Your initial
instinct could well be to get out as soon as possible. However, if
you overcome this urge and stay longer, you will discover its more
personable side.
This
2,200-year-old port city, located on the Pearl River in Guangdong
province, is home to 10 million people and is one of China's
economic powerhouses.
But the city's
traditional neighborhoods, mostly in Xiguan area, still moves at a
leisurely pace - with elderly folk sitting outdoors playing chess or
just indulging in idle chatter; old stores, usually run by
generations of the same family, tucked away in the back streets and
selling a variety of medicinal herbs and dried seafood; and
centuries-old banyan trees, with their numerous aerial roots looking
like street sculptures.
A good way to
explore what the city and its people are really like is to have a
dim sum breakfast at a local restaurant.
In this
food-obsessed city, meals are a major source of happiness and
determines the pulse of everyday life of the local Cantonese people.
Restaurants in
Guangzhou are open for business as early as 6 am and the most
popular ones are usually huge, covering several floors, serving
about 1,000 people at a time, and full of noise and chaos.
It would be wise
to go with a local because the Guangdong dialect, called "bird
language" thanks to its minimum nine tones, might fail most Mandarin
speakers, let alone foreigners.
As soon as you
sit down, a pot of tea is promptly placed on your table. Soon, you
will notice servers walking around with trolleys stacked high with
bamboo canisters full of steaming hot food, like shrimp dumplings,
turnip cake, chicken feet, rice noodle rolls and egg tarts.
Simply point at
what you want as the carts pass by and the food will be delivered to
your table right away. The portions are usually small, so you can
sample a wide variety of dishes at one time.
Of course, dim
sum is not the only treat of the city's bustling food scene. You can
tuck into the city's best fish congee in a food stall with tiny
tables and plastic tools, or the best barbecued goose and ribs in a
humbly-decorated bistro located just around the corner from the big
restaurants.
Guangzhou is not
only a paradise for foodies, but also a magnet for businessmen from
all over the world.
The city's annual
trade fair, launched in 1957, is the oldest and one of the biggest
in China. The city's trading history dates back to ancient times and
recent archaeological finds suggest that the city may have had
traded frequently with foreigners more than 2,000 years ago.
Today, commercial
activity remains as vigorous as ever. Hundreds of thousands of
buyers travel from everywhere - Africa, the Middle East and Europe -
and buy anything they reckon they can sell back home, including all
sorts of clothes, shoes and handbags.
Shopping areas
like Beijing Road and Shangxiajiu in the heart of the city are good
places to experience the fast pace of city life and to find hot
bargains.
After spending a
whole day in the hustle and bustle of commercial Guangzhou, you can
head to Shamian, a small island on the Pearl River, for a quiet and
peaceful afternoon. Shamian means "sandy surface", in reference to
its historical past when the Guangzhou authorities handed over this
area to colonial Britain and France in the 19th century.
Shamian's
colonial heritage is still evident in the old European-styled
buildings, gardens and boulevards .
It's a perfect
place for a stroll. And as the sun goes down over the Pearl River,
settle down for a cup of coffee at one of the many restaurants or
cafes, and take in the beautiful view.
(Source: China Daily)
