Guangzhou

On our latest trip to China, we visited my wife's Aunt and her family in Guangzhou.


View Larger Map

Guangzhou is a sleepy little town of around 12 million people and is located just 120 km north of Hong Kong. From Shanghai, its a 18 hour train ride (or at least that's how long its supposed to take). In reality, it took 21 hours - both ways. Normally, I wouldn't mind, as I really enjoy the relaxing, comfortable ride. But my wife's cousin and his girl-friend ended up waiting 3 hours for us at the McDonalds across from the train station - and that's gotta be one of those lower levels of hell.

One of the reason's the trip was so long, was it practically stopped every hour at a some town or city along the way to drop off or pick up passengers. A little slow getting there, and a little late leaving here all add up to 3 hours late at the end of the trip - and this was not one of those new high-speed rails you hear about on the news.

Still, if I'm not in a hurry (and on vacation, you shouldn't be), I almost always prefer a train to a plane for long trips. We were in the less-expensive sleeping cars. These consisted of six bunks per compartment without doors. Other cars were standing only (hopefully for not the whole trip), sitting, and the more expensive private 4-bunk sleeping compartments with doors. While the private 4-bunk cars are really nice, my wife and I have never felt insecure or uncomfortable in the six-bunk cars, so we save a bit of money and still enjoy ourselves.

So, it was July, which means it was hot, and it was far South, so it was pretty darn hot. And it was close to the ocean, so it was really humid. So you sweat - a lot (or at least I did because I was not used to it), and it just sits there on your skin like a wax coating that you just can't get off. So eventually, you just ignore it, live with it, and enjoy yourself anyway. And I really did enjoy myself.

Guangzhou from an Apartment rooftop

Guangzhou reminded me a lot of Seattle. Because of the frequent rains and high humidity, plants grew everywhere and anywhere they could. So the city was lush with greenery squeezed between the paved streets, sidewalks and highrises.

A mini park hidden behind a local restaurant

I also learned a new practice I'd not witnessed in any other city I'd visited thus far. In most restaurants in Guangzhou, they automatically serve a pitcher of hot tea along with a large empty bowl. You don't drink this tea, instead it is to be used to clean and sterilize your chopsticks, rice bowl, plate and drinking glass. The empty bowl is to discard the now unclean tea into. The pitcher of tea is then refilled with hot water to brew the tea which you can then drink.

My wife's Aunt was an Army nurse and then a professional doctor before she retired, so we both thought she was just being fastidiously clean. Then we started noticing other people in other restaurants doing the same thing. It's much like the first part of a traditional tea drinking ceremony where the first brew of a pot of tea is used to clean the cups and then discarded. The second brew, which is milder and less bitter, is then imbibed.

Xinghai Concert Hall

The second day were were in Guangzhou, we took a bus tour of the city. Being this close to Hong Kong it became suddenly clear to me, as the different buses pulled up to take on passengers, which ones were headed to Hong Kong and which were staying in the city. Being a former British colony, everyone in Hong Kong drives on the wrong (ahem, left) side of the road. So tour buses destined for there had the driver on the right. Don't know how they do that without constantly wrecking.

Traffic Police woman

The only reason I took this photo was because there I was standing, doing nothing a sweating bullets. While she was constantly moving, directing traffic, waving her arms and walking back and fourth while not a single stain appeared on that perfectly pressed uniform. I felt like an alien, or more appropriately, like Steve Ballmer...

Aside from The Jade Shop, and other destinations, our tour bus took us to White Cloud Mountain, a popular place both for tourists and locals alike.

Many of the locals used this steep paved roadway to get in their daily exercise walking up and down its twisty windy paths. We were just lazy fat tourists, so we took an electric car up instead.

Sign on knoll: "Welcome to White Cloud Mountain"

It was a bit foggy and humid that day (did I already mention it was really humid?) so long range pictures from the mountain lookout points where not all that good.

Interestingly, at the end of the tour, we were not returned to our starting point. Instead we were left at Yuexiu Park, home of the Five Rams Sculpture - a famous landmark of Guangzhou. Apparently, you've not been to Guangzhou, and you can't prove you've been to Guangzhou, unless you visit and have your picture taken beneath the Five Rams Sculpture of Yuexiu Park.

I can prove at least one of us was there!

The sculpture was built in 1959 as the symbol of Guangzhou. Legend says that long ago five spirits wearing robes of five colors came to Guangzhou riding through the air on rams. Each one carried a stem of rice which they gave to the people as a sign from heaven that this area would be free from famine forever. So Guangzhou is also known as the City of Five Rams, or just Ram City.

My wife's Aunt and her family were wonderful hosts and overly generous with there time and their gifts while we were there. We really enjoyed ourselves and where thoroughly, and delightfully exhausted for the train ride back home to Shanghai. And while it too was late by three hours, we didn't have to worry about someone waiting to pick us up. We just hopped on the subway back to our apartment.

We look forward to visiting that beautiful city again - hopefully not at the height of the summertime heat...