Nanning (28-30 Nov 13)

---

And so almost as soon as I'd arrived, my time in Guangxi has come to an end. Just five short days in this Southwestern province of China before I make an equally brief detour to its eastern neighbour of Guangdong, before finally calling time on this six-month long leg of my continuing Southeast Asia-Southern China adventure.

Prior to arriving at my final destination in Guangxi, the provincial capital of Nanning, I'd in fact taken another quick overnighter in another mid-sized city Chongzuo, just over an hour away on the spanking new intercity highway. Apart from a quick stop at its famous leaning pagoda, Chongzuo wasn't particularly noteworthy, so I thought I'd combine the two blog entries.

Nanning, on the other hand, offers more. Truly a large bustling city, serving as a transnational hub for journeys into and out of Vietnam, and yet in contrast to its Yunnanese counterpart of Kunming, Nanning seems cleaner, more organised, and dare I say, even more pleasant. The people speak Mandarin with an even softer accent than the Yunnanese, which reminded me very much of the Taiwanese and even Malaysian-Chinese styles. But of course the local Guangxi dialect is also ubiquitous, and you wouldn't be surprised to hear it sounds suspiciously like Cantonese, the dialect of its neighbour.

After what seemed like constantly being on the run with quick overnighters and multiple bus transfers for three consecutive days, I was glad to be able to be sedentary for two nights, to absorb the lights and sounds of Nanning, and to finally have my first decent cup of coffee again after leaving Hanoi. I had originally planned to visit also what is arguably the highlight of the province, the northeastern city of Guilin and its environs, but that would have called for more time than I had. So I had to skip that for now. But Guangxi, I promise you haven't seen the last of me yet.

Stayed at Sheng Hai Bing Guan.

---

Photos

A City after my own Heart
Ok, so I'm not exactly a Chinese chess proponent, but I do play the international version, and have healthy respect for both.

Guangxi Science & Technology Museum
Funky building.