I was in GuangZhou, China from 1st Aug to 7th Aug, on biz and also to catch-up with my close buddy there. A friend joined me in this trip for 1st 5 day, I brought him there to look-see look-see and to meet my buddy's work team in ZhongShan University ( 中山大学 ). We stayed in a hotel inside the University, you may be wondering "wow! hotel in university?". Yes! in fact, there are 3 hotels in this university, one cinema and 1 disco hall....hmmm... surprise ? It has 4 gates, North, South, East and West. The North gate
( shown in below graphic top-left ) is right beside the Pearl River ( 珠江 ), the hotel we stayed is right next to East gate.
( Click the graphic to enlarge )This trip i was unlucky, i had a swollen left eye for 1st 3 day. This swollen eye affected my travel itinerary, i supposed to travel to HK on the 2nd day ( 2nd Aug ), I've no choice but to postpone twice to Friday ( 3rd Aug ) and finally to following Mon ( 6th Aug ). Unfortunately, i still didn't make the trip to HK as the arrangement on 6th Aug went wrong. Haiz ....
In the last 7 to 8 years, I've visited GuangZhou about 10times. It has never stop changing and progressing. The living standard now comparing to few years ago is a lot difference and i could see the middle class is getting thicker, which is a good sign. There are more trees and plants along the roads. I've also observed a great improvement in the toilet, both public and private. Hehehe... Shopping malls, university and even those places of attraction, there are cleaners taking good care of them. No joke, they are serious in transforming the city into a better place.
If you like food, Guangzhou is a place you must not miss. You can find foods from all provinces there. Of course, one thing you need to be careful is the hygiene of the place you are eating. There are a lot of good food ranging from Sichuan ( 四川 )，Hunan ( 湖南 ),HuBei ( 湖北 ) and Canton cuisine ( 粤菜 ) etc. And best, eating in the restaurant is much cheaper than in Singapore, plus the food is more authentic. Some cities in China, unlike GuangZhou and ShenZhen ( 深圳 ), serves mostly local dishes. However, GuangZhou is much cheaper than ShenZhen. ShenZhen is like JB to HK, place for HK Peoples to dine and shop...
( Click the graphic to enlarge )This trip, I took some times off to visit places of interest. They are ZhongShan Memorial Hall ( 中山纪念堂 ), Chan's Clan Academy ( 陈家祠 - 陈家书院 ), BaiYun Shan ( 白云山 ) and 2nd world war Occupied Territory ( 二次世界大战租界 ) etc....
Below are some pictures
( Click the graphic to enlarge )Some more here...
( Click the graphic to enlarge ) There are also some big shopping malls, the most popular one is TianHe City ( 天河城 ). But just be careful if you are looking for branded goods. Generally, the city is safe, but just like any other places, don't walk back lane and alone in the night. Taxi is considerably safe here, but traffic jam is getting worse as rich men are growing...hmmm...
If you are looking for good food, shopping and some Chinese history and culture, i think you can try GuangZhou. Probably 2N/3D or 3N/4D should be enough, or alternatively can make a day trip to HK. GuangZhou hotel is much cheaper, there is a direct 2 hours train service between these 2 cities. Language is not a problem, so long you can speak mandarin or cantonese. Also, the MRT network can bring you to most shopping malls and places of interest, even train stations.
Errr......I sound like working for GuangZhou Trouist Promotion Board hor? Hahahaha...
Note: All pictures displayed here were taken by my mobile phone SE-K810i
