Riding in a Didi to Conghua, Guangzhou, China

Since watching the TV mini series of Roots about African Americans  in the late 1970’s, I have always wondered about my own roots back in Asia.

Ordering a Didi is easy in China!

This time on our trip to China, we wanted to trace our own roots in our ancestors' villages. Before leaving for our Asian trip, we did a lot of preparations, talked to our relatives, did the research getting ready for our very own roots journey.

We met  J. at his place at in late afternoon after his finished work. Like North America,  the Uber taxi services has gained popularity in China as well. In China, it has a different name, it is called Didi. It is quite sophisticated and we have no idea how to do it. But here in Guangzhou, we see many Chinese people using this taxi service with much ease and efficiency.

Using the app on his cell phone, J. called for an out of town Didi; it specified the cost of the trip and arrived at the door to pick us up in about ten minutes. It stated that it would take us to our out of town hotel in the  Conghua region for 300 RMB.

We enjoyed the nice scenery on the ride. It took almost two hours due to the traffic congestion near Conghua.

Swimming pool at the Hawana Resort Hotel

After we checked into the Hawana Hotel, we called another  Didi to the downtown area for dinner, about a half hour ride.

 ( Wished we booked a downtown hotel instead of this one, which was a little too far from all the actions.)

It was around 8:30pm by the time we got downtown. We walked around the business area a little. It was much cooler and we enjoyed the breeze and cooler air.  The town is much smaller and way less busy and crowded than Guangzhou. We loved it!

After getting directions to a restaurant from an elderly gentleman relaxing on a nearby park bench,  we went in to a dim sum restaurant and had the best meal and conversation so far on this trip at this eatery!

The dim sum dishes were well presented and delicious!

The food was nicely presented, very delicious.  Best of all, there was no disagreement with J. as  he was in a good mood. He told us that for the past couple of days he was under a lot of stress for work related problems. He was talking about how he should deal with difficult clients and tried to learn about the cultures of Chinese.

I am glad that we decided to have dinner in the downtown Conghua area rather than being cooped up in the hotel area where there was not much to see. 

We stayed at the  Hawana Hotel for the night

R.T.

Conghua, Guangzhou

China

Week of July 18, 2016

Canton Tower, Guangzhou, China

Day 6 - Canton Tower

A public park near the IKEA Store

In the morning at church, I was glad to receive a text from Jo who wrote to tell us that he cleared his schedule for this evening so that he could spend more time with us.

It was a busy day for us!  We went to a church service, had lunch and made another trip to IKEA.

Canton Tower. Guangzhou

We took the shelving unit and set it up for Jo. at his place which looked much more organized and gave him more space in his room.  Jo. was happy to see how much nicer and organized his room was.

We felt good that we did something and we also met Ed, Jo’s friend.  We were told that Ed has done a lot and has been  a great  help to him.

Taking the metro, Jo and Ed introduced us to the Haizhu Square in the Haizhu District.

Beautiful modern buildings in Haizhu Square, the spectacular Public Library Building in background, Guangzhou

Wow! It is a huge and beautiful place! I never thought that we would see so many nice modern buildings with such interesting architectural designs in China.





But then we are in Guangzhou,  the fourth largest city in China with a population of more than eleven million people and with thousands more visiting each day from the surrounding villages and rural areas.


This evening we were wowed by the Canton Tower, the world's tallest TV tower ( at 600 m), beating our Toronto's CN Tower
( at 533M). The Canton Tower, also known as the Guangzhou Tower has been designed with the female form and characteristics in mind by the IBA architect and has earned the nick name as " the girl with a small waist".









Canton Tower is a spectacular building located in the same location as the public library and other fabulous buildings which makes Haizhu Square a worthwhile place to visit.

If you are interested in architectural designs, you will enjoy this place!

Thank u, Mom Restaurant - a popular Korean chicken place in China

 Many visitors were in the plaza taking pictures and enjoying the square.

We went to dinner in a nearby restaurant.  Jo suggested the Thank u Mom chicken place, a Korean restaurant that served chicken dinners.

There was a line up at the restaurant. We got a number and went to a café for some cold drinks, and waited for about thirty minutes.

It was worth the wait at the Thank U Mom restaurant!  The food was very good! We were served very delicious crispy chicken that tasted liked deep fried chicken with moist meat inside but were actually roasted  in the oven! Very healthy indeed. 

 No wonder this restaurant is so popular in Korea and China too!

After dinner, we went to a park and took a night stroll.

I love seeing palm trees and many other beautiful trees being lit up at night.

We enjoyed the cooler night breezes in the park. 

No wonder many Chinese love their parks and are often out enjoying their neighbourhood parks at night.

It was a gorgeous night for strolling around!

We are pleasantly  surprised to find so many parks in this city!

R.T.

Haizhu Square

Guangzhou, China

Enjoying Halal Food In Guangzhou, China

We found a number of  Halal restaurants in China 

After the Sunday Service, we looked for a place for lunch.  It seems strange that we have eaten more often in a Muslim restaurant in China than we have ever been in Canada.

We did! We were introduced  to J's most favorite eating place in China  which is a  Halal  restaurant close to his home.

Beef soup noodle - very delicious! 

His favorite dish there is the beef soup noodle. He took us there a few times and we liked it too.
Somehow, even eating out on our own, we were still drawn to the same type of restaurant preferred by our son.

We ate at this restaurant serving Halal food in Guangzhou

We passed by one this afternoon and we could not resist it. We went in and had our Sunday lunch there.

The place was neatly decorated with tables covered with purple table clothes.

Artwork in restaurant depicting the history of the special noodles

There were a couple of large beautiful paintings on the wall depicting the history of the special noodles served in the restaurant.

It also had signs stating clearly that this restaurant was a Muslim place, therefore an alcohol and tobacco free place, and no alcoholic beverages would be served.

The servers wore white little caps on their heads while the women working there had their hair covered.

We enjoy good food and it does not matter what kind of people with what kind religion background operating or serving the food to us. As long as the dishes are wholesome, healthy good delicious food, we will try them.

On this trip to China, we have seen more diversity of people in the Chinese society than our last trip.


Always good to see progress in a country; it is a good sign!

R.T.
Tienhe District
Guangzhou
China

Our First Sunday Service, Guangzhou, China

Our First Sunday Service, Guangzhou, China

Wherever we travel, we always want to attend a Sunday Service at the local church on Sunday. A friend of mine gave me the name of a local church in Guangzhou. But for the life of me, I could not find it anywhere in our luggage.

The Sunday service was held in the Tianhe District

I went online to look for a church in Guangzhou but did not have much luck.

( Though we were having a great time on our trip in China, I was frustrated there as I could not access my gmail, my blog nor google anything. I wrote all these blogs but could not post them while we were in China. Only after we came back to Canada then I started posting them.)

The lobby of Hilton Hotel, Guangzhou

I searched a church closest to our hotel via Yahoo search and found the International  Fellowship, a church intended for expatriates.

Our first Sunday in Guangzhou, we took a taxi and went to the Sunday Service for English speakers. The International Fellowship Sunday Service was held at the Hilton Hotel in the Tianhe area, a popular place for tourists.

We attended a Sunday Service held at the Hilton Hotel 

The service started at 10a.m. with a reception desk set up outside of the meeting hall. Before we entered, we were asked where we came from as Chinese residents were not allowed to attend the expat's worship service. We brought our passports with us just in case we were asked to produce ID, but we didn't need to do so.

There was a lot of singing accompanied by guitars and drums

The Sunday worship was held in a huge meeting hall on the third floor of the Hilton Hotel. A gentleman was leading singing on the stage accompanied by a drummer and two people playing the guitar. 

Five or six huge screens were hung on the walls around the room so that people could see the words and images projected on them regardless of where they were sitting.

The hall started to fill up as the singing progressed

The hall started to fill up with Sunday worshipers as the singing progressed.

There were people from various parts of the world,  of all ages, families with small children, teenagers, but with the majority of them in their thirty’s and forty’s and a large proportion from the African countries.

The preacher gave a passionate sermon about sins and avoiding temptations from the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.

I and a few others took notes. It was an excellent and practical sermon. Really enjoyed it!

Soft drinks were served to the congregation after the Sunday Service

After the Sunday Service, there were refreshments set up in the lobby. 

People stayed around to socialize after the Sunday service

Many people stayed behind trying to socialize and talk to others.

We met and chatted with other churchgoers

We poured ourselves a cup of coffee and chatted with a fellow from Congo who was in China on business. He told us that he had been living in China for three years and his greatest gain was his spiritual life and knowing more about God.

I truly hope and pray that it would be the same for Jo in his adventure in China!

R.T.

Sunday Service

International Fellowship

Guangzhou, China

- 

Getting a SIM Card for My Cell Phone in China

Day 5, Saturday – Getting a SIM Card for Our Cell Phone in China

The shopping plaza was a very busy place on Saturday!

Since we are going to be in Guangzhou for two weeks, we would need a cell phone to communicate with the people we were visiting.

We asked around and were told that we could get a SIM card for our cell phone at the Rock Plaza close by.

A company put on a big promotional event on travel in the mall

It was a Saturday and the shopping mall was busy! There were shoppers, families with kids everywhere.

In the middle of the mall, there was a big stage set up with people talking and followed by a clown performing and entertaining kids.  This was a show put on by a travel company to attract potential customers.

Many more Chinese are travelling these days

There were big posters everywhere advertising different travel destinations within and outside of China.

This travel promotion attracted a lot of people

There were lots of tables set up with staff personnel trying to assist and answer people’s questions.

Many stores put on play stations for children to try their toys

This particular station was very popular and busy as there were large crowds showing interest and hovering around.

Trying to promote their business, many companies in Guangzhou put up different play stations to attract children and their parents trying to entice them to buy their products. 

We went to the cell phone store at the mall. Though eager to help us,  the staff  told us that they could not serve customers with foreign passports. They redirected us to China Mobile where foreigners could buy SIM cards for their cell phones.

China Mobile is where we went to get our SIM card

The China Mobile store  was not too far away. We walked for about ten minutes and arrived at the store.

Though there were only a few customers waiting, we had to wait for quite a while as some staff members were on lunch break.

I remembered J. who has been living in China for a while now, told me that people could not get much done in China until after 2p.m. as  workers take lunch and siesta breaks between
12- 2pm each day. We got there shortly after 1pm and everything was pretty slow. Good thing they had a a comfortable place for people to sit and wait and there was a T.V. for watching a movie. Surely, as the clock stroke at 2pm, the store seemed to come alive with people and activities. 

When it was our turn, we presented our passports to the agent.  We received very good service and got our SIM card for two weeks in China for only 50 RMB ( about Can. $ 10.00!) Much cheaper than we had anticipated!

Tips - Yes, you must present your passport or a Government issued ID everywhere you go in China. Whether you want to buy long distance bus/ train tickets, conduct banking business or get a cell phone etc, you will need to present one of these documents.)

R.T.
Guangzhou
China

Shopping at IKEA in Guangzhou, China

D        Day 4 - Shopping at IKEA in Guangzhou, China      

       
      The Guangzhou Bus/ Train Station is a stone throw away from IKEA.

   
  Therefore we went there to buy some storage 
   shelving for J. after inquiring about our bus tickets.

  The Guangzhou IKEA is located in a tourist area 
   of the city.

IKEA looks the same in China as it does in Canada

We should not be surprised that IKEA looked pretty well the same as it does in Canada.

IKEA Guangzhou has a big candy section for customers

The only difference was that it was way more crowded and it had a big candy section.
I sold more food items at its food market.

IKEA in China serve food catering to local taste

The bistro also served more food than just hot dogs.  Catering to local taste, it served fish, chicken and beef balls and the plain ice cream was only sold at 1 RMB each which was like 25 cents in Canada!

Even kids like the store!

A wildly popular store in China, the IKEA store in Guangzhou was packed to the rafters!  Though the place was extremely crowded, people were well behaved. There was no pushing, shoving or jumping in front of queue.

IKEA is a popular store in Guangzhou, China

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the experience there.  There was no inappropriate behavior such as teens running around chasing each other, playing basket balls ( it happens often in Canada!), screaming or using profane language which could happen in Canada where there are large crowds of people.

Chinese shoppers trying out the IKEA furniture

There were lots of people relaxing and sitting on the sofas while enjoying the air-conditioning and talking on their cell phones.

Many people tried  the furniture while some kids jumping and having a good time in the kids bedroom section!

The unmistakable Swedish meatballs served in IKEA, China 

While waiting in line for dinner at IKEA, we met Robin – a Canadian teacher from British Columbia teaching in a private boarding school in a suburb of Guangzhou.  She taught in China for three years.

We had dinner at IKEA

Unfortunately,  she did not have a very positive experience in China,  therefore she decided to go back to Canada trying to find a job and settle down in Kitchener, Ontario. We hit it off and talked  for more than an hour while she was waiting for her friend.

After dinner, we looked around in the IKEA store and bought a shelving unit for J.  

The cashiers at IKEA Guangzhou were very efficient

Though there was a huge  number of customers waiting to pay for their purchases at the checkout  counters, the Chinese cashiers were extremely efficient and it did not take long at all when it was my turn to pay for mine. 

 Though it did not go through at other stores like Aeon,  my visa card was accepted at IKEA with no problem! That was a plus for us as we didn’t have to spend our cash for our merchandise.

Loaded down with our shelving and baskets, we tried to hail a taxi back to the hotel.

It was very difficult and we ended up taking the metro instead after waiting for more than 30 minutes. All the taxi seemed to be full or the taxi drivers were not willing to go further than a certain distance.

After getting  back to the hotel, we watched the TV programs on CCTV, the Chinese channels, and we slept like babies again.

 No problem of jet lag here, Amen!  My husband's other health issue seemed to have disappeared as well when he is in China. Praise God!

R.T.

IKEA

Guangzhou, China

You'll Need Your Passport to Buy a Ticket at the Guangzhou Bus/ Train Station

Day 4, Thursday -  Guangzhou Bus/ Train Station 

J.  told us he had a very busy schedule therefore would not be able to have dinner with us. To save him time, I suggested lunch instead of dinner and he agreed.

 We walked to the Rock Square to meet him for lunch at 12 p.m. While waiting at KFC, I looked around  in the mall. There was a big discount clothing sale going on, but with the limited time we had, I couldn't find anything I liked.

J. came to meet us, wearing a long sleeve jacket in this hot humid weather! He said he was not feeling well. I do hope he would be all right. I don’t think he is eating too well or sleeping much while working so hard!

He  took us to his favourite noodle place to eat. The restaurant was full as it was right at 12 noon. But we did find a place to sit. I was glad to hear him say that he agreed with me about focusing on one project first  before embarking on another one! Praise God! At least he is listening to my advice!

At least we could have lunch and saw J. for about 45 minutes. We are trying to see him everyday and making use of our time here.  After lunch, he went back to work and we went to the

1.     Guangzhou Railway Station to buy our tickets for our next outing. From where we were, going to that station took a few changes on the subway. 

      By the time we arrived at the railway station, we were exhausted. In addition, the station was a very crowded place, full of travellers from within the surrounding areas of Guangzhou. It is evident that China has invested heavily in the country's infrastructure and has been building roads and its subway system. This improvement in its transportation system enables the mobility of its citizens. It is obvious that many more Chinese are travelling now than it was when we were here in 2008! 

      

At the ticket booths, there was a foreigner’s booth for visitors holding non Chinese passports. It was less crowded. But we were told that we could not buy any bus tickets unless we could produce our Canadian passports or a government issued ID! We never thought of that. We are Canadians and we are not used to walk away carrying our passports with us on a daily basis. We did not have our passports with us as we didn't know we needed them to buy an out of town bus ticket. We wasted a trip and did not get our bus tickets. 

The Guangzhou Station was a very busy place.  I would like to avoid it if possible! 

R.T.

Guangzhou Bus/ Railway Station

Guangzhou

China

2.