Day 2 - Shamian Island, Guangzhou, China
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| Going to places is easy using the Guangzhou Metro |
We got up at around 10am and glad that we both were able to sleep the first night well in China!
We made arrangement to meet and had dinner with J. later tonight. Though I could not access google in China, I could search via Yahoo and found a few places where we could visit.
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| A map to help visitors to get around on the Shamian Island, Guangzhou |
We decided that the main reason for our visit was to see J. therefore we did not go crazy trying to see all the main attractions in the city of Guangzhou.
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| The French and British dug a river and created an island at Shamian in the 1800's |
Taking it easy this time, we only planned to visit one place each day.
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| There are two bridges to cross over to Shamian Island |
Though we were in this city about three decades ago, I really did not see much of the city as we signed up for a three day tour with a tour company to visit a couple of cities in the province.
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| Revisiting the White Swam hotel after twenty six years! |
I remembered staying at the White Swam Hotel on Shamian Island, however, I could not remember much of the island.
The Guangzhou Metro is modern, clean, efficient and very affordable indeed.
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| Some of these buildings were consulate offices of European countries |
From our hotel to the Shamian Island, it cost us 3 RMB which was 60 cents Canadian!
Shamian was an important trading and defence point during the 1800's.
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| This building is currently used as a clinic. |
China gave Shamian Island to Britain and France as a concession after the Opium War.
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| The river separated Shamian Island from the city of Guangzhou |
The British and French dug a man made river creating an island and a piece of Europe in Guangzhou for themselves.
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| Shamian Chapel - Sunday Services are still held here |
It was interesting to see all those European style buildings in a Chinese city!
However, it also reminded us of the ugly past of colonialism and how the European countries ganged up and bullied China and other weaker nations at the time.
The best part of visiting Shamian Island was discovering the Shamian Park.
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| Shamian Park - located right next to the Pearl River |
From the park we could see Pearl River and the buildings in the city of Guangzhou.
It is an absolutely beautiful park for the people, enjoyed by the people!
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| Shamian Park - a beautiful park by the Pearl River! |
Strolling through the park, we came across numerous beautiful gardens and tropical plants.
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| We admired the spectacular majestic trees! |
We were awed by the many majestic old trees in the park.
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| Many old trees are seen in the park. |
Evidently, these trees are treasured and protected!
Many of these old majestic trees are well over two to three hundred years old!
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| Old trees labelled and tracked by the city |
Many have been tracked and labelled with detail information by the city of Guangzhou.
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| Grandfather and Child with a Bird Cage |
Another feature we loved about the Shamian Park was the sculptures placed throughout the park!
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| Two Actresses |
These sculptures were created by local artists of Guangzhou.
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| Grandfather and Child |
Many of these sculptures depict the lives and cultures of the people in the city.
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| Two blind musicians |
They included a diversity of ages and abilities of the Chinese people.
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| A Woman Enjoying the Sun While Walking a Dog |
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| A street performer singing for his audience under the city highway |
One thing I appreciate a lot in China is how well Chinese people use the space underneath their city highways.
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| The highway above providing shade to both performers and audience in the park |
While some space under the highway has been used as parking lots in this park, on the day of our visit, some space was used as a performing stage providing shade to the street performers and audience from the hot scorching sun!
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| A lady dancing to the music blasting from the loudspeaker behind her. |
There was a group of three men taking turn to sing with a microphone in their hands while on the other side of the park a lady was dancing to the music blasting from a loudspeaker close by .
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| A couple of elder men were immersed in their chess games |
There were people sitting under the trees while a couple groups of retired men playing chess.
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| Children riding their bikes while their parents watching close by |
We also saw happy children riding freely on their two and three wheel bikes.
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| Spectacular old trees abound on Shamian Island |
J. came and met us at our hotel. It was good to see him again after more than a year. He looked better than I thought though skinnier than when he was in Canada. We ate at the hotel restaurant on the 4th floor.
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| A restaurant on Shamian Island near the Park |
He was enthusiastic and talked a lot about what he was up to and about how committed he was to his work. We have not had such a good chat for a long time!
It was a nice dinner. We did take some pictures but I had taken the card out and left it on the computer therefore, did not get any pictures of our first dinner together in China, darn it!
After dinner, he came up to our room and was happy when I showed him the pictures and picture album I brought him. He sat and talked with us for a little while and then left for home as he needed to be at work at 8:30 am! He showed us his schedule for the month and I could see he has been busy!
R.T.
Shamian Island
Guangzhou, China
R.T.
Shamian Island
Guangzhou, China
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