Remembered that I was not exactly that excited about heading to Guangzhou. I thought that it would be boring there as there would not be many places to shop. Even if it's sight-seeing, it would not take 5 days to sight-see Guangzhou isn't it? Nonetheless Guangzhou is better than staying in Singapore. The last time I sat areoplane was in Jan 08 for Hong Kong and Macau. Anything and anywhere, as long as I get my butt away from Singapore and work.
Nothing to shop?! Boy, I was damn wrong. Those 5 days...we shopped and walked..and that was the first time I really felt that I would DIE FROM SHOPPING AND WALKING (in short - exhaustion) too much. I do not remember I was that tired during the many times that I went to Bangkok. I concluded that I must have grown old or we really shopped and walked too much. I think it was the latter. Reason? Watch out for the entry about my trip to Bangkok later. :D
I was not kidding when I said I was exhausted to the point that I thought I would die...I think I was really close to that..I was too tired even to eat. No kidding. Haha...
People would think, why would I want to torture myself? Haha...I really did not torture myself, we had enough rest at night as we would return to the hotel relatively early (compared to Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok) as Guangzhou is not a night place. We did stop to eat and drink when we were tired, just that I was simply to exhausted to lift my fingers to feed myself!
I think it had to do alot with the shopping streets. The shopping streets are lllloooonnnnnggggg, both sides were lined with many (read: MANY) shops and they are architectured (is there such a word?!) is such a way that there were also alleys or another shopping centre (those that are 2 to 3 storeys high) in between the shops!!! We visited 3 main shopping streets and for 2 of the streets we took almost an entire day to shop! Refer to section 'shopping' for more information.
Weather:
Very close to Singapore's in the day, but the sun was not scorching hot. At night it was cooler than in Singapore. We thought it would be cold throughout, but I think the winter came abit late for Guangzhou this year.
People:
The sales people were relatively more friendly and courteous than those we met on the streets. Of course there were some unfriendly sales assistant who preferred to talk on their phone, check their hair, face and makeup in the mirror rather than to serve you. For those, I'll just walk away. Even saw one sales assistant scolding and shouting after one of their locals as she was not happy with the bargain price.
The people on the streets were more brusque. I was really irritated with them the first day I was there. I think they either walk with their eyes closed, had very very low situation awareness such that they did not know what was happening around them or very self-centred. They could bump right into half of you no matter they were coming towards you from your front or back. Even when they were walking by your side, they could also suddenly bump into your side. If you were standing behind or beside them, there would be so oblivious of your presence that they could simply swing their elbows into you, swing their hair right across your face or turn straight into your face such that you could almost kiss them! And the best is, they remained unfazed throughout it all!! Not even a word of apology!
Not to mention that Guangzhou is still a 'spitting kingdom'. When you hear people clearing their throats, you better run a mile away.
Argh, ok enough of the people.
Shopping: these were the places I went to. Of course there would be alot more other places to shop at.
(1) Beijing Lu Pedestrian Street (北京路步行街)- a must go place!
(2) Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (上下九商业步行街) - it is made up of 上九商业步行街 and 下九商业步行街 and also Dishipu Lu (第十甫路) - a must go place!
(3) Zhuangyuan Fang (状元坊) - a must go place!
(4)Zhengjia Plaza (Grandview Mall) (正佳广场) - shopping centre. Not much difference from Singapore. I don't like to shop at shopping centres overseas, unless they have something different to offer.
(5) Tee Mall (天河城) - there really is nothing much here.
(6) Zhong Tian Shopping Plaza (中天购物城) - another shopping centre.
(7) Friendship Store (广州友谊商店) - apparantly is this one of the oldest department stores. Can be found at shopping centres like Grandview Mall.
Bargaining is accepted in most places, except for shopping malls and eateries and restuarants of course!
Remember, there are alleys and shopping centres in between the shops at (1), (2) and (3). You would not want to miss them out!! There clothes there were really cheap! The downside is that you cannot try them. So that would be the risk that you had to take!
For myself (read: MYSELF), I bought 11 pieces of clothes, 1 auto umbrella, 1 belt, 3 pairs of shoes and 1 backpacker bag. I think that was about all, in 3 days of shopping - strictly was 3 days because we went sight-seeing for 1 day and our flight was in the early morning on the last day. :D
Food:
The things I tasted there were quite edible, except I think that their food were more on the salty side. There were many eateries along the shopping streets but like I mentioned before, mostly my hubby was the one eating.
Must try - bubble tea! Buy from those stalls which looked clean and reputable, ie: many young people queueing up to buy! I tried the bubble tea from one stall at Beijing Lu Pedestrain Street and it was really nice! It had real fruits and I think some cononut juice inside! The food they served were nice too..I had beef steak! :D Unfortunately I did not take down the name, but I'll remember it if I was there again!
There was another restuarant that served very very nice tea. It's like english tea with green tea. Really very nice! They served main course too and according to hubby the food tasted good! Again I did not take down the name of the restuarant. But I think this restuarant should be quite famous as I saw at least 2 shops each at Beijing Lu and Shangxiajiu Lu Pedestrian Streets and also at some other places.
Tao Tao Ju (陶陶居) at Dishipu Lu - recommended by Yimei. Also read about it on the internet. It was located all the way at the end of Shangxiajiu Pedestrain Street! We went there to have dinner. That was by far the most difficult dinner to get because it was really really far! We ate fried rice. It was not that fantastic, and I think because we were both really tired too. Nonetheless, the place would be a good place for those who likes to drink chinese tea and chat with friends. :D
Tao Tao Ju also had it's own bakery. Bought some pastries back for friends. Marcus and Jac said it tasted weired. Hmm...thought it was supposed to be famous?! Hai, make me carry back so many packets! The rest did not feedback to me, maybe they were too polite to do so! :D
Sightseeing:
(1) Pearl River Cruise (珠江夜游). I thought the tickets were really expensive, cannot remember how much though. They were priced differently for different category. We bought the cheapest one which just offered free tea and seat on the lowest deck. There was another more expensive category on the 2nd deck with free fruits. However we took the cheapest one because we dare not eat the fruits anyway and the highest deck is free for all to go! Meaning no matter which category, you can go up to the highest deck to view the scenary. While I think it's too steeply priced, I still think this is a must go because you get to go on a one and half hour cruise on the river. It is a great way to see the Guangzhou skyline along the Pearl River and enjoy the breeze. It's beautiful, especially at night!
On the second last day, we really got tired of shopping. Hence we decided to book a 1-day local tour for sight-seeing! The package consisted of the following places:
(2) The Baiyun Shan (White Cloud Mountain) (白云山) - took a park tram up and cable car down.
(3) Yuexiu Park (越秀公园)
(4) Zhenhai Tower (镇海楼)- inside Yuexiu Park
(5) Guangzhou City Museum - inside Yuexiu Park
(6) Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall (中山纪念堂)- inside Yuexiu Park
(7) Stone Statue of the Five Rams (五羊石像)- inside Yuexiu Park
(8) Huangpu Military Academy (黄埔军校旧址)
(9) Xinghai Music Hall
(10) Tian He Waving Waterfall - apparantly the biggest man-made waterfall in Asia
I think there were a few other places but I cannot remember all. Felt that the sight-seeing were abit boring. We decided to take part in the tour because we wanted to go to Baiyun Shan and Yuexiu Park. We thought it would be more convenient and cost effective as it would not be easy for tourists to go to theses scenic places on our own.
Transport:
Taxi was cheap and convenient. Talking about taxi..forgot which day and where we were heading to though...our taxi got into an accident just as we boarded it near our hotel. The driver simply just ignored us and went out to settle matters with the other driver. He just left us sitting inside lor, never even tell us to stay or ask us to take another taxi. We decided to get another taxi after 3 mintues of waiting. Even after we get out of the taxi, the driver did not even glance a shot at us lor! Funny driver.
The metro subway is also very convenient. Exactly like our MRT.
Hotel:
We stayed at The Venice Hotel. It is a small hotel but clean in both aspects! Muahahah.... I super like one of the lady staff there. Not sure what was her designation. She was very very friendly and helpful. So sad did not get to see her on the last day.
The most irritating thing was that our trip clashed with the Guangzhou annual Canton Fair. Not only were hotels SUPER expensive (up to 3 times more!!), most were fully booked!! Luckily we managed to source for this hotel with the assistance of my hubby's colleague whose hometown is Guangzhou!
Language:
Mandarin
Cantonese
Miscellaneous:
1. Motorcycles were barred from expressways and city areas.
2. Only women and children were allowed sit in the front seat in taxis. However the driver did not stop my hubby when we were on our way to the hotel on the first day. The boot could not accomodate 2 of our luggages so 1 luggage got to be with me at the back. Did not get around to asking the drivers what was the rational of this rule though.
3. Hahah...got a few people - one lady on the MRT and a few sale assistance commented that I was pre**y (haha..too shy to spell out the word *blush*). I think maybe I looked very different from them..thats why.
4. Thought I had somemore things to write..but cannot remember now...
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