Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part I

Okay, let me rewind a bit since I'm back in Wuhan.  I didn't get to update my blog as much as I wanted to while I was traveling East Asia.

When: January 21st, 2011
Where: Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
What: First stop on my backpacking trip, old school Bad Religion on my iPod

After I left Jingzhou, I went back to Wuhan and then down to Guangzhou via the fastest train in the world - the Wuhan-Guangzhou Super Express. It goes faster than the Shinkansen in Japan.  And apparently it isn't even a MagLev!

Guangzhou is such a pretty city, especially at night.  Once I got to the HI Hostel, I got an upgraded room for free because they needed my room for a bigger party.  I got the best room in the hostel - it overlooked the Pearl River.  Beautiful, but I was here to explore!  After dropping my bags, I took off to the Tea Market of the South, which is an EPIC tea market.  It spans many major roads and all the side streets and alleyways in between. I was so overwhelmed with how much tea and teaware there was, I forgot to buy something.  Southern China is a hotspot for tea and only now do I regret not getting anything there.

The next day I ran around the city.  I went to...

...the ferry across the Pearl River.

Shamian Island, an old colonial district turned tourist hotspot.  Once upon a time, no dogs and Chinese were allowed on this island.

Liwan Park. Very pretty park where the Cantonese come out of the woodwork to do kung fu, taichi chuan, badminton, and hacky sack. I also went through Antique Street, which was more of a market than an antique street.  I also saw something typical of Chinese markets - indiscriminate slaughtering of animals, including alligators.  Apparently, as the stereotype goes according to Mandarin Chinese, the Cantonese eat everything.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall.  A big complex for Chinese arts.

The Museum and Tomb of the Nanyue King

...and Yuexiu Park

Something you need to know about me.  When I travel, I love to move fast and hard.  In between the venues, I even stopped for breakfast, coffee, lunch, and a weird egg/ginger concoction that was strangely refreshing.  

I walked around Yuexiu Park (since there are a lot to things to see there) and the streets around my hostel for the rest of the day.  I saw an AA gun and Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games stuff in the park!

I was considering going to the Chinese Medicine Academy to get a massage, but it was getting late.  Oh well.

Overall, I was very impressed with Guangzhou after just one day of looking around.  Very clean and the traffic was not so bad.  Okay, maybe it was pretty bad, but compared to Wuhan it was tame.