Delights of Guang Zhou

I especially loved wondering around the numerous parks found all over the city, shopping around and haggling for the best prices, eating at food stalls that can be found all over the place, having a relaxing stroll along the Pearl River Delta, admiring the ancient buildings in the older part of the city and appreciating the chinese culture which is my heritage. My friends showed me Guang Zhou in a way I never thought I would see it: popular hangouts and discos, cheapest buys, back alley restaurants, and best of all, home-cooked meals!

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For a little taste of Guangzhou food without going to the extreme, head on to the Bing Sheng Seafood Restaurant. There are several outlets of Bing Sheng in the city of Guang Zhou itself, but I have only visited two of their branches and can only recommend the two I have been to. Both of the restaurants I have been to are extremely large, with a main dining area for walk-in guests, and several separate rooms for functions and parties, guests with prior reservations, or for those that prefer a little more privacy (depending on availability). Each room is equipped with a television and tables for up to 10 guests.

The specialties of this restaurant are the fresh raw fish and raw prawns. The raw prawns or fish are served in two ways, either in wine or on ice. It is dished up in such a way to sterilize the bacteria that are usually found on raw meat. The prawns are literally still alive and moving, and we have to skin them ourselves, dip them in wasabi sauce, and just eat them like that! It may seem rather disgusting at the beginning, but the prawns actually taste quite delicious and are extremely fresh. This is definitely not something to be missed! Bing Sheng also serves cooked Chinese food like porridge, chicken, pork ribs, fried rice or mee, vegetables, etc.

The old city is a popular tourist destination, as it offers not only the olden China days atmosphere, but also delicious local snacks and shopping at the best bargains! The famous Qing Ping market is also found somewhere along Shang Xia Jiu, which sells anything from live animals, foodstuff, herbs, and spices.

I would have gotten completely lost in the darkness of the city, if not for the direction of my local friends. We headed to one of the famous night spots in the city, where a few nightclubs were located side by side or just across the road. A friend had reservations at the DJ Club (Koko), which apparently was one of the top clubs in the city at the time I was there. The club is located along a row of shop houses and has a spiral staircase leading up to the entrance. I would not have noticed it as a club except for the large fluorescent lights illuminating its name.

For the period I was in Guangzhou, I visited the DJ Club (Koko) about three times. The main area of the nightclub is actually quite small… it has a rather spacious bar, a small dance floor, a house DJ and a few sofa seats. Nevertheless, the club expands further in with two private karaoke lounges, and a second floor with plenty of tables and seats to accommodate their growing popularity. The color theme of the club is red… red chairs, red tables, red curtains, red walls… it’s just red, red, red everywhere!

The house DJ plays a mixture of trance, techno and R&B depending on the day of the week. Due to its popularity during the time I visited Guangzhou in 2004, the DJ Club usually gets crowded by midnight and can get pretty packed on weekends.

The memorial hall has magnificent exterior and elegant interior decorations. The whole building--octagonal in shape--is of a typical Chinese architectural style. Behind the large building is a smaller one that is dedicated to a short history of Guang Zhou. There is also a 5-meter-high bronze statue of Dr. Sun in front of the hall. The Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is surrounded by beautiful, vast landscapes of trees, tree sculptures, and flowers, giving it a feel of vitality, vibrancy, and grandeur.

The temple has architectural designs of traditional Guang Dong style. There are 19 buildings on the property, each displaying a different kind of exhibition, such as antiques, wood carvings, stone carvings, sculptures, calligraphy, paintings, and so on. The walls and roofs of the temple are beautifully carved and decorated with pictures and paintings of gods, dragons, people, flowers, and sceneries.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Temple was definitely built with complete care and detail and is the largest, best-preserved, and best-decorated ancient architecture existing in the Guang Dong Province.

The famous symbol of Guang Zhou, The Sculpture of the Five Rams, is found in the vicinity of Yue Xiu Park. This sculpture is seen as a symbol of Guang Zhou due to an ancient legend. This legend tells of five celestial beings with robes of five colours that rode rams through the air to Guang Zhou, each carrying a stem of rice. They presented it to the people, and they took it as a sign from heaven that the city will always be free from famine. Therefore, Guang Zhou is also known as the City of Rams or Goat City.

Other than that, The Zhen Hai Tower is also located here. This tower was built during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 to 1644) and is one of the oldest buildings in Guang Zhou. The Zhen Hai Tower was used as a watchtower during that time, guarding the city against invasions. It now houses the city museum, displaying antiques, sculptures, and porcelains from ancient dynasties.

In the hills of Ding Hu Mountain there are serene lakes, beautiful waterfalls, magnificent temples, and ancient pavilions. The mountain is said to be the best area for breathing anions - the air up here is simply soothing and relaxing! There are trams that take passengers up the mountain, stopping at several points where attractions can be found. There is a lot of walking involved, so I suggest a pair of good walking shoes. Make sure they are easy to take off, though; you might want to dip your feet into the cool water at the waterfall.

The Buddhist temple on the hill houses the Guan Yin Goddess of Mercy of a Thousand Hands and Eyes. This statue is located in the biggest pavilion for the Goddess of Mercy in the world. Inside the pavilion, other statues of gods can be found at both sides of the main statue.

A little beyond the pavilion is the Holy Ground of the Statue of Mother Buddha facing the sea. The statue is simply magnificent, dignified, and great in scale. It stands at 40.88m and is said to be the biggest gold leaf-coated bronze statue in the world. It is here that most people light humongous joss sticks for prayers, and the area is filled with the delightful sound of firecrackers lighted by the locals who come for prayers. The Lotus Pagoda stands just over the hilltop.