Did I say I liked the G20? Yeah, we got a late start, but on
second thought…during the first semester we typically have a week off for a Chinese national holiday which starts October 1
st,
but due to the G20 we needed to make up for lost time. Which means the school
break was reduced to a three-day weekend, with our extra day off on Monday, the 3rd of October.
Three days is still better than two, and although the
semester was only three weeks in, it seemed an opportune time for another trip!
Both Robbie and Joanna were keen to travel, so the three of us booked a flight
to Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in southern China. Joanna
preferred to see Hong Kong, but unfortunately flights were pricey—double
Guangzhou, so instead of the Pearl of the Orient we settled for a mega-city on
the Pearl River.
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| Guangzhou, the largest city in southern China |
The Pearl River Delta, of which Guangzhou is a part, is
famous for manufacturing, so much so that it earned the nickname “factory of
the world.” Guangzhou isn’t necessarily a tourist destination, but a city of
over 13 million (with 40+ million in the Pearl Delta) certainly has sites to
explore. Add in the cheap airfare and a possible reunion with Trevor, who lives
in nearby Shenzhen, and the three of us agreed to head south for our short holiday.
Arrival in Guangzhou is much smoother than Hangzhou; we
caught the metro at the airport, transferred once, and appeared above ground
less than 100 meters from our hotel. Finding the place took awhile though. The
tower was the tallest building for blocks in any direction, but the hotel only
occupied several floors, so it wasn’t marked at the entrance. The search was
worth it—the room we booked for three had two queen beds, a couch, small
kitchen area, and large bathroom, all for less than $50 a day, split between
three people.
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Robbie relaxing on the couch; the glass over my camera lens cracked
so a lot of my pictures are blurry...finally got that fixed in January! |
The first night we wandered around the local neighborhood,
enjoyed a few expensive drinks at the bar street nearby, and settled in early.
The next morning we hopped on the metro to our first sight, Shamian Island, a
small enclave of colonial buildings dating to the 19th century, when
the area was part of the British and French concessions. Although the island is
less than one square kilometer we managed to spend several hours there,
checking out old churches, former government buildings, and relaxing in the
park by the river.
Before visiting I read that some people find Guangzhou
run-down or grimy compared to other Chinese cities. Guangzhou certainly isn’t
poor—it’s one of the wealthiest in the country, actually—and there are also
lots of new buildings. I reasoned that Guangzhou has that reputation because
the city developed before most on the mainland, and many structures date to the
1990s, or earlier. That may not seem old, but it is for a Chinese city. I also
surmise that construction standards and materials are sub par relative to the
West, so an apartment block, for example, built 25 years ago in China will
appear older than one built in Canada or Germany around the same time.
In terms of age, Guangzhou itself has existed over 2
millennia, and there are still a few ancient sites tucked away in the hustle and
bustle of the modern metropolis. More on that later, but first, back to our day
sightseeing.
We showed up at Canton Tower in the early afternoon and
immediately were overwhelmed by the crowds. The site had a ticket office for
the viewing platform, along with restaurants, vendors, and an amusement park.
Trevor had contacted us and confirmed that he’d come the following day, so we
decided to put the tower on hold and go with him later. Instead we rode an
automated metro car to the next stop across the river, where we settled on a
Hong Kong style restaurant in an underground mall for lunch. We were famished
by that point, but all I’ll say is that we should have kept looking. Man, mall
food in China is hit and miss—I know some great places at the local mall in
Hangzhou, but then you get these experiences. Oh well!
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| The Canton Tower, right, as we approached from the ferry. |
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Hello Kitty cafe, in the mall where we had
lunch; maybe we should have eaten there! |
In retrospect that might not have been the best idea. I
brought along a mixed drink—in a plastic water bottle of course—to dinner, and
following our Turkish kebabs we met two of Joanna’s friends at a bar. She knew
them from her first trip to China; one still worked here, and the other was
visiting to travel with him during the fall holiday. I don’t know why it hit me
so hard, but long story short I had one (or four) too many and made a bit of an
ass out of myself several bars later. The next day I awoke to a raging hangover
and a none-too-impressed Joanna.
Late that morning while I was still nursing a massive
headache, Trevor arrived. Trevor worked with us in Hangzhou the previous year,
and is now teaching in Shenzhen, less than two hours by train from Guangzhou. I’d
stayed with him for two nights in Northern Ireland back in July, and it was
great that he made the trip up for a night. The four of us went out for lunch,
but I, still getting some karma, needed to head back for a nap before I could
do any sightseeing.
Late that afternoon I met Robbie, Joanna, and Trevor at
Canton Tower, where we purchased tickets for the viewing platform and proceeded
to wait in what felt like the longest line of my life. An hour into the wait I had a sudden urge for the bathroom…and not going out the right way if you
catch my drift. Ensconced in an endless cue, I had nowhere to turn. My only
option was to spew in a corner while curious (and probably alarmed) Chinese
tourists looked on. Fortunately I had little left to heave up, but regardless, I had barely wiped the chunks off my lips before the gang
coined “pulling a Canton,” a special euphemism for which I can claim credit.
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| The first part of our cue to the elevators...this was before 'pulling a Canton' |
Finally, after nearly two hours, we made it to the top of
Canton Tower, which had good but not great views (in my humble opinion Shanghai
Tower easily wins, since concrete polls partially obstruct your view at
Canton). Our trip down lasted a fraction of the wait, and once out of the
mayhem we proceeded to the metro, again to Zhujiang New Town where we grabbed
dinner at an Irish pub. I couldn’t stomach an entire meal, but by that point I
was able to keep down fries and split an appetizer with Joanna.
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| Zhujiang New Town at night |
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| And there's my beloved tower again |
Our third and final night was thankfully quiet; after dinner
we went back to the hotel and relaxed with a movie. Our flight wasn’t until the
next evening, so we had more time to explore during the day. Remember I
mentioned the ancient landmarks tucked away in the city? Well that morning we
saw one of them, a Buddhist temple over 1,000 years old (of course it had been
reconstructed several times). From there we walked to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial
Hall, a complex dedicated to the founder of the Republic of China, who was a
local of Guangzhou. Admission to the park is free, and the museum only cost 10
rmb ($1.50). An hour for the memorial was sufficient, but although brief I
enjoyed our historical stop before we had to pick up our bags at the hotel and
head to the airport.
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Main pagoda of the Temple of 6 Banyan
Trees, originally built in in 537 CE |
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| The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall |
That second night—and the following morning—wasn’t my finest
our, but nonetheless I enjoyed Guangzhou. The city is famous for its food, and
I wish we’d dug deeper into its culinary offerings, but overall the three days
seemed enough to get a feel for the city. Check one more place off the bucket
list for China!
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