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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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