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Published: December 19th 2023
My final day in Kaiping, so I had decided to visit Chikan Ancient Town. It would take me about the same time to gat a bus there as to walk, so I decided to walk. The route my map app showed was along a path I had never walked on and I hadn't even noticed existed, that should have been a sign. I set off and the first couple of hundred metres were fine, I walked and I left the village proper and walked along a path that was flanked by a couple of large ponds. I would think they were used for fishing but there was no one around. I came to the end of there and followed the path over a bridge across a small river and I could see field with people working in them and a drive way leading to one of the farms/properties. I thought that would be the way, although I was concerned it would be private property, but by map app directed me in a different direction. I walked along the banks of the river, there was no path but the grass was pretty beaten down so I felt like I was heading in
the right direction. However, when I was directed to turn, the 'path' was very overgrown and I decided to give up as I didn't know what would be lurking in the long grass and I didn't fancy navigating the local hospitals for a snake bite. I headed back to the village and took the road out that I had taken yesterday to Li Garden. The bus stop was jut at the junction of the village road and the main road. I was happy to see an old woman waiting there and hoped this meant that the bus was due. The bus turned up about ten minutes later. The fare was quite expensive in comparison to other places I had visited and it was by far the shortest journey I have taken. From the bus stop it was another bit of a walk to reach Chikan. The walk wasn't very exciting as it was jut along a large road and there wasn't much to see, just a few villages on one side. It was also raining a little. I reached the large entrance gates to the ancient town and made my way through the car park getting lost in the process.
Why is stuff not well signposted? After a few false starts, I found the end of the car park and the start of the town proper.
The town was a little confusing as I could see a Diaolou on this side of the river and old style buildings across the river. Quite a few people seemed to be entering the town by the bridge, but I knew you needed a ticket to enter so I went in search of the ticket office. I walked through a small rather empty parade of shops and a lonely Colonel Sanders statue in traditional Chinese garb. There seemed to be a KFC, but it didn't look open and I was unsure if it was new or had shut down due to lack of custom. I found the ticket counter and bought my ticket for the ancient town. It was 60 RMB. I think they took my photo and when I headed to the gates, it did facial recognition to let me in, but I can't quite remember. I headed up over the bridge and into Chikan. I didn't have a map or anything so didn't really know where I should be heading or
what there was to see there. My plan was just to have a wander about. the fist place I came to was the tram stop and I tried to take some photos of them, but they didn't turn out very well. From there I just wandered, I came to a small food street, which had drink places and small eateries on it. It was so quiet though, there were only staff there. The whole place seemed to be really quiet and it felt like I had the whole place to myself, which was a little weird. I passed a couple of hotels and a building that looked like a church but when I went inside it seemed to be a wedding hall. There was no information so I don't know if it had been one previously. I headed back the way I came and walked around a bit of a square. There were small stalls set out but were empty, I presume that they are more of a night time thing. There was another church here, which had its doors open so I headed in there. There was some information in English inside and I was able to learn that
a Presbyterian Chapel had first been established in Chikan in 1877 and this church was built in 1922. The building was restored to its present condition in 1998. I headed up to the main hall, which was on the upper floor. The chapel was nice and peaceful and I took a rest on one of the benches. It was really hot though with only some ceiling fans blowing the hot air around. I would hate to be in there if it was packed to the rafters.
I continued my walk outside and came to a building which had one wall covered with a giant mural. The mural depicted a cormorant fisherman curled up asleep on his boat. I really liked the mural, but due to the position of the buildings opposite, I found it impossible to get a photo of the whole thing. My feet took me to a street called Happiness Ave and this looked like a great place for people to be getting photos for their social media pages, but once again it was dead. On closer inspection, not all the stores were in business and those that were appeared to be closed. Since it was just
after the weekend maybe most people were resting and I had timed it just right or wrong, depending on your view. I enjoyed my walk along this street. The pillars at the front of the walkways all had writing on them and I loved seeing what the next pillar would say, some were kind of in keeping with the area but others were just really random. I'm not sure if the Chinese and English were the same or if they were different. I'm not even sure if some of them are actual words. The further I walked along the less inhabited the buildings looked. Some appeared to just be shells, I hoped that they were still just being renovated. There were a few little alleyways between the buildings, some were blocked off, but I took an open one to see where it would lead me. I came out onto another empty street, on which the buildings were painted brightly. The Hotel Paris looked great. This place would definitely be better to visit at night when it is all lit up. I would love to return to see it like that. The tram line went down this street and I watched
a tram do its circuit through this section of the town. There were quite a few people on the tram, so I presume most sensible people were using the tram as it offered some shade and protection from the elements. On the other side of the street was the river and there was a dock with some small boats tied up. It was also a good place to stand and get some photos of the tram as it travelled down the street. I continued along to where the road curved around and back onto the street I had previously been on. There was a bright red drawbridge that the trams go over. The top end of the street was interesting for different reasons as the walls were covered in old style advertisements for cigarettes and other things. I love these old style ads so spent ages taking pictures of them. My walk took me back to a nice looking bakery I had seen earlier and while I was starting to get a bit hungry and would have liked a coffee, I wanted to save myself for a bigger meal. My walk took me to the Chikan Fire Station, the building
had previously been a commercial company. I wish that there had been more information about the buildings in English. I only found out about the fire station as there was a red plaque in front of it. The writing on the plaque was only in Chinese but I translated it on my phone. I probably should have been looking a bit harder for more info about the other buildings.
I was really hot and thirsty by this point. I had looked in a few places trying to find a drink with little success. I came to a vending machine in front of a toilet block and got myself a couple of cold drinks from that. I do like that these vending machines seem pretty reasonably priced, there are no huge mark ups on the drinks. I found a somewhat shaded spot near the river and sat there reading and rehydrating. I made quick work of the both the water and the bottle of coke. Definitely a good thing as they would have soon become too hot and unpleasant to drink due to the heat. Once refreshed, I made my way around the last section of the ancient town that
I had to visit. This was a across the other side of the small river that runs through the town. There were some nice, but very quiet looking restaurants and cafes on this side of the river and they looked like they offered more Western style fare. I passed some kind of ancestral hall and rather thin looking Diaolous before coming to a street that was similar to the ones I had seen on the other side with the buildings all done up with businesses and hotels, there was even a club/nightclub. The tram also went through this section of town, but there seemed to be more people walking around too. This area felt a little more vibrant and I enjoyed my walk through it.
I had seen all I had wanted to see and decided to get a late lunch before leaving. There were a few different options and I decided to go to Macau Red Eight as it looked like it had a bit of a diner vibe to it and I don't think I have ever had Macanese style food before despite visiting Macau in the past. The place wasn't too busy, but a few tables
were lingering, I think they were enjoying the air conditioning. It was relatively easy to order, I had a proper menu to see the English names of the dishes and then scanned the QR code on the table and placed match the pictures and Chinese characters to make sure I ordered the right thing. I ordered a Red Eight Iced Milk Tea and Fried Rice with Minced Beef Macanese Style. Everything must be prepared/made beforehand as I waited no time at all for my food, and the iced milk tea is pretty simple to make. I enjoyed the tea, it was nice, nothing special, just a bog standard sugar free milk tea, but that's the kind I like. I was worried that because the food arrived so quickly it was going to taste like crap, but I really enjoyed it. The fried rice wasn't fried however it was just regular boiled rice with a fried egg slung on top. I am a sucker for a fried egg so seeing that in the picture on the menu definitely swayed my decision to opt for this dish. I was also pleasantly surprised that the minced beef wasn't actual minced beef but finely
chopped pieces of beef. The beef was accompanied by diced potatoes, olives and chorizo. I loved the mix and would love to recreate the dish at home one day.
Feeling full, I left the ancient town and made my way back to the bus stop. I had to wait quite a while for the bus, but the weather wasn't too hot and there was some shade at the bus stop from a nearby tree. The bus was really busy. For a small place, Kaiping's buses remind me of the big city as they are well used by locals. I headed back to my guesthouse to get sorted for leaving tomorrow. My travels around Guangdong province having now come to an end. It was nice to see some places in the province that I hadn't known existed before moving here, spend time at the coast, learn more about Hakka culture and explore the Diaolous. Now for a new province...
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RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
The Colonel
This cracked me up! Especially because for a split second it looked like his eyebrows were his eyes... and he looked very unimpressed :)