Trip to Guangzhou
Matt and I wanted to escape Hong Kong for a night, so we took a 2 hour train to Guangzhou, China. Guangzhou is located in southern China on the Pearl River, about 75 miles from Hong Kong. It is a city of 12.78 million (2010 census). This is the 3rd largest city in China. With all the people and all the traffic we saw everywhere, I believe it. We encountered some issues with the language barrier (barely anyone speaks English), but other than that, it was a great trip. I see us going back for another quick weekend adventure with a our HK crew.
Bank sign of Guangzhou
Lost, wondering around, looking for a lunch spot
We stumbled upon all these kids learning to roller blade. Has anyone been in Central Park on a Sunday and seen all the old school guys on the roller skates with the boom box? Somehow it reminded me of that.
Fountains coordinated to music. So Asian. Lots of pictures being taken here as well
I love my Asian babies
Street vendors. I was crazy enough to try some of this orange juice. It was delicious and bonus, I didn't get sick. Hooray!
"Fresh" sugar cane juice
Of course we had to check out some of the markets. First stop, Haizhu Square. All sorts of random tid bits, however no purchases were made here
A whole section was dedicated to fake flowers
Matt wanted his own grass patch. No idea why. Needless to say, it didn't make it home with us
I am thinking this got lost in translation?
These fish in these nasty tanks were for the restaurant to cook up. Yikes.
More street food
Tons of bicyclist were carrying huge loads like this all over the city
I thought I found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A entire warehouse with nothing but shoe stores! All these great shoes for like $15 USD. I should have known there isn't really a pot of gold. The kicker here is that if you wanted a normal size, like an 8 (EUR 39), you had to pre-pay before trying them on, while another worker went to a warehouse 10 minutes away to get them. I had no idea if this was a scheme or what, so we didn't try. Drying my tears, we moved on. Matt was ever thankful to leave
Next stop, One Link International Plaza. This shopping center was more like Shenzhen
These were rear-view mirrors on the glasses. Gotta love it!
Jeremy Lin fever
How about a sailboat to take home?
I loved these bowls. I think they are meant to go on an entrance table. Real fish swimming in it. Look closely
After we exited, there was this little bike toy on the street. Loved it and totally should have bought it for my niece and nephew
Costume shop outside that we made a few purchases for the Rugby Sevens.
Off for a beer in the 1920 German bar, where we showed off our costume purchases
Bridges at night
Time to find some dinner. Our concierge recommended this Thai place. Loved the billboard that was advertising it. What is going on here?
Green papaya salad and chicken curry
This was a sign we passed on the way back to the hotel. It didn't turn out, but I had to post it. Great name for a shop= Hot wind
Yes, we put the hats back on before we went to bed for one more shot
Day two. Exploring temples. There are lots to choose from, but we were short on time so we just went to the Liurong Temple.
They give peanuts for offerings. I think I would be a little offended with just peanuts
Flower offerings, a slight upgrade.
Gorgeous gold statues of Buddha with Maha Mogallan (left) and Ananda (right). They also had this wonderful chanting looping on a CD of some sort, but I loved it.
There were quite a few of these incense pits and they had small fires burning in the middle
Was trying to show how huge the trees were, but I still don't think the photos captured their magnitude
There were so many gold fish in this pond. The kids feeding them loved it
There was an additional koi pond. It also had tons of fish
The nearby apartment buildings surrounding the temple
We took a stroll before catching a cab. All the nearby streets were dedicated to selling items for the temple, mainly items to burn in the furnaces
Towards the entrance of the temple, there were lots of bikes like this one loaded up with flowers for sale to be used in offerings
Locals taking it easy on a Sunday
This fast food chain was everywhere. Had to take a pic of it. They just love Bruce Lee over here
Some local snacks at the train station. Mmmmmm
This was a sky light at the station. I bet most people don't even notice how beautiful it is
We basically went on this trip on a whim and didn't really have anything planned. We will be back, next time with an agenda. As I always recommended, check out the NY Times guide for some Guangzhou travel tips.
Bank sign of Guangzhou
Lost, wondering around, looking for a lunch spot
We stumbled upon all these kids learning to roller blade. Has anyone been in Central Park on a Sunday and seen all the old school guys on the roller skates with the boom box? Somehow it reminded me of that.
Fountains coordinated to music. So Asian. Lots of pictures being taken here as well
I love my Asian babies
Street vendors. I was crazy enough to try some of this orange juice. It was delicious and bonus, I didn't get sick. Hooray!
"Fresh" sugar cane juice
Of course we had to check out some of the markets. First stop, Haizhu Square. All sorts of random tid bits, however no purchases were made here
A whole section was dedicated to fake flowers
Matt wanted his own grass patch. No idea why. Needless to say, it didn't make it home with us
I am thinking this got lost in translation?
These fish in these nasty tanks were for the restaurant to cook up. Yikes.
More street food
Tons of bicyclist were carrying huge loads like this all over the city
I thought I found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. A entire warehouse with nothing but shoe stores! All these great shoes for like $15 USD. I should have known there isn't really a pot of gold. The kicker here is that if you wanted a normal size, like an 8 (EUR 39), you had to pre-pay before trying them on, while another worker went to a warehouse 10 minutes away to get them. I had no idea if this was a scheme or what, so we didn't try. Drying my tears, we moved on. Matt was ever thankful to leave
Next stop, One Link International Plaza. This shopping center was more like Shenzhen
How about a sailboat to take home?
After we exited, there was this little bike toy on the street. Loved it and totally should have bought it for my niece and nephew
Costume shop outside that we made a few purchases for the Rugby Sevens.
Off for a beer in the 1920 German bar, where we showed off our costume purchases
Bridges at night
Time to find some dinner. Our concierge recommended this Thai place. Loved the billboard that was advertising it. What is going on here?
Day two. Exploring temples. There are lots to choose from, but we were short on time so we just went to the Liurong Temple.
They give peanuts for offerings. I think I would be a little offended with just peanuts
Flower offerings, a slight upgrade.
Gorgeous gold statues of Buddha with Maha Mogallan (left) and Ananda (right). They also had this wonderful chanting looping on a CD of some sort, but I loved it.
Loved this fish
There were so many gold fish in this pond. The kids feeding them loved it
There was an additional koi pond. It also had tons of fish
The nearby apartment buildings surrounding the temple
We took a stroll before catching a cab. All the nearby streets were dedicated to selling items for the temple, mainly items to burn in the furnaces
Towards the entrance of the temple, there were lots of bikes like this one loaded up with flowers for sale to be used in offerings
This fast food chain was everywhere. Had to take a pic of it. They just love Bruce Lee over here
Some local snacks at the train station. Mmmmmm
This was a sky light at the station. I bet most people don't even notice how beautiful it is
We basically went on this trip on a whim and didn't really have anything planned. We will be back, next time with an agenda. As I always recommended, check out the NY Times guide for some Guangzhou travel tips.
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