Guangzhou

The previous week, October 13-19, was a pretty tame time here in Dongguan. We want to get back on track with blog entries so let us share with you just a couple of things from this week.

1. We finally were able to get our Dongguan city bus passes. After taking taxis to school for several weeks, the city started a new route in our district which lies near the end of the designated urban area. We now pay less than 2 RMB (about 30 cents) for the bus as compared to the 25 RMB (over $3.50) we used to pay for a taxi ride!

2. Our week was busy times at work. In fact we had a six day work week due to a professional development day. The training was on Saturday and lasted several hours. We discussed issuing progress reports and the upcoming parent-teacher conferences coming up in November (already!).

Highlights from Oct. 20-26 Week
The major event of this week was our day trip to Guangzhou. Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital of Guangdong province and claims the title as China's third largest city with around 8-9 million people. Since Guangzhou is less than an hour away from Dongguan, the Grants and us decided to take a day trip over to the big city to see what all the fuss was about.

Our trip was scheduled for Saturday, so we took a short taxi ride to the bus station. We caught the 8 a.m. bus from Dongguan to Guangzhou. The ride was very pleasant. The bus was not even half full and the ride was smooth. Best of all our tickets were only 30 RMB ($4.30 or so)! After an hour on the road we pulled in to the Guangzhou East Station. From here we were advised by friends at our school to by a subway pass for the ease and convenience. We did so and within fifteen minutes we were on our way to our first destination.

The subway system in Guangzhou is pretty nice. The stations are well-kept and there is plenty of information for tourists. Navigating through this mode of transportation was a breeze. And since the system is tiny compared to Beijing, it was not at all overwhelming. We had no problem finding seats and our destination was a direct shot. We only needed to be on the train for maybe fifteen minutes.

Qing Ping Market
Described as a vast market not suitable for the fain-hearted, we were eager to see what this outdoor market had to offer (well, at least Warren and Adan were). According to guide books and Internet sites, this location built in 1979 has become a fixture for local shoppers. Everything from dried goods such as medicines and herbs to vegetables and fruits lined street ways. But the biggest attraction was supposed to be the exotic animals on display.

Supposedly monkeys, leopards, cats, dogs, etc. are all sold to shoppers here. Warren and Adan looked around while Terese and Pazi waited at a nearby bank. Ultimately the only thing seen was a lot of sea animals, chickens, ducks, and goats. Some of the methods for "cleaning" the animals were suspect. In fact Warren made the common, "And we wonder why SARS came about." The culture here in China is definitely different when it comes to sanitation and packaging (or lack of) meat and poultry items.

Shang Xia Jiu Pedestrian Street
Next up was the Shang Xia Jiu Pedestrian Street. This street is about a kilometer long and is lined with hundreds of shops and restaurants. This distinct central shopping district is able to nicely mix department stores and boutiques with street vendors and alleyway shops. The throngs of people here amazed us. We could not go 50 meters without having hundreds of people swarm around us. This is definitely a hot spot for locals.

After having a mediocre lunch at the pedestrian street, we wandered north just past the massive crowds. Here we ran into dozens upon dozens of vendor outlets. In one area we saw probably five hundred sellers of jade jewelery! It was insane. It is said that Guangzhou is the "Made in China" city for everything and anything exported from China is mostly made here. With a GDP of over 705 billion RMB, that equates into over $90 billion dollars! We didn't plan to shop a whole lot, so Pazi and Adan will definitely be making trips back to Guangzhou for gifts and other personal items.

Hua Lin Temple
On our way to visit another tourist site we came across the Hua Lin Temple. This place was amazing! By far Pazi and Adan thought it was the most interesting temples they had ever been to in China. The location is very concealed so it is easy to walk right by and never know it exists. The temples are not flashy, but inside is an incredible collection of Arhats (Buddhist saints). Built in 1624, this temple is called Five Hundred Arhat Hall. Yes, five hundred statues of Arhats in different poses with different meanings fill the hall. There is also a statue of the famous explorer Marco Polo and the King Asoka Pagoda. This was a "hidden gem" we enjoyed stumbling upon.

Chen Clan Academy
Our last stop for sightseeing was the Chen Clan Academy. This site built around 1890 is a hand craving wonder. This "temple" is 15,000 square meters and built in a rectangular shape with six courtyards, nine main halls, and nineteen buildings. Each one adorned with exquisite wood, brick, pottery, stone, and lime carvings done in design and patterns of the famous Guangdong style.

This facility is named after the Chen family that donated monies to construct an academy for family members to prepare for imperial examinations. After it was designated as a cultural relic, this site also considered one of the eight great sites of Guangzhou, was opened into an academy of fine arts which it remains today. This was another location that we really enjoyed and would recommend to others.

Lastly, we have to share that we tried authentic Cantonese style Chinese food. We ate Guangzhou style fried rice, noodle soup, and dumplings. All the dishes had a seafood flair to them. But this is common considering we are in the south. Shrimp, mussels, and other shellfish were added to all of the dishes we tried. Overall the food was good. Nothing was particularly outstanding but it was filling.

In conclusion, we must say that Guangzhou is a great city to visit. We were skeptical but pleasantly surprised. We only scratched the surface in this once day visit. We are already planning our next trip to see this fascinating city in more detail. We'll be sure to tell you how it goes.