A Quick Trip to Guangzhou
A Quick Trip to Guangzhou
This week, I have been enjoying catching up with my son, Tim, and his girlfriend, Deb, who are visiting from Australia. They have been using their time well to explore Hong Kong, with trips to Lamma Island, Tsim Sha Tsui, the Golden Arcade, The Peak, the light show on Victoria Harbour, and so on.
Today we made a day trip together to Guangzhou (formerly Canton), the capital city of nearby Guangdong province in China, and a short one hour train journey from the border crossing at Shenzhen.
Ever since my first visit in 1982, I have always thought that Guangzhou had an elusive charm, and this visit confirmed my opinion. We began with a walk around Shamian Island, which has been cleaned up and restored to some of its former colonial glory. We also visited the Qing Ping Markets (now just a shadow of its former self when it used to resemble a take-away zoo!), the French-style Catholic Cathedral (under renovations), and the always pretty Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (shown above).
It was a long but happy day which culminated in a short shopping expedition in Shenzhen just before crossing the border back home to Hong Kong.
Sunday, 27 August 2006