Posted by Karbo
We had contemplated making a side trip from Hong Kong but the destinations we had in mind were either too cold (i.e. Beijing) or too expensive (i.e. Seoul).
Luckily for us, our friend from Vancouver, Fianna, was visiting family in Guangzhou and invited us up to spend a couple of days with her. We decided to take the direct MTR train from Kowloon to Guangzhou. It's a 2 hour ride and very convenient!
Luckily for us, our friend from Vancouver, Fianna, was visiting family in Guangzhou and invited us up to spend a couple of days with her. We decided to take the direct MTR train from Kowloon to Guangzhou. It's a 2 hour ride and very convenient!
Fi and her uncle picked us up from the Guangzhou East station and we went for lunch with her parents. Afterwards, Fi's uncle dropped us off at the Chen Ancestral Hall - a compound built in the traditional Chinese style. The complex was built by the Chen family during the Qing Dynasty when one of their family members did very well in the imperial examinations and was awarded a high-ranking office.
From what we learned, in a nutshell, it was the ultimate goal in imperial China to 1) score high on the imperial examinations, 2) get a high-ranking office, 3) save up a lot of money, and 4) go back to your hometown and build a very large, very impressive complex.
From what we learned, in a nutshell, it was the ultimate goal in imperial China to 1) score high on the imperial examinations, 2) get a high-ranking office, 3) save up a lot of money, and 4) go back to your hometown and build a very large, very impressive complex.
Afterwards, Fi took us around the old quarter of Guangzhou, which is probably as authentically Chinese as it gets.
We'd told Fi that we were looking forward to massages so she and her mom took us to Aqua Spa Massage, which is a huge spa complex where you can experience an array of spa treatments and relax in a reclining armchair while watching shows on your personal television. If you're hungry, you can order food to be delivered to your armchair or go to their 24-hour restaurant. We even saw people taking a snooze in their armchairs; Fi said it's possible to spend days there and we can see why!
The next day, Fi's parents took us in their home-fitted RV to Sha Wan Ancient Village, a small village just southeast of Guangzhou filled with traditional temples, shrines, and buildings.
We then went for lunch where we had a local specialty, dumplings wrapped in fish paste.
After lunch, Fi's parents dropped us off at Bao Mo Garden, a large traditional Chinese-style garden that was originally built during the Qing Dynasty. The garden has recently gone through a renovation and is a very popular attraction in Guandong. It's about an hour's drive from Guangzhou so we're very lucky we had Fi and her parents to drive us there! We'd recommend checking it out if you get a chance; Bao Mo Garden is a huge complex filled with beautiful ponds (full of goldfish of all sizes), bridges, and buildings. They also have exhibits explaining Chinese history and traditional culture.
For our last night in Guangzhou Jason wanted to take some pictures of the Canton Tower and Guangzhou skyline. We piled into a taxi and asked the driver to take us to wherever there was a scenic view of Guangzhou. Turns out we picked the most unenthusiastic taxi driver in all of Guangzhou because he answered, in monotone, "A view? There's no view in Guangzhou".
We ended up getting dropped off at the Canton Tower, which is the tallest structure in China, and Jason got some very nice pictures while we walked along the riverfront.
We ended up getting dropped off at the Canton Tower, which is the tallest structure in China, and Jason got some very nice pictures while we walked along the riverfront.
We had such a nice getaway to Guangzhou. Travelling around China can take some adjusting to (i.e. lots of pollution, different standards for social manners, etc.) but we were really spoiled and well taken care of by Fi and her family. Thank-you Fi!! =)