Guangzhou …some Canton, & back to the Great White North

Up and at em …buffet breakfast ok, but not overly exciting > a mix of western and asian food items. Not surprisingly it is smoggy and warm around 25C, 5-7C less than in Bali and it makes a big difference. Tried to send some e-mails….forgot that Google is an enemy of the state…..hence no G-mail, maps etc., while capitalism is flourishing here…it remains a controlled society….although this cop is more interested in his phone (hey I could get this guy into trouble haha)..

Today will be a walking day firstly we will sort out the Pearl River Cruise location…..the hotel surprisingly does not seem to be able to reserve tickets for a cruise…..along the way we come across some bridal photo shoots …

….about 15 minutes from the hotel we find the booths selling river cruises and find that the night cruises start around 19:30, but tickets can only be obtained in the evening.

Next up the Quinping Market, set in Canton’s oldest district, it is made up of some of the last pre-colonial buildings in the city. The aged apartments are several stories high, and the bottom floors are reserved for market stalls. There is a vast array of items for sale of a medicinal nature of which we can identify only a handful….

…dried deer tendons…

……various sea creatures..

….various dried flowers (very aromatic)…

…and some stuffed deer and a fawn ????

… as well, we suspect you could probably find shark fins, rhino horns and other forbidden items.

We soon reach the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street which features lots of stores selling largely fashion items with many stores fronted by young men and women loudly clapping and calling their promotional items for the day…..

…..a stern manager exhorting the troops to sell more jewelry !! Speaking of stern, the locals here generally look fairly sullen and a smile seldom is reciprocated…although we are often gawked at !!

……looking at the size of the apartments surrounding this area we are again reminded of the immensity of this country….this will be repeated throughout our visit, think super sized everything …to the good and the bad:

Feeling slightly queasy I forgo the street food which looks really inviting (major bummer as I love this stuff), instead opting for some tea and a bun….

…also some neat shops like the “Huang Shang Huang” formerly “Dongchang Dried Meat Shop,” built in 1940. The dried meat products are naturally dried, and said to be fresh and tasty ………much sought after by the locals judging by the lineup:

In the afternoon we came across a fashion district …..lots of unloading of bales of clothes in street front locations and in “department” type stores except these are filled with mini stalls selling various fashion items to clients on a wholesale basis, although you can also buy retail. One would have to spend several days here as there are numerous markets catering to men, women, children, accessories you get the picture….if you want fakes, I think there are fake everything here (or at least knock-offs) clearly no one gives a damn about patents/copyrights etc. ….incredible hustle and bustle with much movement of goods in and out ….unfortunately trying to communicate about this was really impossible….

You don’t go hungry here as there is lots of street food……good looking potstickers although I am not sure what our Resto Inspectors would say about some of the practises here (you have to love the guy working the wok with a but hanging out):

There was also a similar area nearby specializing in electronics…..hundreds of mini shops…if you know what you are doing we suspect you can find some fantastic deals…..but it is definitely a case of caveat emptor !!!

Took it easy for the balance of the afternoon, and as wedding party took over the resto we were planning on going to, we exercised Plan B …… 2nd choice was only ok…..

Looked at lights on the Pearl River:

…..and it is time to get some sleep.

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Today yours truly woke up feeling rather poorly (confirming yesterday’s early warnings….) as a belly bug finally caught up with me….so with a long flight facing us the next day the objective was to get the situation under control sooner rather than later…..IMMODIUM > do not leave home without it ! So all in all a bit of a slow day and we scrapped the visit to the circus. Instead we are checking out the local areas and keeping close to “home”:

Some pics of local street scenes …..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…..and a quick visit to the Cultural Park;

Decided to rest in the afternoon ….pretty much out of gas…

By night-time I felt good enough to have a light supper before we ventured out on the Pearl River Cruise….pleasant out and back cruise, they do lights very nicely here and the Canton Tower was an impressive sight..

Light rain on the return to the hotel …lights out..we will have a long day tomorrow.

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Had our breakfast….yours truly felt under control….metro back to the airport (piece of cake ….just read our instructions backwards haha) and then a mere 11 hour flight and we are in the Great White North…then a 45 minute ride on the Skytrain, pick up the car which Ella left at the Seabus terminal, 45 minute ferry ride, 1 hour drive and VOILA we are HOME……all is good.

Thanks for tuning in and btw the next trip is in the incubation stage …….. for now fall garden clean-up, X-mass preparations and catch-up on all the Trumpeting.