Second Time in Guangzhou

Here I am again, after a year of nothing, I finally went for a short trip to Guangzhou with some of the people I know.

I can still recall my last visit there which was two years ago. It was completely mundane, as we spent barely  two days there. Out of time and out of budget, the worst fear a traveler could ever encounter.

This time around, I had a little twist in my plan. I gathered a group of 5 people, older people I mean, older I mean, like the elderly. All fifty above and I was the only young guy. Not trying to brag, I am young, though.

Big city, little amusement, that's how I describe this place. But don't get it wrong, tiny amusement doesn't mean it's a horrible place to visit. Guangzhou is practically well-known for its trading industry, whereby merchants from all over the world would drop by and collect their stocks here. Well, that is exactly my purpose for the visit.

Remember the guy who went to Beijing with in 2013? Yeah, he came to seek for my service again. So, I was the group's personal translator and semi-tour guide, as I did not know the city well. What happened was that I had a deep research over two weeks just to understand every corner of the city. Although I was unable to absorb the entire details of it, I still managed to jot down some important information into my head, like the subway stations, public bus services, famous landmarks, name of the roads, hotel etc.

The six of us stayed in Clivia Hotel, which I had mentioned last year. It had a friendly atmosphere around, especially if you were Malaysian, as you could earn some extra discounts. It was located in the center of Jiefang Bei Lu ( Jiefang North Road ), right net to the pedestrian bridge.

In case if you were to search for some halal food, there was a Xinjiang-Turkish restuarant just beside the hotel. It was pretty pricey, though. Dining in with three persons would cost you RMB 100. If you had lower budget than that, you could try out another pure Xinjiang restaurant nearby. It was located at the north side of Jiefang Bei Lu, propably 400 meters to the north from outside of Clivia Hotel. At there, you could spend less than RMB 20 for a meal.

Back to my mission here in Guangzhou. The trading Industry. I was extremely curious in how they handle the trading here. For sure, it wouldn't be like what I saw in Beijing. By that, I mean it was complete mess.

It didn't matter where I went, all of the retails and shops there somehow provided a whole-some services. That would include production, packing, courier and shipping. Take note on this, they would only do that if you purchased like hundreds of pieces of clothes or any other items. But I wasn't planning on trading for anything, I was only surveying. So, most of them offered me some products with retail-price.

The next photo was taken outside of Liu Hua Fuzhuang Shichang ( Liu Hua Fashion Wholesale Market ). A huge market for you to search for various type of shirts, scarfs, dresses and pants. All clothes-related.

Some of the newcomers, as if myself, would think that it looked exactly like a shopping mall, but with some slightly tiny shops. But you know what, those were not shops. They were actually the front counters, for their own factories or supplying company. The clothes that were displayed, as in the photos, were not for sale. Those were just samples of what you could order.

The second was shops near Baohan Street, two to three-hundred meters away from the exit D of Xiaobei Subway Station. The entrance was located right under a bridge.

Around here, they sold pretty much the same as any other big malls. Garments, bags,, accessories, furniture, drapes and so on. We liked it more here, as most of the people came around to purchase with retail-price. The more customers they had, the cheaper we could bargain.

This place used to be a street market. During my last visit, we got to see some of local street foods and cheap items. But now, it had turned into a street that filled with busy retails and strong lighting.

Next, was markets around Liwan District. An amazing spot to check out if you were to find some alive sea creatures. And not just that, amid those fish markets, they did sell different items, such as porcelain crafts, jade figures, flowers, fake flowers, and even the fake dog.

This trip of mine, it was all about trading, shopping and sight-seeing. It became the main purpose as my curiosity toward this particular city was unavoidable. The flight was cheap, and I seriously needed to know what made Guangzhou so famous.

Below are the photos that I took along my way. My favorite part of the trip, was when went through the backstreet retails. The surrounding was awful, the smell was foul and the people were just too much. But everything was cheap when you got to those tiny streets.

And the mannequins. Like ow my God! That could be illegal if you did that in Malaysia. Well, at least the police would ask you to put it away. Adorable China.

The next photo below, was one of the photo I took outside our hotel. Homeless who resided on a pedestrian bridge, which laid under another bridge. The spot was perfect, though.

And, of course, illegal stalls in center of busy street, which somehow turned legit here.

One of my favorite snack, didn't matter in what country, the Turkish kebab. That guy probably wondered, why on earth would this silly dude taking a picture of kebab stand. Well, you get to feature in my blog, be proud dude.

As for closure, I'd like to say thank you so much for you guys to tune in and read this article. I realize that it's pretty dull, just like my last trip, and it's only concentrating on shopping and trading. Tell you what,t his is just part of my second Guangzhou trip. There will be a sequel. Sort of like Mockingjay. One book, two movies.

The next article will be all about this person that went to the trip with me. Who is it? Wait for it. I haven't even finished writing the story down. All I can say, she is one of the few most important person, in my life. She traveled with me, so I;m going to write a full article about her experience. Let's see if I could brake the tears out fo her.

And again, allow me to bid my good-bye. "A man travel the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it. - George A. Moor" Keep on looking for the thing you wish most and never give in.