More of Guangzhou

Guangzhou Metro

Today, we explored the sights of Guangzhou that were further afield, requiring some form of transport.  I had set up my WeChat to include Guangzhou metro and to my great surprise, it worked perfectly!  I only had to scan the metro sub-app barcode at the turnstile and I was let in (and out).

It was rush hour when we hopped on the metro around 0830.  It was rather squishy and I had forgotten to bring my mask.

 

There were more stops than I had originally thought.  My bad eyesight and the small map meant that I had missed some of the intermediate stops, since I hadn’t zoomed into the map.

Dr Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

First stop, was the Dr Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.  Dr Sun is a rare figure in that he was revered by both mainland China and Taiwan as he was instrumental in ending the imperial regime which then gave way to both states.

I was surprised we had to pay to visit a place where one could pay respect to revered leader but at least it was free for Swee as he was over 60 years of age.

We walked inside the hall and around corridors on both levels.  Information on the stage, near the Dr Sun’s plaque indicated that the Japanese surrendered in Guangzhou in this very hall.

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Mausoleum of the Man Yue King

After about an hour, I parted company with See and Chen and walked to the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, a museum which houses the famous jade burial suit and other artefacts from the Nanyue Kingdom (204 to 111 BC).  The kingdom encompassed what is now the Guangdong and northern Vietnam.

There were two floors of minor exhibits, the most memorable of which to me were the porcelain pillows and roof pegs.  Chinese pillows were essentially a hard porcelain brick and nothing like the soft comfy ones we enjoy today.  The roof peg is a large decorative peg which holds semi-cylindrical roof tiles in place on the wooden roof structure underneath.

I had to ask the whereabouts of the jade burial suit.  I then realised that the original burial site that was discovered in 1983 was just behind the museum and an outdoor led to another wing which housed the coffin and the suit.

The suit comprised of jade rectangles joined together by red silk threads, which together take the form of the deceased royalty.

 

Temple of Six Banyan Trees

I continued to the Temple of Six Banyan Trees around midday.  It was a nice Buddhist temple with a pagoda but I didn’t see any Banyan trees.

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Here, I heard from Dennis and he was headed to the Beijing Road area where I had planned to do some sightseeing and grab lunch. We decided to meet up for a claypot rice meal.

Beijng Road area

After we had eaten, at around 1400, we explored the Bejing Road area.  It is a shopping street but has some interesting sights.

First up, we found Dafo Temple, another Buddhist temple.  We entered through the low-rise end off the pedestrian mall and made it to the other end where we saw the high-rise end which backs on to a square.  The high-rise end is what I had expected from photos, so I was a little confused at first, as to whether I had found the right place.

Next, we found Thousand Year Old Street.  The remains of eleven levels of road and a gatehouse as old as the Tang Dynasty (and later ones) were found in 2002.  This is now sealed under glass plates for all to appreciate the antiquity of Beijing Road.  Unfortunately the reflections were too bad for photos.

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Chen Clan Take Two!

After failing to visit the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall two days ago, I decided to make a stop on the metro en route back to the hotel.

While such ancestral halls are nothing new to me, having visited several in South East Asia, the intricate decorations on the roof still impressed me.  There were no name plaques in the proper part of the ancestral hall.  I’m guessing they didn’t survive the Cultural Revolution.

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Rest of the day

Back at the hotel around 1530, I had another massage, this time making it 90 mins. The masseuse today was stronger and didn’t resort to walking on me until having worked substantially with her hands and elbows.  She finished with some assisted-yoga movement like a Thai massage.

In the evening, we walked to Shamian Island, in search of an anti-British commemorative bridge and a cannon.  We found neither but enjoyed the walk and the sights.

We repeated dinner at Old Shanghai again before I went to Decathlon to make my purchases alone.

Parting thought on Guangzhou

I had always imagined Guangzhou to be a commercial and industrial city and never bothered coming until now, when the commercial airfare from New Zealand was less than a domestic ticket on a bad day.

So, it is a great surprise that I’ve been able to see so many colourful and interesting sights.