pretty pictures all along the route...beautiful lighted buildings and bridges...on this night, it drizzled plus the wind blowing, it was indeed a memorable cruise...
Monday, June 27, 2011
River cruise along Guangzhou river
pretty pictures all along the route...beautiful lighted buildings and bridges...on this night, it drizzled plus the wind blowing, it was indeed a memorable cruise...
Monday, June 20, 2011
yummy...on the trail of hawker food in downtown Guangdong.
...coconuts to quench your thirst ...porridge anyone.... fried seafood...
...fried squids... ....chicken kebab...
me and my kebab sandwich...all for 6 yuan.
...yeeks..fried tarantulas...anyone?
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Sun Yet Sen Memorial Center
A visit to Guangzhou, Guangdong wouldn’t be complete without a visit to this historical center. It was indeed an interesting site.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, situated on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, was constructed between 1929 and 1931, a monument to Dr Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution, by the people of Guangzhou and overseas Chinese.
The hall, a grand octagon building of typical Chinese architectural style, looks brand new because of reconstruction in 1998. The masterpiece of architecture history is created with a span of 71 meters (about 78 yards) without a pillar but significant outlooks and delicate interior designs. As an important place for conferences and performances, it can hold thousands of people with sound equipment. In the hall there is also a display gallery showing pictures and letters of Sun Yat-sen.
The oldest ceiba in Guangzhou City grows in the hall, like a centuries-old man, witnessing great changes of this city; besides, you can also have a chance to see the two biggest white jade orchid trees of Guangzhou.
A bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen was set up in 1956 in front of the memorial hall. Stepping on the monument by a steel spiral staircase, you are presented with a panoramic view of the memorial hall.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall will refresh you after visiting the bustling commercial metropolis and provide you with a moment to touch this great man in Chinese history.
Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 - 12 March 1925) was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China, a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Sun played an instrumental role in inspiring the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China. Sun was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Chinese National People's Party or Kuomintang(KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country during the Northern Expedition. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death. Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Pick your own seafood for lunch...
There's prawns, shellfish, squids, clams to choose from...
They even cook the food for you to eat there and then. That's
service for you.
Tea anyone?
Visit to a tea shop in Shenzhen. tried three types of tea...interesting taste and texture. Oolong tea made from the buds of the forest tea tree.
At the three stone sculpture of prosperity, health and luck, Guangzhou.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Warm welcome in China hotels...
Yes...sirree. We went to three hotels during our trip and all three put up banners to welcome our group. Talk about wholesome welcome!So here's the whole group from SMK Seri Kembangan PIBG group tour to China from 1-5 Jun2011.
Our group getting our things together on landing at Macao airport.
See the modern airport and the numerous people in the back ground. From the airport, we went on a bus to the immigration and customs side of China, at Zhuhai. That was tedious, dragging our luggage and all done on foot.
But our group visas did help us move faster and soon we were on our way by bus to dinner then a hotel for the nite.
Recycle your locks and keys...
Ever wonder who collects all the old, used rusty locks and keys? For most of us, we just throw them away, well not for some local genius in Guangzhou who has collected and made them useful and put them up as a tourist site and well, people like us take photos with the spot.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
China Pt 3: Shenzhen
Shenzhen's novel and modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the institution of the policy of "reform and opening" establishment of the Special Economic Zone in the late 1970s. Before this, Shenzhen was a small village. Since the late seventies, both Chinese and foreign nationals have invested enormous sums in the economy of Shenzhen. More than US$30 billion in foreign investment has gone into both fully foreign owned and joint ventures, initially mainly in manufacturing but recently increasingly in service industries. Shenzhen is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world.[2] Being southern mainland China's major financial centre, Shenzhen is home to theShenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen is also the third busiest container port in China, ranking only after Shanghai and Hong Kong.(wikipedia)
China Pt 2: Guangzhou
Some information on the cities we visited.
Guangzhou,[4] also (especially formerly) known as Canton or Kwangchow,[5] is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port.[6] One of the five National Central Cities,[7] it holds sub-provincial administrative status.
Guangzhou is the third-largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 6 million, and an urban area population of roughly 11.85 million,[8] making it the third most populous metropolitan area in China. Some estimates place the population of the entire urban agglomeration as high as 24.2 million, making it the 2nd biggest urban area in the world after Tokyo. (wikipedia)
Guangzhou
A Visitor's Guide to Guangzhou, China
By Sara Neuman
Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in China's southeast, is known more for its economy and proximity to Hong Kong than for being a major tourist destination. Known in the West as Canton (both the province and the city) for years, Guangzhou has a long history of trade and business. Many travelers might find themselves there on business trips or en route to Hong Kong.
Location
Guangzhou is just three hours (by bus, 40 minutes by plane) from Hong Kong. It sits on the on the Pearl River that empties into the South China Sea to the south. Guangdong, the province, hugs China's southern edge and is bordered by Guangxi province to the west, Hunan province to the northwest, Jiangxi province to the northeast and Fujian province to the east.History
Always a center of trade to foreigners, Guangzhou was established during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). By the 200 AD, Indians and Romans were coming to Guangzhou and in the next five-hundred years, trade grew with many neighbors far and near from the Middle East and Southeast Asia...continue reading a History of Guangzhou.Features & Attractions
The Huanshi Lu, or circle road, and the Zhu Jiang, Pearl River are the boundaries for central Guangzhou, where most places of interest are located. Within the Pearl River at its southwest bend sits Shamian Island, the original site of the foreign concession.Shamian Dao, Island
This is probably the most interesting area of Guangzhou as the original buildings are in a varying degree of decay and it provides a welcome and quiet respite from the street-activity in the rest of the city. Gentrification is happening and you'll find sidewalk cafes and boutiques occupying the sites where French and British traders once operated. (See alsoforeign concessions.)
Temples & Churches
There are several temples and churches of interest in Guangzhou and are worth a peek in if you're so inclined.
- Temple of Six Banyan Trees, Liurongsi Huata - the Banyans are unfortunately long gone but the pagoda dating from 1097 is a popular attraction that can be climbed. It appears to have only nine stories but in fact, there are seventeen.
- Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel - a restored French Catholic chapel on Shamian Island.
- Bright Filial Piety Temple, Guangxiao Si - a large and influential Buddhist temple complex, one of the most interesting in Guangzhou.
- Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family (or Chen Clan Academy), Chenjia Ci - an interesting compound with nine halls, six courtyards and nineteen buildings all enclosed within its own complex. Great for anyone interested in traditional Chinese architecture.
Parks
- White Cloud Mountain, Baiyun Shan - A half-day respite from Guangzhou city, the mountain sits in Guangzhou's northeastern suburbs. You can wander around, take a cable car to the top (locals favor the evening views) visit the Mingchun Valley Aviary and the Nengren Temple.
- Yuexiu Park - the largest park in downtown Guangzhou with manmade lakes and hills.
Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall
Dr. Sun is revered as the founder of modern China. There is a gallery displaying pictures and letters of Dr. Sun.
Getting There
Guangzhou has one of the largest international airports in China and there are numerous connections to major domestic cities. It is also well connected by bus, rail and boat transport, especially to other cities along the Pearl River Delta such as Shenzhen and Hong Kong.Read all about travel to and from Hong Kong to China from Hong Kong Guide, Rory Boland.
Essentials
- Population: 7 million
- Telephone Code: 020 (when calling from overseas, drop the first 0)
- Average rain days in Guangzhou per month.
- Average temperatures in Guangzhou per month.
China again...this time its Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macao
It's good to be back home...though I hardly slept since i had to go down to PD for a meeting. Anyway, made it in one piece what with my painful knee and shin. Oh well, guess if I survived moving around during our trip to China, driving two hours to PD wasn't that much of a problem. This trip was organised by my daughter's school's PIBG group led by the school principal and PIBG Chairman. there were 24 of us on this trip, mainly teachers and their spouses. My family members included my hubby, he is with the PIBG, myself, my sister and my daughter Joanne, a student of the school.
Let me see, my daughter Jo would be downloading pictures via Facebook...so you all can have a look there. The trip was not as nostalgic as the one I took last year doing the Shanghai historical country tour. This time round, the trip was more relaxed, not much rushing around from one place to another. There was more free time during the day to walk around and also at night. The hotels were something though, the 1st and last night was ok, i'd give t 3 half star. the other 2 in between, probably 2 star. Anyway, the food was ok, tasted the dishes in each county or city. There were more meat dishes compared to the Shanghai trip whilst watermelon as dessert still ruled. I guess we were most at home when each meal was served with chilly padi and soy sauce. There was also the ever present duck dishes as well as fried prawns in chilly. But nothing beats home cooked food or food from our own local restaurants.
As usual, any tour to China won't be complete without the usual stopovers at Government localities. This time, we were taken to visit the bee farm, tea shop, jade shop, silk store, biscuit factory and last but not least, a reflexology center. Oh and I must comment on the tour guides, Let's see the local guide that came with us named Alan, was nice and helpful. The local China tour guide, called Ah Hua, over there was really friendly and very informative, only problem was half the people on tour did not know Mandarin and he just rattled on. It would help if the local guide could do some interpretation but he had some problems speaking English so he decided to keep quiet and all information was given by the group leader, in this case the school principal, so as one may expect, his translations were all short and only when giving instructions.
Some of the places we visited included the Sun Yet Sen Memorial Hall; the Opium War Museum, a ride up a hill via the cable car; took in the Chime Long International Circus which was really awesome; a night cruise and watching the beautiful lighted buildings, the fortress in Shenzhen and of course major shopping areas in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In fact, every city in China so far that I have seen is modern and old at the same time. Cities with sky high buildings, beautiful bridges and highways adorn each city, the country side filled with old houses complete with gardens and farms and fish ponds. One thing I noticed though, roads are wide, some are eight-lane wide, the highway roads are great, there are plenty of toll booths and roads even back lanes are clean! One thing that we will never forget are the toilets I guess, the usual rest areas have toilets that are ok...but when in China one can expect toilets with no doors and that was what we were greeted with at the fortress! Still when nature calls, we just do the job.
Anyway, as I said, the trip was a leisurely one, but it ended quite abruptly with all of us rushing to make it to through Customs, and taking in the sights of Macao in one short day trip. So though we got to take some pictures at St Paul's Hill, there was no time to visit the Cathedral nor the museum, so near yet so far. The rest of Macao was seen from the bus on the way to the airport and even my dream of playing in one of the many casinos turned to nought. And so it ended with us rushing to the airport and flying home in the wee hours of the morning. Reached KLIA around 1am, then took the bus back to the school, where we first met, reached at about 2am, took our car and hub and daughter decided they needed supper, or was it breakfast already, so we had kwan lo mee at 2.30am and finally reached home around 3am. By the time i sorted things around, put the first round of clothes in the washing machine, took a bath and finally turned in at around 4am. It was a really long day. Got up at 7.30am then saw to the household chores the whole morning before driving down to PD. Glad I am still in one piece. And so here I am till tomorrow when I will drive home again. Hoping for good weather cos' I really don't like driving in the rain. Well, the hot weather in China and back here seem to have added the toil on me, and so I have this very sore throat and a somewhat blocked nose to match. Oh well, that's my short holiday abroad...I hope my next holiday will be somewhere else...Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
