guangzhou. china. october 22nd - 26th

china. we have been talking about coming here for years, and now it's happening. will it live up to the anticipation? china is changing so fast, we're not really sure what we are going to find when we get there. or what to expect. our first stop, guangzhou. a large city, a stepping stone to stephen's father's village a two hour ride away. we are happy to be traveling here with judy, she has offered to accompany us to guangzhou and to the village. it has been nice to be spending so much time with her, we are glad not to be parting ways just yet. the train from hong kong to guangzhou. pretty straightforward, only a couple of hours through what is a largely developed part of china. we arrive in the evening, make our way to shamian island in the south area of the city center where we've booked our hotel for the night. it is a quiet, tree lined area, with colonial buildings and street lamps. judy comes with us and we all venture out for food after check in. shamian is a bit touristy (read, a bit more expensive), so we try crossing the river in search of cheaper fare. we wander up some streets, but everything is closed nearby, so it takes some walking to find a slightly more vibrant area. once we do, we settle on a restaurant, and are really glad judy is with us to order some food. 30 odd kuai later, we all have food in our bellies, judy and stephen shared some beer. judy was planning on staying with a friend tonight, but it's late so she decides to crash with us.






next day, stephen and i get a slow start. judy joins us as we make our way for lunch, then we wander around ximenkou a bit and slowly make our way back to the hotel along the river. not sure what i expected, but guangzhou is not as commercial or flashy as other large cities we have been in so far on our travels. it is definitely an urban center, but there are still lots of old details mixed with the concrete and shops, and it lacks the neon and skyscrapers we've sort of come to expect in cities of this size. after a late afternoon drink, judy makes her way to her friend's and stephen and i are left to fend for ourselves! we manage, and have an early night.







stephen is determined to find some dim sum today, something canton is famous for, and unlike yesterday, has success. the best dim sum he's ever had? maybe not, but comparable, and exactly what he wanted. we wander a bit through a shopping area that opens up on a large square that is a bit flashier then anything we saw yesterday. meet up with judy in the afternoon, have really rewarding conversation and linger over some snacks and drinks before deciding to travel to the other side of the city center in search of yet another vegetarian restaurant i've found listed on happy cow. not realizing how late it had gotten, we end up needing to rush there, and a few phone calls and queries to pedestrians for directions later, we arrive there just as they would normally be closing, but since they were expecting us, they are kind enough to stay late and serve us. it is a cute little place run by what seems like a very young staff who don't seem to mind being kept late at all. and the food was yummy, well worth the effort to get there. this area of town is more modern, it has the taller buildings and lights we haven't been seeing until now. after dinner we say goodnight to judy and make plans for the next day.





today we meet up with judy, her friend carrie, jason and another friend. they've invited us to join them on a trip out to the edges of the city proper to visit an artist village called xiaozhou. this is our first trip above ground on transit (everything else has been subway to this point), and the chaos of traffic in china becomes a bit more apparent (although being a pedestrian amid this traffic is equally chaotic!). we spend the afternoon wandering around the village, snapping many photos and hearing some history of the area from carrie, a very lovely afternoon.








judy, carrie, jason, stephen and i decide to stay in the area and have dinner, and after wandering a bit more, pick a large and crowded restaurant. we have a very nice meal, make our way back to the city center, and head to a hip bar called loft for the evening. nice little hang out, we shoot some pool and have an early evening (the subway stops running just before midnight). stephen and i find our way back to shamian, chill out for the night and prepare for our trip to kaiping tomorrow with judy. this is a significant point in our travels, stephen has wanted for years to come visit his father's village, and i think he is both nervous and excited about meeting the family friends and finally seeing the village he heard so much about from his grandmother growing up. it is a large part of why we are here.