GuangZhou

GuangZhou reference (4th Nov)

So I have to eat my own words.

There ARE things to see in GuangZhou.

I reach GuangZhou by noon. My GuangZhou buddy, FK, sent me to the Chen's Ancestral Temple so I won't bother him for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks bud, you are a hell of a nice friend.

Copyright alert! This is the picture on the ticket of the temple. Since I can't possibly have a lens wide enough to picture the whole front view, I decide I have to borrow. Forgive me, Chen.


Not bad, not bad at all! It's awesome details everywhere. It's over 100 years old and it's got to be not bad.
If you are a little confused, it's the huge front door on the left and the roof on the right. The big guy on the door is the "door god" who would guard evil spirits from the house.	Details, details, lots of details ...	Rise the red lantern.	How many miles I have to walk before I can find a washroom?
Just a bedroom. Looks pretty much like mine except it's a little tidier. (jealous ... )	Study room.	It's the ... napping room?	Living room.
The meeting room.	There is a whole story behind this carving. It starts with ... wait! It takes 1001 nights to tell and the temple closes at 6pm.	A door hinge. How nice.

Walking on the streets of GuangZhou ...

Run, run, run towards prosperity - The 9th China National Sports Game is coming to GuangZhou in a few days. I have probably seen a million Wei Wei, the mascot of the game, on the streets. So far, only 3 cities in China are capable of hosting the game, namely BeiJing, ShangHai and Guangzhou. So you know GuangZhou is not just another city in China.

While plenty of high-rise apartments are mushrooming in Guangzhou (like on the left), there are older areas. This kid is in a hurry because it's 4:00pm and he is 7 hours late for work. Just kidding folks.

This type of construction is very typical of GuangZhou with the 1st floor hangs over the walkway. Imagine there could be a washroom right above you when you walk on the street.	In a quiet afternoon, a mother is knitting her son a new ... ok, it's just my imagination. I have no idea what she is doing at all.	This is how the people of China are educated by the government - notice boards in the neighborhood. The one on the left is about elderly health and joining the army. The one on right is about the one child policy. And the one below is full of garbage ... I mean the trolley.

Very typical older residential area of GuangZhou. People like to hang clothes outside to dry.	This is a 10-20 years old, 8-story residential building. It's almost a default building cages around the balconies to prevent break-ins. But if I have to choose between making myself a prisoner and having someone steal my TV set once in a while, I would take my chances.

Then into a typical "market" of GuangZhou's. "Market" is the place where Chinese people get what they need to prepare dinner. Fish, meat, veggies, tofu, etc. Supermarkets have their feet in the door of GuangZhou but markets are still the par.

Coming for dinner.

The meat booth at the entrance. Say, if Kam were the housewife, "she" would go up to the booth, points to the pig parts that "she" wants, and the muscular lady will cut the parts out on the spot. The good thing is, it saves a lot of plastic wrap; the bad thing is, you don't know how many finger prints are on that piece of meat.

I smell fish!

These fresh water fishies are executed right in front of you. Guarantee fresh but a little bloody.

Crabs, prawns, veggies ... + a housewife or househusband equals a big yummy dinner.

Still early. I continue my aimless walk through the city ...

A relatively old new house.	Passing an antique shop. The lazy owner is lying on an antique chair watching an antique TV. I am sure I will get depressed if I walk into the shop. Bye.	The story is, I walk into this nice area of GuangZhou on the bank of ZhuJiang [Zhu-Jiang, Pearl-River ] where all the big hotels and foreign embassies are located. I walk up to a ferry pier, pull out my camera and start shooting. Within 3 seconds, a soldier of the People's Army with a serious look tap on my shoulder, "what are you picturing?". I don't know what he is getting at and say "the river." "It's the US embassy behind (quite far behind) you and you can't take pictures here." But it's a public area! So I stop taking picture of the river, turn my camera around secretly and take this picture. I wouldn't have taken this if Mr. Soldier hadn't reminded me this is the US embassy. Rebellious Kam.
It's an area for embassies and you got European style buildings everywhere. But the habit of the Chinese people wouldn't change even if they live in such nice buildings. Recognized this triangular flag?	At the riverside near the embassy area sits a fish market. Seafood time! What are those monsters in the boxes?	It's normal be messy here. And it's normal to smell fishy too.	Ok buddy, no hard-selling. I am not cooking tonight.

I have walked a thousand miles. Let's call it a day.

Time to go home folks.