooden tanks.” I was surprised that he was still taking notes during our journeys. I hadn't seen him take any in days. While in Guangzhou we sold off all our remaining items, for a loss because of a lack of demand. We did have loads of money though from our trip in Srivijaya. We were not going to pick up any goods in Guangzhou except for food items. Instead we would be gathering items in Chang'an, where we would be officially starting our Silk Roads journey. We would be taking Horses to Chang'an so we could get there very quickly. Our official plans for this trip would be to get from Chang'an with various goods all the way to Antioch on the Mediterranean Sea. So after about a month of enjoying Guangzhou and healing from our many wounds and sicknesses we set off for Chang'an.