Yongqingfang area
I woke around 0700 and I met the others around 0800 to go around the corner to a “hole in the wall” place to get some dimsum items for breakfast. We ate them in the hotel lobby, accompanied by complimentary coffee.
We set off around 0900 to explore the Yongqingfang old area near the hotel. At this time, it was still quiet and the various boutiques and cafés were still closed. The Chinese opera academy which sometimes has practice sessions was dead quiet.
There was a museum of sorts which drew us in. Its rooftop deck gave us a view of the surrounding area.
We then found the late Bruce Lee’s ancestral home. The famous martial arts star was an American-born Hong Konger but his ancestors came from Guangzhou. So, I guess, the city is cashing-in on his fame. There was plenty of information about Bruce’s life in the various displays.
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- Yongqingfang area.
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- Fuk, fuk, fuk. That’s prosperity in Cantonese.
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- Yongqingfang area.
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- Bruce Lee’s ancestral home.
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- Bruce Lee sparring with his dad.
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- Lion Dance head.
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- Happy Cat is Japanese, not Chinese but you can’t go wrong with a cat.
Our walk took us by the canals near the Liwan Lake area after which we dropped in to the Yanwei Tample.
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- Canal near the Liwan Lake area.
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- Canal near the Liwan Lake area.
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- Canal near the Liwan Lake area.
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- Canal near the Liwan Lake area.
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- Yanwei Temple.
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- Yanwei Temple.
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- Yanwei Temple.
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- Yanwei Temple.
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- Yanwei Temple.
Chen Clan Fail
Next stop was the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, which was further to the north. Using Google Maps, we ended in the grounds some simple apartment blocks. Consulting Maps.me, we concluded that Google was wrong.
The location indicated by Maps.me was the Chen Clan Academy on Google Maps instead and we made our way there, stopping for a lunch of Teochew-style beef ball vermicelli along the way around 1130.
It was 1330 by the time we got to the Chen Clan Academy or Ancestral Hall. The place looked dead. There were scaffolding along the front, so we concluded it was closed for renovations.
Going around to the side, we found the ticket kiosks, which said that it was closed today, being a Tuesday.
Rest of the day
Back in the hotel 1500, I decided that I would try out the massage place a couple of doors away from the hotel. It was pretty good firm Chinese massage to start off with but with my permission, she switched to walking on my back. I like the strength of the footwork but at the sacrifice of precision on the pressure points.
After the one-hour massage, I helped Swee and Chen out as their credit card had been blocked by their bank, due to their repeated transactions on WeChat Pay. I helped them sort it out by letting them Skype back to their bank on my phone.
We met Dennis in the evening and went around Decathlon in the mall opposite the hotel, then grabbed dinner at Old Shanghai.