A Glimpse of Guangzhou city - 28 & 30 Nov 2013

Guangzhou downtown is big and crowded, the best way to see it is on foot, even better, let a local show you around. We covered less ground traveling with kids, and have to take it slower and stop more frequently. It's a different travel experience cos we see places that I'd never have stopped under other circumstances.

Pearl River scene

The icon of Guangzhou city, Canton Tower, situated in the heart of busy intersections. The Pearl River also runs through Guangzhou. Temperature dropped to as low as 12C and windy, otherwise it'd be good to do a river cruise to enjoy the charming night scenery. 

The Opera House at night and the many bridges we saw everywhere in Guangzhou. On Pearl River alone, there're 10 bridges!

ShangXiaJiu Walking Street

A favourite place. Not only for shopping but the place is like a labyrinth of alleys and lanes, mixing old and new architecture and full of little surprises to be discovered.


The stores are located in Qilou colonial era buildings with a mix of Chinese and the European architecture. Like many buildings in Malaysia, the buildings here have five foot ways or sheltered pedestrian walkways to give cover from the sun and rain. 

Sculptures depicting the old Guangzhou lifestyle are everywhere along the walking street.

Most photographed peddler on the walking street selling "Rooster Olive", which is a kind of glazed fruit made of olives.

Many popular teahouses serving dim sum and Cantonese dishes in downtown. We've dim sum at Guangzhou Restaurant, one of the oldest, founded in 1939, but there are also Lianxianglou, Taotaoju and Panxi restaurants. It's common to see a restaurant occupying the whole building, indeed it's a culture to go teahouses here.

Getting lost in the alleys is a MUST do in Shangxiajiu. Older streets like Hua Lin Street was around since 1870s and has thousands of shops and stalls selling jade ornaments.

A fruit peddler was still using the Chinese antique weighing scale. Only regret we could not explore more of these older streets cos it's simply too much to cover on foot. 

Beijing Lu

Another popular shopping haven in the city that never sleeps - Beijing Lu. We went there to see the remains of streets from 3 different dynasties, ie the Song (960-1279 AD), Yuan (1279-1368 AD) and Ming (1368-1644 AD). The older the street remains, the deeper they lie beneath the modern day pedestrian street. It's like surreal to see the hurried, modern city life on top and the buried history underneath glass....

We've also the experience of traveling in Metro train at peak hours. It's NOT fun at all, being packed like sardines. But this is how the people commute to and fro city cos it's just so difficult to hail a cab in the city. There's so much to see in the city but moving around is a hassle, cos the city is huge and crowded, there's just so much we could walk in a day. We prefer the more laidback life in Panyu District...

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