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Guangzhou
The name Guangzhou comes from a very old legend -that you will learn a bit later on this entry, you see, that's the motivation for you to keep reading, if you want to be in the know, that is-. Anyway, the word Guangzhou means the city of Rams or the City of Goats, others will customarily call it the flower city, Guangzhou is the capital of the province of Guangdong, where I am currently working.
A metropolitan capital full of history, Guangzhou was known as the only trading port chosen by the Qing Emperor to deal with foreign merchants. This way, from the very beginning, the city has brought progress to China and it should be always remembered as the origin of contact between the West and the East and for being the largest coastal city in the south of China.
With a population of more that 6,740,000 inhabitants, and located in the Pearl River Delta, the city offers a temperate climate and lots of water as it is surrounded by the big big ocean. Although the city is not the best in China -sorry I've been there thousands of times and I
The Guangdong Museum of Folk Handicrafts
Built on the one hundred year old Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, is another example of Guangdong's pride.
know-, the green plants and blossoming flowers add a natural touch to this capital of commerce, you'll understand me if you happen to be there during the Spring Festival; I just hope that the infrastructures might be upgraded in the future, which is the least the city deserves given its economic trade importance in the country. The official language is Mandarin, but people actually talk to each other in Cantonese, or... if you are lucky, you might find some English speakers.
Guangzhou is also a shopping heaven, low prices you find everywhere and if you want to be fashionable or even posh, come to Guangzhou, they fake everything, from rolexes to the most expensive leather brand, you'll find all here, and the prices are laughable, I know a great many people to come all the way to Guangzhou searching for those (in)famous fake makes, join the club!
Last but not least, the variety of food you can find in Gzh is amazing, be it Chinese -you name it, they have it- or the international cuisine, which is becoming extremely popular among Chinese eaters thanks to the numerous fast food restaurants and chain stores opening
Pagoda
Fue construida en 1098, segun la guia mide 54 metros. every year. There you have it, another excuse to go to Guangzhou.
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall
First of all, who was this Sun Yat-Sen? well, undoubtedly, one of the most important names in Chinese history as he was the starter of the Chinese revolution fighting for democracy. Incidentally, you will see it in several entries as I was becoming a fan and went to several places that described his achievements.
The spot has its own history as it was the official site of the Ching Dynasty and the headquarters of the president of the country, Dr. Yat-sen in 1921. Given the fact that this building was several times damaged, it was rebuilt but with the intention this time of venerating the works of the former president 4 years after his death (1925)
At the very entrance, you can read a maxime of Sun Yat-Sen: "The World is for All" and then you can admire the colourful building as well as a statue of the doctor which is the highlight of the building.
Guangdong Museum of Art
20 Yuan to go in. It
is known to hold China's largest collection of contemporary Art, which is easy to see once you enter the place, lots of paintings, sculptures and exhibitions displaying the culture of the province.
Guangdong Museum of Art
This museum is a must in Guangzhou, seriously, it will be too good to miss it, plenty of exhibition halls catering to different tastes, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, photography and different forms of art portrayed in large scale exhibition works. When I was there, I happened to see one interesting exhibition from Puigmarti, a Spanish surrealist painter; not being an expert in the revolutionary painting movement, my enjoyment was limited to the beauty of the colours and the shape of the images, but I have to say, I really have good memories of this exhibition.
Another exhibit that I enjoyed was photography, this was an array of photos portraying different everyday topics from China and around the world. Believe me, some of the photos might oblige you to hold your tears, specially those of the raped women in Nanking and the victims of landmines, two topics that seem to be too bad to be truth and
yet, this type of violence is still present everywhere in the world. I also admired the other permanent collections that the museum displays annually. There I met great art works from Chinese and other international known artists.
The Museum of the Nan-Yue King in the Western-Han Dynasty (Y12)
This was old history, Zhao Mo, the grandson of the Nanyue Kingdom's founder Zhao Tuo (137BC-122BC), built his own tomb that was discovered in 1983; there they found gold and other artifacts that prove that there was contact between China and the rest of the continent long, long time ago. The tomb, which is the largest king's tomb of the Western-Han Dynasty, has also the remains of Mo's servants and concubines. Although more than 1,000 relics were found inside, this tomb, like the Terracota Warriors in Xian, has not been thoroughly excavated and when they do it, wonderful and valuable treasures are expected to be found. Stay tuned.
As we didn't have lots of time to linger in, Maya and me had to rush through the tomb, but then it was ok, 40 minutes were long enough for us to enjoy
oh, he's handsome
we met a group of girls from a university in Sichuan, had a quick laugh and they called me the h-word :-) the site, and walk around the ceramic pillows which are displayed in chronological order from Tang to Yuan Dynasty. I even had time to make friends with a visiting family, the children were happy to practise their English with us.
Guangzhou YueXiu Park
Quite big, I must say, the highlight to see here is the Five Rams Statue which was erected in 1959 according to the Lonely Planet. Why this statue? if we follow the legend, nobody in Guangzhou will be ever hungry and I'll tell you why: well, apparently, long ago, some strange beings called rams or goats, if you like, landed in Guangzhou, I said landed as they were celestial, don't ask why, just know that they were supposed to fly, alright? They each presented the locals with rice so that nobody dies of famine, you know now. There is also a 37 meter monument to Sun Yat Sen, celebrating his work and also displaying his will and testament; the monument is made of chips of granite stone and it was erected in 1929 at the same time that the Celebration Hall was being built. If you carry on walking, you will
Guangdong's different art forms all presented here
At only Y10, the museum regals us with stunning samples of local architecture which include wood, stone, brick carving, brass, iron sculptures and paintings.
find the Zhenhai Tower with a museum inside.
The Museum inside the Park
At only 10 Yuan to go in, this museum displays tons of artefacts reminding us of the local life of Guangzhou's people as it touches different insightful fields. It was built in 1929 and it has become a must for visitors since it was selected among the ten most scenic places of the modern Gzh. The city built up a memorial site to celebrate the local history of the city. The facade of the building comes across as a very old brick house with five storeys -the 600-year Zhenhai Tower- quite traditional. Inside you can find a a small statue of the five celestial rams, which as I said before, is one of the highlights of Guangzhou. Moreover, there is the Sanyuan Temple, which was crucial in the Chinese fighting against British aggressors.
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
A lovely temple, though small, you cannot help but admire the impressive octagonal Pagoda. Very tall indeed, guess what? I didn't make it to the top as my vertigo attacks started only on the 4th floor, and again, I made
other tourists laugh, I was so ashamed to listen to the children's advice telling me that it was not that high and that I could do it... they don't know me. The pagoda, according to my friend and the lonely planet, offers splendid views, I won't be able to support anybody on that, just trust them.
Although the Banyan Trees gave the name to the temple, it appears that they are not there, however, I'd like to think that the photos I made of the trees are worth it, so let's think that the trees you see here are the actual Banyan trees, thanks!
Mosque dedicated to the Prophet
Wow, we went to this mosque and surprisingly a lady didn't let us in, she said that it was only for muslims, so, a mosque which bars the entry to non-muslims? unbelievable, in my experience they are all very inviting! astonished we were as we had been to some mosques before and this is the first time that sb has prevented me from going inside. And no, do not think that we were irrespectful or anything, or that we weren't properly dressed, we were,
but here you go, a non very inviting mosque, good luck if you go there, or maybe you won't meet the nasty lady!!!
Temple of the Five Immortals
A taoist temple, which is supposed to be the spot where the goats or celestial beings landed, do you remember the legend of Guangzhou? well, it happened all here, and the good news is that the inmortals didn't think of deleting their traces before disappearing into the sky; so, you can admire their footprints here.
Anyway, I must confess that I thought it would be a huge temple, but I was most disappointed, the spot is very small and it didn't help that when I visited it, there were cats and dogs coming from the sky, not celestial goats, I'm afraid :-) But it's ok, given the price, it is only 5 yuan and guess what, I saw an old man peeing on one of the halls, that didn't help either.
Guangxiao Temple
Dating from the IV century AD, the Guangxiao Temple is one of the oldest temples in Guangzhou, according to Lonely Planet, the temple was built in the 4th century; the
compound contains a series of old temples, which do not look that old as they have been continually renovated; a place for devotion where you will find lots of worshippers doing their daily prayers. Here I had fun trying to get a picture with a monk on it, as they were very rare and I spotted some different uniforms they were wearing. Common sense told me that the grey jackets are worn for the everyday routine
Shamian Island
Although it sounds like a remote island, it is actually very close to the centre, there I found nice entertaining places like the internet cafes with these very big sofas much better than those of Starbucks'.
History has it that the island was given to westerners as an Opium War trophy back in the XVIII century. According to the Rough Guide of China, in the past, the Europeans were not allowed to enter the city and it was then here where they built their haven with Victorian-style villas, banks, churches and all the facilities you need to have a peaceful and comfortable existence. They also prevented the Chinese from entering their island and not metaphorically, remains
Sucking the snail
well, not too common :-) are there to show it, Iron gates on the bridges to be more precise.
The place is lovely and quiet, the architecture of the colonial buildings -although mostly renovated- offers a nice view and wandering along the streets is a treat you can all enjoy, if you want to get away from the bustling city. The first time I went there, I spent most of my time walking and then relaxing in one of the big caffes, -I even lied on one of the huge beds they have on exhibition, but it was Maya who asked me to do it, so she should be blamed- and the second time, I strolled along the streets, admiring the beautiful newly-weds who were all posing for beautiful memorable pictures.
Accommodation
I stayed at different hotels, one of them is actually managed by the army, its name is Guangyun Lou and is situated on Zhongshan Avenue in the Tianhe district of Guangzhou.
Another hotel I have used a couple of times was Guangyun Lou, which is a hotel managed by the army. The hotel, located on Zhongshan Avenue in the Tianhe District, offers quite an array of facilities
even karaoke rooms, nice, not that I used them but still handy in case you feel like singing and disturbing others. the prices were 398 Yuan for a single room during a peak season and 250 at a low season.
Well, I hope you like my entry, this as I said is the capital of the province where I work and I was happy to visit its historic sites as well as eat their delicious food. Lucky me!!!
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