Guangzhou Travel
Entering China - Online Customs declaration
Night scene
Shopping, pickle ball, Haizhu area, Yongqinfang
Food
Park and purchases
End
Guangzhou general information
2026
June (Guangzhou - Shantou, Chaozhou, Meizhou)
Usually I try not to travel in June as the weather can be uncomfortably hot. However, cousin Jen would be visiting Guangzhou and the Saturday walking groups would also be going to Meizhou. Thus, I planned a Guangzhou trip and to also travel to Shantou, Chaozhou and Meizhou.
I enjoyed the weekend trip, and got back to Guangzhou to have dinner and dessert with cousin Jen.
The porridge lunch, cai fun dinner, lookout to the stadium view, and Toto. Although the weather was hot and rainy, I am glad to have dinner with the group in Meizhou and dinner with Cousin Jen.
April (Guangzhou - Hong Kong)
After a rather diastrous mixed-up and cancellation of the Hong Kong trip in March, I booked a day trip to Hong Kong when I was in Guangzhou in April.
Mainly photos
Jen's visit 3-8 April
Concert
Night scene
Shopping, pickle ball, Haizhu area, Yongqinfang
Food
Park and purchases
End
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2024
2023
2022
Reminiscing
1990 Guangzhou - Beijing
Sailed from HongKong to Guangzhou, my first China city for the train ride to Europe. I stayed at a hostel in Shamian (where the Polish Embassy was located) so that I could apply for its visa.
I had to declare and exchange the Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC for foreigners , Renminbi δΊΊζ°εΈ for locals) at the Customs. While walking on the street, I was approached almost incessantly by the locals to exchange my FEC for RMB and help them (in exchange for monetary benefit and I did not need to use my FEC, but to show my customs form and passport) to purchase electrical goods in the Friendship Store for foreigners with FEC.
Out of curosity (mainly greed la), I agreed. Based on my FEC declaration, I could purchase a refrigerator and a TV. I accompanied the guy to the shop, showed my passport/customs form, and after a short exchange of conversation (I believed I was 'taught' what to say to the staff), I signed a form, paid (with their FEC) and the transaction was done. As I got out of the shop, I could see that a refrigerator and a TV being carted out. I could not remember how much FEC I had, but it helped to earn US$100(?) and also very favourable exchange of RMB with him.
AND I was never approached again to purchase good (Most likely labelled as 'USED'?) but touters were still keen with exchanging FEC.
From Guangzhou, I took a 30+ hours train (hard-sleeper) to Beijing (to take the Trans-Siberian). Unable to find a rubbish bin on the train, I asked the crew walking pass.
Me: "I can't find the rubbish bin to throw my trash"
... A stare and she took my plastic bag and threw it out of the window !!!
<<I looked out of the window, and could see LOTS OF rubbish strewn by the track π²>>
Arrival in Beijing - The tour agency (whom I had sent money - US$180(?) to buy the Beijing - Moscow - Berlin train ticket) had converted a hotel room to an office. Thus, many of the foreign travellers who booked the train tickets, also booked in the hotel.
At the small hotel reception desk, many gathered (swarmed?) around the staff trying to check in/out or to query . The overwhelmed (was she or she was just not that service-oriented/unhappy getting similar(communal?) pay to others who's not that busy?) staff was shouting and scolding (in Chinese) at the guests when they could not comprehend her. <<Hopefully, the non-chinese speaking travellers did not know they were scolded, and assumed the staff was talking loudly? ππΆ. I was spared the agony πΆ>>
By the way, the agency was called Monkey Business(really).
Thanks to Fumi's chat about his Asia - Europe travel when he visited Singapore that I also decided to embark on the train ride the next year (Fumi whom I knew from OR took the train from Beijing to one of the European city and then to Singapore (1989). He said summer is too hot) <<I did the rail in November 90 from Guangzhou - Beijing - Moscow - Warsaw - Berlin - Stockholm - Paris - London π>>
Thinking about it now, it was amazing to travel then by gathering information from travel books in library/book shops and finding out from talking with others; changing traveller-checks, booking hotels via expensive oversea calls/writing a letter or just hope for the best.
More than travelling to the new destinations, the history of the countries and the interaction with the locals or the nicest strangers (turned temporary travel partners) or the crooks (exchange of fake rouble) did make it a memorable trip.
1994/95 K's Guangzhou 1-year posting
Discovery of office lunch-time norm - sleeping (with foldable bed) after lunch.
Chatting with the staff/locals
- XiaoH's rubbing her eyes hard to cry with the rest of the classmate on hearing the passing Chinese leader's news
- Min's wife (working for a US company) relating her training (Question: if you happen to hear your competitor talking about its business plan in a cafe, do you (a) continue to listen (b) walk away ? The answer of course was (b) πΆ but but ... πΆπππ
- Aspiration to do well by joining a private enterprise, and the challenges/the differences
Learning ceramic history and buying affordable pieces from antique shops <<By then, the currency is RMB and no more FEC>>.
The sights and sounds of former QingPing market (ζΈ
εΉ³εΈεΊ）selling almost all kinds of live animals for consumption π΅
Walking Shamian and White-Swan Hotel (the occasional seeing groups of foreigners with local adopted babies)
Getting restless and bored, I cut short my 1-year no-pay-leave to live in Guangzhou to 2 months (I was assigned to work on a Vancouver project, and thus able to stop-over in Hong Kong (then to Guangzhou) whenever I travelled for work π).
Now such memories are good to look back on for a laugh ππ although I might have complained (?) then π πππ
Hopefully, I could continue to explore to create memories to laugh at π