Blogs from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, Asia - page 2

I will be honest. I have no idea how to title my blogs. But the hubby and I did routine maintenance the other We took it back to the basics All of the hustle and bustle of city living, metro hopping, appointments for things like internet and light fixture replacement, locating a grocery store AND locating things in a grocery store .... and we were worn down. And it was only Monday! So, like teenagers, we wandered around the mall with no destination. We ignored our phones unless it was to take photos of the scenery. We held hands and meandered through the different food stops...and even contemplated catching the train like we would do if Madison and Carter were with us. Fashion Plaza Tianhe is unlike any mall I have stepped foot in. There are ... read more

During one of my subsequent visits to Guangzhou (since it’s only 45 minutes away by rapid train) to meet with an old friend, I discovered YueXie Park while waiting to meet them near Xiao Bei metro station. It was only a short walk down the street where I spotted archways along the main road which shared the same name as the metro station. As always, my luck had me on the right side of the wide street to stumble across a large gate house by the road. I slowly entered to explore a bit to discovered this park that stretches between two main roads (Xiao Bei Lu and Jiefang Bei Lu) along Huanshi Zhoug Lu. I definitely did not have the time to cover the entire park but only got to wander through the east section ... read more

For the past two days, I learned about why there was a high ranking Tibetan official continuously visiting the compound. I’ll discuss why in a bit. Kate’s father was hosting an awards banquet to celebrate the history of Taishan on the second and third night. Apparently, I learned that China government officials have tried to stop other companies from doing business by delaying permits, interfering with local festivities to stop the promotion of Taishan’s heritage. They do this because the officials may come from another town or village and wants to direct the attention to their hometowns. Her father finally got the permit and with the help of local businesses, will be hosting their first cultural banquet. The second night consisted of dinners with government officials, but I’m just gonna skip all that boring stuff. The ... read more

I've written before about how I glean nostalgia and romance from the old names of colonial Indian cities. The same applies to China. Names such as Peking and Nanking. OK, perhaps not Nanking. But I was now heading to old Canton, now known as Guangzhou. And as you might have guessed, this is why people from Guangdong province and the language they speak is known as Cantonese. Cantonese by blood and one of China's major cities, it would have been remiss of me not to visit the place. Getting there from Macau was pretty straightforward, starting with a free shuttle bus to the mainland Chinese border from the Sofitel across the road from my hotel! Hotel-casinos put on these shuttles for Chinese coming over the border for a flutter in order to get them to flutter ... read more

I was now indirectly living in Shenzhen by now but I would return often to Guangzhou trying to complete the last major item there: The Guangdong Museum. It would be about a week after my official departure from Guangzhou that I finally was able to visit this last place and at the same time see the Hanxinsha Asian Games Park near by. But it was also a moment of minor inconvenience for me as my ever present courier bag ended up being locked in the museum after closing time due to my absentmindedness and need for a coffee. The Guangdong Museum host not only their own exhibits but also many travelling exhibits from around Guangdong and all of China. During my visit, they showed you the history of the navel trade routes created from China to ... read more