Come - Guangzhou

My next destination was Guangzhou, which is in Southern China so finally there were people who spoke Cantonese! I last visited this city 8 years ago and believe me when I say, it looks nothing like I remember. Guangzhou is following the rest of China and seems to be building a completely new city.

We were met by our tour guide, Liu, who was probably the best tour guide since we arrived in China because he was able to speak both English and Cantonese. We stayed at the Hotel Landmark Canton, which was right next to the Pearl River and Beijing Road so the location was perfect. For our first program, we went to visit the Pagoda at the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, which was the only structure left standing in Guangzhou after the Cultural Revolution. It was quite disheartening to think of all the buildings that were lost during the revolution but the Pagoda stands as a testament to the past.

Guangzhou was also the first chance during our trip that we were able to visit our family. We had a huge family dinner with all our relatives in this city, which was such a joy because it had been so long since we had seen them. The atmosphere was just amazing and my mom was really happy, so you can’t help but smile. After dinner, our parents chatted with our relatives but my mom’s cousin took us shopping along Beijing Road. The street reminded me of Hong Kong because it was filled with people on a Monday night and it was illuminated with vibrant red lanterns. There were vendors everywhere selling food and ice cold cups of coke, and the lighting was bright so you feel very safe. The store options were not bad either but I wanted to go to Uniqlo and it was closed so I will try again next time. Nevertheless, I’m amazed by how alive the streets are late at night and I can’t help but hope that we could achieve something similar in Calgary.

The next morning, we traveled to the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum and Chen’s Lineage Hall. My grandma’s maiden name was Chan so I guess I have some relation to this site. Apparently the Chan family is quite prominent in Guangzhou and is the most popular surname in Canton, so they donated the land for the Folk Arts Museum. The roof of the building is stunningly decorated with woodcarvings and clay statues, which in my opinion, is more beautiful than the roofs of Forbidden City. We then finally had our first taste of dim sum in China and it was wonderful. The sui mai was much more tasty in Guangzhou and it didn’t seem like it was made from scrap meat like in Calgary. We also tried the Xiao Long Bao’s and it was even better than the ones from Shanghai.

Later in the day, we attended the Dr. Sun Yet-Sen Memorial which my mom came to watch a show in the auditorium when she was a kid. The memorial was really interesting because we were able to walk up on to the stage and look into the audience, which was completely empty. The mood was really eerie but I’m glad I came because the building has so much meaning to Southern China.

Finally, we wrapped our trip in Guangzhou by taking a cruise along the Pearl River. I never knew how long and vast the Guangzhou skyline was until I boarded this boat so I have a new found appreciation for this city. We were able to see the new Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower, which was really amazing when lit at night. Asian cities really recognize the effect that lighting has on making the skyline absolutely breathtaking and another brilliant feature of the city during the dark.