Yuexiu Park

Our last stop was Yuexiu Park. We took the subway here from Guangxiao Temple. It’s the largest park in downtown Guangzhou and was built in 1952. It’s made up of 3 artificial lakes as well as 7 hills of Yuexiu Mountain.

The Five-Ram Sculpture (though I’ve seen it called Five-Goats too) is the biggest attraction. You have to climb up a little hill/mountain to see it. It’s one of the most famous structures in Guangzhou. It has become the emblem of Guangzhou City. As you can also partly read in one of the pics below in Chinglish, legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Guangzhou was a barren land with people, who despite hard work, were suffering from famine. One day five immortals in five-color garments came riding on five rams, playing their legendary music. The rams held sheaves of rice in their mouths. The immortals left the sheaves of rice for the Guangzhou people, gave blessings to the city, and left. The rams turned into stone and the city of Guangzhou became a rich and populous place. Guangzhou got the name The City of Rams (or Ram City) and The City of Ears.

People exercise here as well as play music. Kids can go on rides and others can paint, sketch, fish or barbeque. There is a museum, tower, and an ancient City Wall here. There’s arched bridges, pavilions, corridors, trails, a swimming pool, gymnasium, restaurants, & souvenir stalls. There are also lots of grasses, trees, bamboos, birds, flowers, and animal life. Fittingly, there are five gates to enter the park and admission is free! 

 

We stayed for a couple of hours before two of us decided to head back to Shenzhen. A couple people stayed another night in Guangzhou. A friend and I headed back to the subway to go to the train station to take the hour train ride back to Shenzhen. It was a long day and we saw a lot in one day (Qingping Market, Huangsha Market, Shamian Island, Guangxiao Temple, & Yuexiu Park). The park was great. I may have liked that the best. We decided to leave the park around 5pm and we would eat dinner once arriving in Shenzhen. We thought we would eat near Shenzhen’s train station because even after arriving at the train station in Shenzhen, it would still be another hour by subway and bus before we would actually get to our apartments. China is big! But of course, we were in China, and the train back to Shenzhen was late for some unknown reason. Actually, more than one was late. People were 50-deep anxiously waiting to get on the platform but they wouldn’t allow anyone to exit the station waiting area. Then, all of a sudden, the crowd started to push forward and we pushed with them. Of course, being in China again, our train # was nowhere to be found. We were trying to ask a lady that was working outside another train about our train (along with 20 others trying to ask this poor lady questions at the same time) and she didn’t know when our train would be available. The train she was working on was going to Shenzhen too and was supposed to leave after ours, so we were not sure where our train was or what was really going on. The lady said that we could get on this one but would have to stand. We were deciding what to do when a Chinese man in English told us to get on this train or we would be waiting for a long time. That was good enough for me. We left, standing…

We left the Guangzhou train station around 7:30 I would say and arrived an hour later. We found an Indian restaurant and had a nice dinner. After that, we left for home.

Guangzhou was nice. Not sure though I would go back unless I come across something new I want to see.

Guangxiao Temple

After visiting Shamian Island, we hopped on the subway headed for Guangxiao Temple (in English, it means Bright Filial Temple).  It’s the largest Buddhist monastery complex in Guangdong Province with a long history and with great influence.  It was originally a palace of a Prince during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-24 A.D.).  In the Three Kingdoms Period, it became a teaching academy of Yu Fan, an official as well as scholar of the I-Ching, who came here in exile.  During the Longan Reign of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (397-401), a Buddhist hall was built on site by a monk.  The current name of Guangxiao Temple was established during the Shaoxing Reign of the Song Dynasty (1151).  The Temple was severely damaged as the Manchurian soldiers marched southward and the city was bombarded.  Under the rule of Emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi, it was somehow restored, but damage was done to it during the period from the late Qing to the Republic of China as it had long been occupied by cultural, educational, and military organizations.  Due emphasis was attached to the development of the Temple after the Republic’s founding.  In 1986, it was approved to resume religious activities and opened to the public.  The statutes and buildings were restored and expansion took fold.  It’s the Home Temple of Chinese Zen Tradition and holds a significant history of Chinese Buddhism.

The above was just a snapshot of information I took out of a pamphlet they provided us.  I have also read that this Temple/complex is older than the city itself.  The complex is laid out in typical Chinese fashion, facing south on a north-south axis.  There was also a vegetarian restaurant on site but we didn’t eat there.  We thought it was a little too expensive, so we ate lunch at a little noodle restaurant on the road that leads/ends at the Temple.  Outside the Temple, there are Chinese begging for money all over the place though the police/guards will shoo them away if the beggars get too close to the Temple.  But it was a cool place and was a gorgeous day.  You certainly do not come to these Temples in China if you do not like the smell of incense.  We spent about an hour here and then headed back to the subway to go to a park…

Shamian Island

After visiting Qingping and Huangsha Markets, we walked over to Shamian Island which is a sandbank island.  It’s more quiet here than the city (as traffic is limited by the government) and has a touch of the European colonial period.  There are historical buildings here as well as churches, hotels, restaurants, and souvenir stores.  The island borders the Pearl River and is separated from the mainland by a canal.  This island was an important port for Guangzhou’s foreign trade from the Song to Qing dynasty.  Foreigners lived and did business here.  The U.S. Consulate is here but they wouldn’t allow you to take photos of even the outside of the place.  In the sixth pic below, the people are singing.  I also took a photo of a married couple.  It’s a nice area with trees and surprisingly clean air.  We walked around for a few and then left to take the subway to go see a temple…

Huangsha Seafood Market

After going to Qingping Market, we walked to the nearby outdoor Huangsha Wholesale Seafood Market.  It’s the largest wholesale seafood market in Guangdong Province.  This is a place where you can bargain for seafood.  Trucks are always coming and going with water dripping down its sides and rear with fresh seafood.  In fact, the whole street is wet.  I noticed some blood as well as fish guts on the streets.  The market itself has no eateries but there are some nearby.  Lots of fish here come from the Pearl River valley.  I didn’t recognize a lot of it.  For example, I have no clue what that thing is in the fifth pic.  It moves really slowly and it’s out of water?  They’re also on the right side of picture six.  Weird!  Seafood is a common ingredient in Cantonese food.  It was a cool little place.

Qingping Market

A couple of weekends ago a group of us went by train to the city of Guangzhou. It’s about an hour train ride north of Shenzhen and is the capital of Guangdong Province, which both Shenzhen and Guangzhou are part of. Guangzhou is also known as Canton. It’s the largest city in Guangdong Province and is located on the Pearl River. It’s the 3^rd largest city in China and China’s largest southern city. It has like 14 million people or something. Half the people speak Cantonese and the other half Mandarin. Like Shenzhen, Guangzhou has a subway system that I thought was more crowded and harder to navigate than Shenzhen’s.

We left on a Friday night and came back Saturday night. A couple of us stayed at a hostel which is the first time I stayed in a hostel I think. It was pretty cheap. There were two bedrooms I think and the room I stayed in had 4 bunk beds, so the room can sleep 8 people. We really just ate dinner and hung out Friday night and did most of our sightseeing all day Saturday.

Our first stop was Qingping Market which is a famous shopping area. It’s the largest street market in Guangzhou and has over 2,000 stalls or something. I read over 60,000 people shop there every day. It’s very crowded and you can find a lot of stuff. It’s probably best known for being able to buy pretty much whatever animal you want to eat, though I have been told this has been curbed back due to food illnesses of late like SARS. You can find jade and antique stalls. The alleys also contain herbalists, spice sellers, and fruit/vegetable stalls. As I mentioned, there is a meat market where you can buy dogs, cats, and other endangered species though I didn’t get a good look at that as I was probably intentionally avoiding that. Also, due to the SARS scare, I read that the dogs, cats, and other endangered caged animals are hidden from public view. You just gotta know the right people to find them, but they’re there. You can also find jewelry, Mao stuff, and other collectibles. Qingping is a little frustrating as there are no signs and it’s really hard to know where the market starts/stops. But Qingping market was cool. It was pretty neat walking the back alleyways. Saw lots of slaughtered fish, small animals, and lots and lots of bugs/insects to eat. I did not buy anything. There was nothing there that interested me. But it was fun. We spend like 45 minutes walking around.

Television

Below is a quick post on television here in China.  China Central Television (CCTV) is the major state television broadcaster in mainland China.  Most channels consist of Chinese soaps and entertainment shows which I really have no interest in.  Even though they’re in Chinese, you can still tell they’re not up to U.S. standards in terms of quality.  I watch about 4 channels out of like 60.  One is China’s MTV.  Sometimes they show American bands or pop but it’s usually Chinese acts that are just dreadful.  I only watch it because I don’t have many options.  Another is a channel that sometimes shows American shows or movies.  Sometimes in English, sometimes not.  Sometimes they’ll show a movie from HBO or a National Geographic documentary.  Other times they have even shown MLB or NFL highlights from a week or two in the past with Chinese commentary.  There is a 24/7 sports channel in Chinese that usually shows soccer, volleyball, table tennis, and various international (basketball, gymnastics, skating, etc.) sporting events.  As you can see from the one pic below, they did show the World Series games live which was great even though the games were with Chinese commentary.  But the channel I watch the most is the 24-hr CCTV News, which is an English international news channel.  It usually shows live news at the top of every hour and then various other news during the second half.  I wouldn’t call it a true news channel as it’s still controlled by the state and I have read the journalists are always under pressure to report China in a positive light.  However, it’s better than nothing, and I was pleasantly surprised when they showed extensive 9-11 coverage (as you can see from the pics below) earlier this year to commemorate the tenth anniversary.  I do miss watching my American sports & shows but I really can’t complain.  I do not pay for it, my school does.