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A Scot in China of Today
Guangzhou


My home city in china is Guangzhou where I spend several months a year, I have to say since first visiting it in 1999 I just felt so at home there and now after staying in the fast growing city of Shenzhen on the border with Hong Kong for several year I moved to Guangzhou in 2010 where I feel more at home there as there is so much to do and see, it is also the birth place of Cantonese language.

The city is a huge sprawling metropolis and for ever changing so fast just like the rest of china is, however in saying this you do not have to travel far outside the major cities to find the poorer side of china and the country life and the changes are not so fast.

Guangzhou has everything going for it for all ages even to visit it for a holiday it has it all from a huge theme park at chime long or to the beautiful parks in the city and surrounding areas. To the night life of the dance clubs and ktv bars where karaoke takes first place. Not to mention the shopping there you can get lost in the tunnel (this is an underground shelter which was built during the cold war to house millions of people in case of an attack) where many clothes factories have their outlets. Also the jade market and jewellery quarter where gold, diamonds, jade and pearls is on sale by the mountain load. Also there are many temples to see.


Photos of Guangzhou ceramics and jade market and beijing road area

Guangzhou over many centuries was a trading post with the rest of the world and sits on the Pearl River in southern China and was occupied by many western countries which all have their influence on the old building along the river or what they call the island where you will find the consulates of many countries there, there even is a customs house which was once used by the united kingdom, even to this day Guangzhou is still a trading post for the rest of the world mostly the spring board for clothes and pottery and ceramics.

I find Guangzhou to be a safe place and feel quite at home walking the city even in the early hours of the morning and the parks are also well used at night times when is get a bit cooler with many activities taking place from dancing to exercise even playing cards or checkers or just sitting reading a book or just watching the world go by.

For a city as big as Guangzhou it is well serviced by the metro system and busses which should be avoided between the hours of 9-10am and 5-7pm as it become a bit of a crush to get anywhere at these times (and I mean a crush) however in saying this the public transport systems work well and cover all the city and most of the shops are open until around 8pm and some until 11pm depending on the area,

Beijing road is one of the most famous streets in Guangzhou where you can see the many different centuries of road building which has been exuviated and covered in glass well worth a look and comes alive at night time when it is all lit up. Also a walk down the river is a must and even to take one of the many river boats which go up and down the river, some of the boats have a show and dinning and other which do a shorter trip for sightseeing.

Well this is my short summery of Guangzhou but there is a lot more to it than I have spoken about you really have to be there to feel the vibrancy of this old city, only one more thing the city is only as good as its people where you will find them making you welcome, they are very warm and welcoming.


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