Guangdong Trip - Day 2

ZHUHAI, ZHONGSAN, PANYU, GUANGZHOU

ZHUHAI (珠海 )


"Zhuhai (珠海 "Pearl Sea") is a city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south."







THE STATUE OF THE FISHER GIRL, ZHUHAI (珠海渔女)


"The Statue of fisher girl has become the landmark in the city of Zhuhai, located at the scenic Xianglu Bay. She holds a pearl high in the air with both hands in an elegant pose, admiring its bright luster that also symbolizes the brightness of Zhuhai. The statue is composed of granite and stands 8.7 meters high weighing 10 tons. The legend is that a beautiful fairy maiden fell in love with a young fisherman. He believed some fabricated rumors and asked the girl for the bracelet she wore as proof of her love. Although she knew she would die if the bracelet were removed from her body, she still took it off and presented it to show her deep lovefor him. The girl died and the fisherman was bitterly remorseful, crying all day and all night. An Immortal named Jiuzhou Elder was moved by their love and helped the young man resuscitate the girl. They offered this huge precious pearl to their benefactor during their marriage ceremony as a token of their appreciation for his kindness."

AVENUE OF LOVERS ROAD (情侣路)

"This 20km stretch of road that hugs the shoreline, with its statue of the Fishing Girl, has become Zhuhai’s signature attraction. Nevertheless, a walk or drive along the road provides a reminder that there are far too few places like it in China."







SHIJINGSHAN MOUNTAIN (石景山公园)


"Shijingshan Mountain Scenic Area is located at the North Haibin Road west of the Qinglu Road, consisting of a park and Shijingshan Cable. The park has distinctive stone sculptures and caves, various plants, and an amusement center. You can also take a cable car to appreciate the charming Zhuhai scenery."

To go up to the Shi Jing Mountain, tourists can either walk up there by foot or by the available cable car ride (RMB50). However, to get dowm from the mountain, tourists can also opt for the luge. Luge??? in Zhuhai?? my eyes went *blink* blink*. My mom was quick enough to say, "well, why don't we just have a walk by the pond instead of going up the mountain? I can definitely not take the luge"; giving me the 'wicked' smile. Alright alright, no amusement ride for this trip. Just enjoy the scenery;)








On our way to Zhongsan, China...

ZHONGSAN (中山)

"Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province occupies a central position on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, the important waterway that connects Guangzhou with Hong Kong and Macau. At present, there are 24 townships controlled by the Zhongshan Government which in turn falls under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province. Covering an area of 1,800 square kilometers (about 695 square miles), Zhongshan is the hometown for 1,409,000 permanent residents and more than 800,000 overseas Chinese."

SUN WEN PARK (文公园)

"Zhongshan, originally called Xiangshan in ancient Chinese, was renamed in honor of Sun Yat-sen, who was born in nearby Cuiheng in 1866. Sun Yat-sen is regarded as the father of modern China as he devoted himself to the overthrow of the feudal Qing Dynasty and foundation of a new democratic republic in China. When visiting Zhongshan City, you are recommended to visit a series of historical attractions relating to Sun Yat-sen. For example, Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall, the Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Sun Yat-sen Park and even the Sun Wen Xi Road."


Personally, this is just one of the many Zhongsan Parks in China; in honour of Sun Yat-sen, better-known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many to be the "Father of modern China".Zhongshan Parks in China, Currently there are more than 40 and some in oversea areas.

I have been to several Zhongsan Parks in China, but the only difference that I could notice at this Sun Wen Park was that ... it's built in Zhongsan itself! The place of Sun Yet-sen... the original Zhongsan's Zhongsan Park ;)

The Town of Zhongsan:-

PANYU (番禺)

"Panyu District or Pun Yue District (番禺区) is a district in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It used to be a city before it was incorporated in the administration of Guangzhou. The name of Panyu dates back to the completion of the conquest of Guangdong by Qin Shi Huang. It was the old name of present-day Guangzhou. It covers an area of about 661.87 km²."

There is a number of famous celebrities in Hong Kong was born in Panyu, Guangzhou:- Samuel Hui Koon-kit, - Wong Jim, James Wong Jim or "Uncle Jim", - Sandra Ng Kwan-yue, - Francis Ng Zhan-yu

All in all, my roots are from Panyu Guangzhou! In fact, my grandparents were born in Panyu! Proud to be back to where my ancestors were from. It made me felt like a true 'balik kampung' trip ;)

YUYIN SHAN FANG (ANCESTRAL GARDEN)

This is one of the four famous ancient gardens in Guangdong (Foshan, Dongguan, Shunde). Yuyin Shan Fang is located at Nancun Town, Panyu, Guangzhou city during the Qing Dynasty. This garden is constituted into two sites; the Original Garden; and the park site built in 2006. The original garden master Mr. Wu bing, was a successful candidate at the imperial examniations at the provincial level of the Qing Dynasty. He resigned and went back to Panyu due to his mother old age, and has built this garden to grant his ancestors and pray for his decendants.

At the entrance:-







Main Hall:-




Gardens:-









Waterside Pavilion-Sitting Room -
Is also know as the Octagonal Pavilion, was the place where the master used to enjoy poems and wines.
The octagonal pavilion is surrounded by water and each angle has bright checkered carved windows.




Stack Room behind Lotus Pool:
With tranquil environment and elegant decorations, this room was used to be a study room for composing poems and performing calligraphy.










GUANGZHOU (广州)

"Guangzhou (广州) is the capital and a sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the People's Republic of China. The city is also known by an older English-language name, Canton. It is a port on the Pearl River, navigable to the South China Sea, and is located about 120 km northwest of Hong Kong. As of the 2000 census, the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of roughly 8.5 million (though some estimates are as high as 12.6 million) making it the most populous city in the province and the third most populous metropolitan area in mainland China. The official estimate of the metro's population at end 2006 by the Provincial Government was 9,754,600."

Comparing Guangzhou with other places like Zhuhai, Macau, and Zhongsan, Guangzhou is indeed a city that is terribly air polluted. Even to compare Guangzhou with its metropolitan, Shanghai, Guangzhou is still much more polluted. The environmental hazard is so critical that locals could barely see sunlight for only less than 10 days in a year!

For years, people of the Guangdong district enjoys morning tea with Dim Sum "yum cha" (飲茶). Morning tea like long jing, oolong, tie guan yin, xiang pian, shui xian, and pu-erh, has strong traditions with the Cantonese. In the morning, from as early as 6am to 9am, relatives or friends gather together in restaurants for their morning tea and Dim Sum for breakfast. Waitresses push carts piled with stacks of bamboo steamers to sell Dim Sum of at least a hundred of varieties.

The Cantonese in Guangdong normally have 5 meals a day; breakfast morning tea from 6am-9am; lunch from 11am-1pm; afternoon tea at 3.15pm; dinner at 5pm-7pm; and finally supper "siu yeh" (宵夜) at midnight.

People in Guangzhou are fond of making delicious Cantonese soup with traditional theories that can only be understood by Cantonese people, apparently. Almost every meal served in Guangzhou comes with a big pot of soup, cooked for at least 5 hours. Mom and I tried the all time famous cantonese soup "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall( 佛跳墙)". It is a typical recipe that requires many ingredients including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallop, sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, chicken, Jinhua ham, pork tendon, ginseng, and mushrooms.

With the level of humidity and air pollution in Guangzhou, it has been a norm for the Cantonese people to drink bitter-sweet herbal tea for health purposes. One of the famous commercialized herbal tea in Guangdong is the "Wang Laoji" (王老吉凉) herbal tea. The locals believe that herbal tea can help to reduce body heatiness, sore gums, headaches, dehydration, as well as flu. Rumors have been saying that after the Beijing Olympics 2008, Cantonese herbal tea could be very much famous compared to the Coke! We shall see how true can this be as there are indeed lots of advertisement and publicity made for the herbal tea all around Guangdong.

Cantonese Mask-Changing or Bian Lian (变脸) is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. Their faces are vividly colored, for they are wearing masks. Within a second, they reveal new and vibrant visages by changing face masks.

~~ Cantonese Food Rituals ~~

Finger tapping:-

“Also known as finger kowtow, the action of finger-tapping. This is to thank someone in the traditional Chinese-style. When tea-sippers tap the table with three or two fingers of the same hand, it is a silent expression of gratitude to a member of the party who refilled their cups.”

The locals in Guangdong also believe that by tapping one finger – single or widowed; two fingers – married or attached; three fingers – married with children; and four to five fingers – a happy family with grandchildren.

Refills:-

“When a teapot needs refilling, the customer should leave the lid open. This is the polite and customary way to ask for a refill. Other options include placing the lid at a diagonal and letting it hang loose by the wire or leaving the cover balanced on the handle. In Hong Kong, this is also indicates quality of service. A sign of good service is when refills occur soon after the lid is lifted open, while below-par service is when no one refills the teapot for a long period of time.”

Chopsticks:-

“Chopsticks, a pair of small even-length tapered sticks, are the traditional eating utensils used to yum cha. Chopsticks are commonly made of plastic in the Chinese restaurants. Held between the thumb and fingers of the working hand they are used as tongs to pick up portions of food or to sweep rice and small particles of food into the mouth from the bowl. Dim sum dishes are served in small portions and therefore convenient for eating with chopsticks. Many rules of etiquette govern the proper conduct of the chopsticks.”

Toothpicks:-

“The use of toothpicks is another typical practice. Toothpicks are frequently used between courses, as it is believed that the aftertaste of one course should not be allowed to ruin one's enjoyment of the next course.”

Table sharing in Chinese culture (搭枱):-

“Table sharing is a practice that is common in old-style yum cha Chinese restaurants. By practicing table sharing, two (or more) groups of customers who may not know each other sit together around a table in the restaurant, and are able to get a table faster than waiting for the first group to finish. Today, tables are also often shared at Western-style food courts, as these are very popular and fill up quickly.”

TsingTao Beer (青岛啤酒):-

"Tsingtao Brewery (青岛啤酒厂) is China's largest brewery. Tsingtao is founded in 1903 by the German settlers. The beer is produced in Qingdao in Shandong province. The beer's present-day logo displays an image of Zhan Qiao, a famous pier on Qingdao's southern shore.

Tsingtao Beer, a well-hopped standard pilsner of 4.7% alcohol, is the flagship brew, accounting for most of the brewery's production. Tsingtao Beer was long advertised as being "brewed with mineral water from the Laoshan Spring", with the only ingredients that were used are water, barley, and hops. After privatization however, the recipe was changed, so that today Tsingtao beer, like many other beers made in China, contains a proportion of the less-expensive rice as an adjunct in the mash."

SUN YAT-SEN MEMORIAL HALL, GUANGZHOU (孙中山纪念堂)

“The most special thing about Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, located in Guangzhou, is that the 8 pillars were all hidden in the walls. The hall has both red pillars and yellow walls, and together with the blue glass roof, creates a magnificent, solemn and beautiful feeling. The area around the pillars is decorated with colorful paintings. The lintel of the main entrance has a hanging board with golden characters "Tianxia Weigong" written by Dr. Sun himself, which embodies tremendous momentum and appeal. In addition, there is a five-foot tall statue of Dr. Sun on the lawn outside the memorial hall, including carved words at the base of the statue which translate roughly to "the Outline of the Foundation of the Country of the National Government". The hall is an octagonal structure that faces the south and occupies 60,000 sq. ft. The main building of the memorial hall is the ceremonial hall, which is 47m high and has 2 stories containing 3,238 seats.”

YUE XIU PARK (越秀公园)

"Yuexiu Park is the largest park in downtown Guangzhou. Covering an area of 860,000 square meters, the park is made up of three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain. The main places of interest include the stone sculpture of the Five Rams, Zhenhai Tower, the site of the Ming Dynasty City Wall, and Square Cannon Site.

The Five-Ram Sculpture is one of the most famous structures in Guangzhou. It has become the emblem of Guangzhou City. Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, Guangzhou was a barren land with people who despite hard work were suffering from famine. One day five immortals in five-color garments came riding on five rams, playing their legendary music. The rams held sheaves of rice in their mouths. The immortals left the sheaves of rice for the Guangzhou people, gave blessings to the city and left. The rams turned into stone and the city of Guangzhou became a rich and populous place. Guangzhou got the name of the City of Rams and the City of Ears.”

BEIJING ROAD (北京路) ~shopping~

"Beijing Road is simply a must to visit when one is in Guangzhou. It is located somewhere near DongFeng Lu at the center of the city. This stretch of road is simply bustling with people, music, and lights almost every night. The entire road is outlined by small private shops selling their wares, anything from clothing to electronic gadgets to souvenirs and local crafts; as well as small eateries and food stalls. It is fun just to stroll along the road and browse through shops that may be interesting. In the middle of Beijing Road lies a display of old cobblestones that used to be what belonged here in the olden days."

We then spent a night at the Silver-River Hotel at Shatai Road TianPingJia, Guangzhou, China.