Guangzhou (Mar '17)

Traveled with my friends to Guangzhou from 16 Mar (Thu) to 19 Mar (Sun). After the trip in September last year, I realized that Guangzhou is a good place for shopping enthusiasts. Thus, my friend and I who had traveled in the previous trip decided to tempt our three common friends to join us this time.

This trip focused on shopping and food sampling as most of us were not interested to visit any museums or parks.

Leisure trip at a glance

Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Guangdong Province)
Period: 16 to 19 Mar 2017
Flight timings:
16 Mar: SQ 852, SIN–CAN, ETD 2025 ETA 0030
19 Mar: SQ 851, CAN–SIN, ETD 1320 ETA 1740
Air tickets: Return tickets at SGD 366.30 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodation:
Fraser Suites Guangzhou – 广州辉盛阁国际公寓 (16 to 19 Mar)
Currency exchange rate:
CNY 100 = SGD 20.66 (Mar '17 period)

There is no time difference between Singapore and China as both countries are in GMT+8 time zone. Total damage was about SGD 600 including transport, food & hotel, and excluding personal expenses.


Day One

Took a taxi to meet up with my friends in the airport.

Singapore Airlines

Boarded SQ 852 and the flight took off on time at 2025 hours. Inflight meal of braised chicken with mashed potato was served (left photo below) and followed by sea salt caramel ice-cream as finale (right photo below).
Transport to hotel

It was about 0.45 am when the flight arrived at Baiyun International Airport, and after immigration clearance, it was already 1.50 am.

We then split into two groups to take cabs to the hotel. The cab fare was CNY 156 and it was already about 2.30 am when our group reached the hotel. The cab driver of the other group did not know where the hotel location thus took a longer journey to search and reached the hotel at about 3.15 am. Finally we all settled down at about 3.45 am and had a good rest.

Fraser Suites Guangzhou (广州辉盛阁国际公寓)

The Fraser Suites Guangzhou is a service rental apartment comprises of 332 gold-standard residences located in Tianhe district. Booked this hotel online at CNY 4,450 for 3 nights per "Two Bedroom Executive" with corporate discount.

The executive apartment was fully serviced with separate living and bedroom areas (left photo below). The well-equipped kitchen had microwave, oven, electric kettle, coffee maker, cooker hood and even a dishwasher (right photo below).
The two bedrooms were big with comfortable king-sized beds and two separate bathrooms (photos below).
The closest metro station is Shipaiqiao station (石牌桥站) of Line 3 and the station Exit A is just in front of the hotel. A large shopping mall "Taikoo Hui" is located opposite this hotel.


Day Two

Huayan Restaurant (华宴食府)

Woke up slightly later than usual and we then proceeded to Huayan Restaurant to have our late breakfast at about 10 am (left photo below). Ordered our first round of dim sum which consisted of six dishes (right photo below).
And followed by several dim sum dishes for our second round (photos below).

The service was good as my previous trip and most importantly taste was authentic and good. The total cost for this breakfast was CNY 282.

🍔 Huayan Restaurant (华宴食府)
Address:	6th and 7th floor of Zhonglv Commercial City (中旅商业城) No. 219 Zhongshanwu Road (中山五路219号)
Access:	Gongyuanqian Station (公园前站) Exit A
Operating Hours:	0800 hours to 2200 hours

Yide Road (一德路)

We then took metro and alighted at Haizhu Square Station (海珠广场站) and walked along Yide road. This was where our shopping spree starts. There are many large-scale wholesale areas located along this road, such as dried food, toys and stationeries. Following were some of the items bought by my friends.

Dried seafood

One of our friends decided to get some sea cucumbers (海參) at the dried seafood wholesale area (photos below). I did not get any because I do not know how to prepare them. But it was interesting to understand more on this seafood from the conversations between my friend and the stall owner.

Flower Tea

Saw some interesting flower tea like "Golden Edge Rose" (金边玫瑰) (left photo below) and "Embryo Chrysanthemum" (胎菊米) (right photo below). Two of our friends bought these flower tea. As a guide one jin (斤) cost CNY 110 for the golden edge rose and CNY 130 for the embryo chrysanthemum. Do note that one jin (斤) is equivalent to 0.5-kg in mainland China.

Stationaries

Cute stationaries are always on the list of souvenirs for giveaways. Following were some stationaries my friends bought (photos below).

As one of our friends was not feeling well, we then took cab back to the hotel at about 4 pm. The cost for the cab ride from Yide road to Tianhe district was CNY 32.

Simple Dinner

While our friend was resting, we bought some beef noodles (left photo below) and pastries (right photo below) from the nearby neighborhood back to hotel as dinner.


As it was still early after dinner, I then walked across the road to explore the Taikoo Hui (太古汇) shopping mall. It was a large premium mall with more than 180 shops and restaurants.

Went back to the hotel to have a good rest.


Day Three

Hotel Breakfast

Breakfast was included in the package we paid for the hotel. The hotel served high quality breakfast where a wide variety of food can be selected (left photo below). Following were what I had chosen (right photo below).
One Link Plaza (万菱广场)

After rested in the hotel for a night, our friend was feeling better. We then proceeded to One Link Plaza which we did not explore the previous day along Yide Road.

Teddy Bear Bags

While exploring the shops at basement one, we saw the display of foldable bags in the shape of a teddy bear (left photo below). One consensus we made was each of us decided to get these foldable bags (right photo below). By combining our buys, we managed to get the teddy bear bag at a price of CNY 15 per piece.


Following were the photos we took on these teddy bear bags when we returned back to the hotel (photos below).

Pappa Roti (帕帕羅蒂) Café

Found this Pappa Roti café hidden at a corner on the fourth floor and we decided to have a break in this café. Each of us ordered a cup of coffee and some papparoti signature bread of different flavors to share (photos below). The breads were freshly baked and tasted delicious.

Our Purchasing Power

Just One Link Plaza alone, we bought many bags of items there; from teddy bear bags to soft toys, tea set and bean-husk pillows (left photo below). At first, we were rather reluctant to carry these items to the next shopping street, but got convinced that we would take cab there. It was really crazy shopping that my friend could not help and had to post it on social media (right photo below).

Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (上下九步行街)

Shangxiajiu is a famous shopping street in Guangzhou. Took some leisure walk along this street and we finally ended at Xiajiu Road (下九路).

Traditional Shops

There are traditional shops at Xiajiu Road that has been operating for more than 70 years. Bought some Chinese sausage from the Huang Shang Huang cured meat store (皇上皇腊味店) (left photo below). We also had our late lunch in the Lin Heung Tea House (莲香楼) (right photo below).

Lin Heung Tea House

The restaurant had simple traditional decoration like most tea houses (left photo below). Ordered some porridge, pan-fried buns and some spring rolls (right photo below). Could not remember the price paid but the taste was good.


🍔 Lin Heung Tea House (莲香楼)
Address:	No. 67 Dishifu Road (第十甫路67号)
Access:	Changshou Road Station (长寿路站) Exit A or Cultural Park Station (文化公园站) Exit D
Operating Hours:	0800 hours to 2200 hours

After our late lunch, we could not find any cab along the road and therefore had to take metro back to the hotel. Rested for while before we were out again for dinner.

Tao Heung Restaurant (Tianhe City) 稻香酒家 (天河城店)

Took metro to Tiyuxilu Station (体育西路站) and proceeded to level 7 of Tianhe City for our dinner at Tao Heung Restauarant (photos below).
Ordered a two-hotpot soup base of mild and spicy broth (left photo below). Got a variety of hotpot food such as noodles, dumplings sliced beef, mushrooms, tofu, fish balls and vegetables (right photo below).
We even got fish skins to dip into the broth (left photo below) and deep-fried lotus roots as desserts (right photo below).


Total cost for this dinner was CNY 475. It was fulfilling and delicious meal for five of us.

✍ Update:
Due to rising rental cost, Tao Heung Restaurant in Tianhe City is closed permanently on 29 Feb 2024.

Day Four

Hotel Breakfast

Similar to our third day, we had our breakfast at the hotel (left photo below). The food choices in this breakfast buffet never disappoint me (right photo below).
Our Enormous Purchases

Starting off with only 5 pieces of luggage at the airport (left photo below), we ended up with a total 15 pieces of bags prior to our hotel check out (right photo below). Indeed, Guangzhou is a good place for shopping enthusiast.
We then booked a 9-seater car to the airport which cost CNY 600.

Singapore Airlines

The flight SQ 851 took off on time (left photo below). I selected fish fillet with potatoes as my inflight meal (right photo below).
Nice sunset view could be seen from the flight minutes before it landed on Singapore (photos below).
Flight Safety Inspections

Only when we reached home then we received the following photos that the checked-in luggage from two of our friends were inspected and opened; their potable fans were confiscated due to the aviation concerns of in-built lithium batteries (photos below).


It was then I realized that the aviation security in China is tight and meticulous. With the lessons from my friends, I am now more aware of what items to check in and what items to hand-carry during flight.

With this, it ended my 4-days trip to Guangzhou.