I heart guangzhou

A friend of my sisters who had traveled to Guangzhou said I would like the capital city of Guangdong province, but I didn’t think I would like it this much. During National Holiday week I decided to spend three days exploring the city. I had key places I waned to visit and I’ll give you just a few highlights of my trip.   

1.              Shamian Island. Basically old European buildings in the formerly French and British island conceded by the Qing dynasty in the 19^th century. There stand old colonial British, French, and Soviet and American embassies. Some of the buildings are now private residences and some are now hotels or shops. Between the buildings tower beautiful trees, designated as historic and protected by the state. I’m not sure which I liked better, but both the buildings and trees were reminders of a distant past.

2.              Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street. The street was probably my least favorite place because it reminded me of the slow moving crowds around Times Square coupled with the crowds that flock to 33^rd Street or Broadway to shop. It was just cool to see where many different types of people hang out at night. (I couldn't even get a good picture. Too many friggin people!)

3.              Sacred Heart Cathedral. Such a randomly beautiful church in the middle of a busy district of Guangzhou. Apparently, it was hard for the French architect who designed it to communicate with workers who had never built in such a style. I think it turned out alright.

  

4.              Yuexiu Park. This place seriously feels like a Chinese Central Park. So beautiful and so peaceful! I could spend hours here.

5.              Bright Filial Piety Temple. The oldest temple in Guangzhou with the largest bronze Buddhist statues I have ever seen (weighing in at 14 tons!)

6.              The Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. Sun Yat-Sen was the first president of China. This octagonal hall and park were built from funds from Chinese, including those of the Chinese diaspora in the 1920s.

7.              The Temple of the Six Bunyan Trees.  I am just amazed by how many ancient historical sites in this city are still in regular use. The temple was founded 1,400 years ago. Monks still live here and run the place. The Pagoda alone was a pretty impressive sig

ht.

8.              The Huaisheng Mosque of Guangzhou. (Huaisheng literally means "in memory of the sage") The Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in all of China, was first founded 1,300 years ago. It was rebuilt several times due to fire, among other events. I knew even before coming to China that I had to visit this place. I came here for Friday prayer just early enough to explore the whole mosque. People actually said salaam to me instead of giving me funny stares or shouting “hello!” which was a nice change. Soon enough, as more men entered to pray, I tucked away into the women’s room. It was much smaller but just as inviting. The women ranged from Chinese to North African and some South Asian women. It felt good to not be the only foreigner. All the women said salaam as they entered and it felt like I was exactly  where I needed to be. I stayed here for about two hours and wished I could stay longer, but unfortunately I had to head home. I’m definitely making a stop here again next time. I also want to go to the tomb of the founder of the Mosque, Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqaas who is a maternal uncle of the Prophet Muhammad and is said to have died in Guangzhou.

Other things I want to do next time are: a night cruise of the Pearl River to see the nighttime skyline and hike the Baiyun Mountain as well as ride the chairlift across the mountains in the city. I wish you guys could see this awesome city too! Before coming here I wasn’t so certain if I liked it here. However, the walkability, easy subway system, nightlife, and variety of food here (yes, I had plenty of halal and Indian food and it was soooo goooood!) all make me feel like I can really grow to love living here.