Our guide went to the US Consulate on our behalf today to hand over the paperwork for Qiyao’s visa application.  We passed inspection.  Tomorrow we go to the Consulate ourselves and swear an oath that all the information on the submitted forms was accurate.  An extra day was built into our schedule by our travel coordinator in case something went wrong.  We have ended up not needing it, and I wish we could leave on Friday instead of Saturday.  Still, better to have and not need than need and not have I suppose.

This statue created in 1959 of “The Five Rams” is in the large park across the street.  It is regarded as the city emblem.  A 2000 year old legend says that Guangzhou was a barren area until five celestial beings descended from heaven on rams, each carrying six bundles of “spikes” (which I think means shoots or small plants) in their mouths.  They shared the plants among the people to bring abundant harvests from then on. 

It is a massive sculpture at over 10 meters tall.  The head of the large ram at the top weighs over two tons.