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Being shopping enthusiasts, this trip focused mostly on shopping and food sampling but we managed to visit one temple on our third day.
Leisure trip at a glance
Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Guangdong Province)
Period: 01 to 04 Sep 2017
Flight timings:
01 Sep: SQ 850, SIN–CAN, ETD 0820 ETA 1220
04 Sep: SQ 851, CAN–SIN, ETD 1325 ETA 1730
Air tickets: Return tickets at SGD 314.50 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodation:
China Hotel, a Marriott Hotel – 中国大酒店 (01 to 04 Sep)
Currency exchange rate:
CNY 100 = SGD 20.41 (Sep '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 650 including transport, food & hotel, and excluding personal expenses.
Day One
Took a taxi early in the morning to meet up with my friends in the airport. After which we had Ya Kun Kaya Toast as breakfast at the basement two of Terminal 3.
Singapore Airlines
Boarded SQ 850 and the flight took off on time at 0820 hours (left photo below). During inflight meal serving, I selected the pork noodles with sausage (right photo below). It was savory but the noodles were rather dry.
Transport to hotelPrior this trip we found out that there was an airport express bus that had one of the stops near our hotel. Therefore, once cleared from immigration and gotten our luggage, we then boarded this express bus to the hotel. The ride took about 45-minutes and cost CNY 20 per person.
China Hotel, a Marriott Hotel (中国大酒店)
China Hotel Guangzhou is a 5-star hotel located next to Yuexiu Park metro station. Booked this hotel online at CNY 2,448.60 for 3 nights per Deluxe Room without breakfast.
Built in 1984, this hotel is the first 5-star hotel in mainland China and also the first involving foreign capital. The China Hotel was managed under Marriott under a 20-year contract that started from 1998, therefore having a unique hotel name "China Hotel, a Marriott Hotel".
Though old with history, its rooms were fully renovated with some modern Chinese style elements in its decorations (photos below).
Haiye Tea House (海椰茶居)We then took metro to Haizhu Square and proceeded to Haiye Tea House to have our late lunch. Ordered some dim sum including fried carrot cakes, dumplings, custard buns, rice noodle roll, pancakes and egg tarts (photos below).
The dim sum dishes were as good as last time. Total cost for this light meal was CNY 145.
| 🍔 Haiye Tea House (海椰茶居) | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2nd floor of Haiyin Binbin Square (海印缤缤广场) No. 1 Qiyilu Road (起義路1号) |
| Access: | Haizhu Square Station (海珠广场站) Exit B2 |
| Operating Hours: | 0700 hours to 2100 hours |
One Link Plaza (万菱广场)
Our real shopping spree began from this One Link Plaza. This plaza is definitely a paradise for shopping enthusiasts where there is always something to buy in every visit. Following were some of the items bought by us.
Teddy Bear Bags
- Due to its popularity among my friends, I decided to repurchase these teddy bear bags (left photo below). As usual by combining our buys, we managed to reduce the price to CNY 15 per piece.
Bean-husk Pillow
- As recommended by my friends that it can prevent neck pain from sleeping, I was convinced to get one of the bean-husk pillows with extra pillow cover (right photo below). There was even a small notice at the store that state these bean-husk pillows had become the top selling product among Singaporeans.
- Another popular item was the BPA-free water bottles that came with different sizes and cap colors (left photo below). They can range between CNY 6 to CNY 30 per piece. However, I preferred to have glass bottles instead due to my drinking habits.
Travel Organizer Bags
- It can be expensive to get organizer bags from Amazon, but they can be purchased at an affordable price in this plaza (right photo below). In addition, various colors and design can be selected.
Certainly a must-try for hotpot fans to have Haidilao in mainland China to experience the difference. We then went to one of its outlets at Beijing Road. Waited for an hour to be seated as it was peak period in a Friday evening.
We selected two soup-bases of spicy and mild broth (left photo below), and followed by several hotpot food (right photo below).
Service was attentive and prompt as usual. The wide variety of food in China surely cannot be compared to those in Singapore. Total cost for this dinner was CNY 501.
| 🍔 Haidilao Hot Pot • Beijing Road (海底捞 • 北京路) | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 5/F, Grandbuy Gold Jewelry Building, No.395 Zhongshan 4 Road |
| Access: | Beijing Road Station (北京路站) Exit B or Gongyuanqian Station (公园前站) Exit D |
| Operating Hours: | 1000 hours to 2200 hours |
We then took metro back to hotel for a good rest.
Day Two
Tao Heung Restaurant (Qiaoguang) 稻香酒家 (侨光店)
Took metro to Haizhu Square station and walked towards Hotel Landmark Canton (华厦大酒店). This restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel (left photo below). We first ordered a preserved egg porridge for a start (right photo below).
Followed by seven other dim sum dishes (photos below).
The dim sum was delicious and tasty as expected. Total cost for this breakfast was CNY 150.
| 🍔 Tao Heung Restaurant • Qiaoguang brunch (稻香酒家 • 侨光店) | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 2/F, Hotel Landmark Canton, Qiaoguang Road (侨光路8号华厦大酒店2楼A、C座) |
| Access: | Haizhu Square Station (海珠广场站) Exit A |
| Operating Hours: | 0630 hours to 0000 hours |
Yide Road (一德路)
After breakfast, we then walked towards Yide Road for our second day shopping splurge. Bought some dried mushrooms and scallops from one of the stalls in the dried food area. Thanks to my friend who had labeled the purchases, I was able to share the information on the items bought in this blog (photos below).
Hong 8 Restaurant (红８茶餐厅)
Had our dinner in this restaurant. Ordered a Sham Tseng Roast Goose (深井烧鹅), fried lotus root with prawns (明虾炒藕角) (left photo below), Yi noodles with abalone sauce (鲍汁伊面), Thai lemongrass snow fish (泰柠香茅雪鱼) (right photo below), Crispy tofu with roasted sauce (烧汁脆皮豆腐) (bottom left photo) and Jiangnan Black Vinegar Short Ribs (江南黑醋小排) (bottom right photo).
Total cost for this dinner was CNY 295. Food was acceptable from this restaurant.
| 🍔 Hong 8 Restaurant (红８茶餐厅) | |
|---|---|
| Address: | About 160-meters southeast of Xingfu Garden, Aoti Road (奥体路幸福花园东南侧约160米) |
| Access: | Daguannanlu Station (大观南路站) Exit B |
| Operating Hours: | 1100 hours to 2200 hours |
We then took cab back to the hotel at CNY 24.
Day Three
Tongtai Rice Noodle Roll (Guangxiao) 同泰肠粉 (光孝路店)
Took metro to Ximenkou Station. We decided to have our breakfast in the Tongtai Rice Noodle Roll. Ordered three plates of rice noodle roll, two bowls of congee, some fried dough sticks, a red bean dessert and Vitasoy soybean milk (photos below).
Total cost for this meal was CNY 56. It was tasty yet affordable breakfast.
| 🍔 Tongtai Rice Noodle Roll • Guangxiao brunch (同泰肠粉 • 光孝路店) | |
|---|---|
| Address: | No. 34 Guangxiao Road (光孝路34号) |
| Access: | Ximenkou Station (西门口站) Exit C |
| Operating Hours: | 0630 hours to 0200 hours |
Guangxiao Temple (光孝寺)
Guangxiao Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Guangzhou. Established since year 233 during the Han Dynasty, the temple often acted as a stopover point for Asian missionary monks in the past. The sixth Chinese patriarch of Chan Buddhism, Huineng (六祖惠能), made his first public lecture on Chan (禪) and was tonsured in this temple. In year 676 during the Tang dynasty, Master Huineng cut his hair and received ordination as a monk. Abbot Yinzong (印宗) then buried his hair in the temple complex and built a octagonal pagoda, known as "Hair Burying Pagoda" (瘗髪塔), to commemorate it (photo below).
We left the temple after visited for about an hour.
| 🎫 Guangxiao Temple (光孝寺) | |
|---|---|
| Website: | WeChat QR code: |
| Access: | Ximenkou Station (西门口站) Exit C |
| Opening Hours: | 0830 hours to 1630 hours; opens daily |
| Admission: | CNY 5 (Adult) |
Huayan Restaurant (华宴食府)
Took metro to Gongyuanqian station (公园前站) and proceeded to Huayan Restaurant for our revisit. Perhaps were too hungry, we ordered almost 10 dim sum dishes to share (photos below).
Total cost of this meal was CNY 174.
| 🍔 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 |
One Link Plaza (万菱广场)
Made our final visit to the One Link Plaza on our last full day in Guangzhou. My friend found an interesting store that sells "pseudo antique" lamps (left photo below). These are great for home decorations. I did not get any but my friend managed to get an contemporary-looking electronic lamp (right photo below).
Vanguard Supermarket (华润万家)
Prior to dinner, we went to Vanguard Supermarket for some food souvenirs. Bought mainly on haidiliao broth packs of various flavors (photos below). Though these packs can be bought in Singapore, they were much cheaper in China.
Dinner
Could not remember which restaurant we went or the exact food we ordered. Probably we were just too hungry, I only managed to find two pictures on the dishes taken by one of us (photos below). Food was acceptable and the total cost was CNY 203.
Our Purchasing Power
Just within a day, we already accumulated six big bags of purchases while some were stuffed into our backpacks (left photo below).
Supper
Bought some egg-tarts to share while returning back to the hotel. Among them, three were topped with matcha powder while the rest were normal tarts (right photo below). Taste was good especially the matcha ones.
Day Four
McDonald's Breakfast
The McDonald's restaurant is just located next to the hotel entrance, so it was the natural choice to have breakfast there on our last day. Got a double-grilled chicken muffin and soybean milk (left photo below). The muffin did come with lots of vegetables which was healthy for a breakfast meal (right photo below). Total cost for this fast-food breakfast was CNY 16.
Started off with only four pieces, we ended with seventeen pieces of bags and luggage prior to our hotel check out (left photo below). My friend even bought an additional hardcase luggage in Guangzhou due to the original faulty bag.
We then booked a 9-seater car to the airport. During flight check-in at the airline counter, we were rather worried that our luggage weight might exceed the limited allowance of 30-kg per passenger. Our luggage were then put onto the scale one by one, started off with the largest bag among us (right photo below).
And were followed by rest of the luggage (photos below). I am sure curious readers here will start calculating the total weight. Even with the PPS club status that my friend had, our luggage nevertheless exceeded slightly. Gald that the ground crew allowed us to check in these luggage without any penalties.
Singapore AirlinesIt was raining with little sunshine outside when we boarded the SQ 851 flight (photos below). However, did not have any rainy-day mood as I would be flying back home soon.
Snacks and beverage were then served soon after flight take off (left photo below). As for the inflight meal, I selected fish fillet with potatoes for my late lunch (right photo below).
The flight landed safely on Singapore at about 5.30 pm. With this, it ended my 4-days trip to Guangzhou.