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Published: October 18th 2016
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Rapid Trains of China
After spending close to 2 days of walking around the area of Luohu, it was time for my journey to continue. I had a few new experience at this moment. First was buying a ticket from an automated ticket dispenser. This machine even gave you the option to have the information presented in English which was a refreshing change for me. I headed to the ticket and ID check post joining a long line of people taking this train which ran very often during the day. I was ready for this since I had faced it a few times now but I was not prepared to this sleeker version of a train known as the “C.R.H.”. The bullet shaped front and back end of the “rapid train” is similar to the photos of Japanese “bullet trains” but these Chinese versions can go between 300 to 320 km/h (kilometers per hour).
The trip by regular train would take about 2 to 3 hours but is done in 40 to 50 minutes with the rapid train. The second beauty of this faster service is the wonderfully more comfortable chairs, an outlet to power
your electronic devices (most of them), and soft music to make your trip more relaxing. I can also include the wonderful scenery outside the window even if it is fly by you. This set of experiences lead me to Guangzhou and my next stop on my tour of China. It was one of the easiest train rides I have had so far during my time in China and I would be taking it often with all the future travels I had in mind. With this short trip, I arrived in Guangzhou ready to begin my next adventure.
Overview of Guangzhou
I stood alone with my laptop bag and a backpack only staring at the scene before me. The sounds, the smells, and the sights mingling in my mind after all those crowded moments on metros and trains. I was at my long term destination of Guangzhou in Guangdong province of China. My next section of adventures was about to begin on a solo basis for now. A new city on my own to explore and discover which is the most important reason I had travel from one side to the other of the northern
hemisphere. I thought that I’d be nervous finding myself alone in a foreign country with only a few native words in my vocabulary. I even had the pleasure of ride on the back of a three-wheeled motorcycle from the train station to my first hotel. Rushing through busy streets with the wind in my face was wonderful but I had me clutching my hat to my chest to not lose it.
The first section I lived in was a richer section of town but I had found a modestly priced hotel that served it’s purpose for me. I stayed there about a month near the Tianjin Metro station visiting the small parks and squares that are found all over Guangzhou. I will talk more about those later since this is an overview of the city. This starting zone had very few large attractions nearby which is why I eventually moved to a different part of the vast city. I had made a list of the places I wanted to visit but only did a small section of them while other places were added during my stay here.
Even if this section had many skyscrapers,
there was still trees, bushes, and many signs of green life around me, which unfortunately also included mosquitoes. It was odd to find so many insects living in the green spaces around this skyscraper hub without it being seen as a problem to the locals. I did visit a few sites while staying there but at a high price for the travel from and to the hotel (even with the metro just across the street). I walked many times around the area discovering a Starbucks on each side of the block I lived on. I also found many different restaurants including some western style places. It was a wonderful place to adjust to Chinese culture while still having a western alternative for those “homesick” days.
This was a pleasant place until I began feeling ill when in my hotel room. I am still unsure what was causing nearly cold-like breathing issues but I quickly moved into a new area of town that was by the Pearl River. It was a slightly larger place with a strangely mariner geared decoration. You even had a life-saver ring above the headboard of the bed. It was not much a difference
in price but a more old-time neighborhood at the front door. The river edge walkway was about a half-block behind the hotel and ran along most of the river’s side in both directions. A simpler area that was quieter to live in but it took about 15 to 20 minutes to reach the nearest metro station (Tuanyida Square). This was not a big problem for me since I had been walking double if not triple the distance I walked daily in Jinhua.
My river side excursions lead me to many new places to visit like Shamian Street and the Sacred Heart Cathedral (indirectly). I also found many wonderful restaurants and a few very active (all night) clubs, and small cozy bars. It was a little less green in the streets but still those little parks sprouted up every few blocks. Also, these were what would be side streets that made up the area unlike having a 6 or more lane thoroughfare as my front yard. Light shone from the many boats and the riverside trees in the evening while many ships glided along as part of the multiple versions of the “Pearl River Boat Tour”. Yes, you
heard that correctly. Many different companies all ran the same tour up and down the Pearl River with only the difference being the type of ship you got to travel in.
I had participated with the one of the “Pearl River Boat Tours” during my first week I was in Guangzhou and had notice all the other ships floating by. When I asked one of the ship’s stewards, I was told they are other boat tours and some ferry services. They did not state if the other ships came from the same or another company. They stated that it was impossible at their location, when asked if I could have boarded a more Viking looking vessel on my next boat tour. I left it like that while pondering possible reasons for his comments. It wasn’t until I ended up having one of my long walks along the river that I found the “Viking port” area. There was about 6 different little docking areas that hosted about 2 or 3 boat companies all performing the same “Pearl River Boat Tour” sign on each of the docks.
I did look at each of them comparing the
route, the ship type, and the prices to find no real difference between any of them outside of the ships themselves. I gave up taking a secondary repeat boat ride for a reason other than my irrational fear of being on the water. I decided to visit the grounds I had spotted from the top of the Canton Radio tower instead. I quickly discovered that it was not just a park with wide walkway making it look more like a square. This place was centrally located in the shadow zone of Canton Tower during the rising sun moments of morning. It was also the roof of a large series of underground malls and the yard for the Guangzhou Library, the Guangdong Museum, and the city’s Opera house. Lastly, it was the common park area for the highly developed business district it sat in. In the evening it would light up with soft lights from the mall entrances, ground lights, tree lights, and the glowing ships ghosting along the Pearl River.
This was how I spent my time between visits. I would walk along the river watching life around me. Taking pictures when I would find something wonderful
that I wanted everyone to see through my eye, well, my camera lens to be truthful. I have not revealed everything here about Guangzhou. I have saved four aspect to present to you in the next part of my views of the city of Guangzhou.
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