2013 - Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (I)

DAY 00 - September 8, 2013 - Ready, Set, Fly!

Flight Departure from YUL (duration 1:31)
Connexion via Newark, NY (duration 15:50)

DAY 01 - September 9, 2013 - Welcome to China

Flight Arrival@ 7:15PM Hong Kong International Airport

The last train to Guangzhou (廣州) was at around 8PM. Therefore, I couldn't catch it and we took the bus. From the airport to Shenzhen, we were first in a van and then transferred to a bus. The duration took 3 hours including 1 hour of waiting in Shenzhen. The distance from Hong Kong to Guangzhou takes approximately 2 hours.

While waiting in Shenzhen, I met an Australian woman in our van. She is married to a Chinese man. She told me that about a decade ago, there was no need to ask someone for the toilet; you just need to follow the stinky smell to find it. Nowadays, the hygiene has improved.

Once I arrived in my hometown, my family picked us up. We ate a little at Bing Sheng (炳胜) and checked in at Vertical City Hotel. Finally, we chatted until...

DAY 02 - September 10, 2013 - First Noodles 第壹面

I woke up. I was hungry. I walked around in the neighborhood. I saw an officer whistling in the middle of a big intersection. It was crowded everywhere. I ate a little bit in a Chinese fast food restaurant. There is no coffee serving. I ended up having a coffee at McDonald’s. I noticed that McDonald’s sells moon cakes.  

My uncle and his wife met me at the hotel. We went to eat wonton soup at “第壹面” meaning “First Noodles”. The noodles were freshly made with a bamboo stick. The best wonton soup I have ever had!

Today was the burial day of my paternal grandmother. At the cemetery, there were people working as maintenance and dogs, as guards. The employees came from other provinces. Therefore, they also live in the cemetery.

Pearl River (珠江)

Following supper at Yin Cheng (银城), we took a walk along Pearl River enjoying the night time view. Pearl river is the third longest river in China with a length of 2,129 km. There are many night cruises.

Canton Tower (廣州新電視塔) 
Also known as "small waistline" (小蠻腰), this structure has a height of 433.2 meters (108 levels). It is one of the highest TV towers in the world. Next time, I would like to go up!

(Apology for picture quality, replacement coming soon)

Bridges
Due to high traffic, Guangzhou built many bridges.

Liede Bridge (猎德大桥)

Source: english.gz.gov.cn