Guangzhou (Nov '18)

Traveled to Guangzhou from 13 Nov (Tue) to 16 Nov (Fri). This expedition consisted more of sightseeing rather than shopping compared to my previous travels.

It was in this trip that I began to realize that it was challenging to use cash where digital phone payment like WeChat Pay and Alipay had been widely used. I even encountered a shop owner who had to walk across the street to exchange some loose changes for my purchases. Foreigners would need to have local bank accounts in order to use its digital payment. Thus, this had become some form of deterrence to foreign tourists on short term visit where most shops in China still prefer cashless payments.

Leisure trip at a glance

Country / Region: People's Republic of China (Guangdong Province)
Period: 13 to 16 Nov 2018
Flight timings:
13 Nov: SQ 850, SIN–CAN, ETD 0810 ETA 1215
16 Nov: SQ 851, CAN–SIN, ETD 1320 ETA 1740
Air tickets:
Return tickets at SGD 355.30 (inclusive of airport taxes)
Accommodation:
IBIS Guangzhou Yuexiu Park – 宜必思广州越秀公园地铁站酒店 (13 to 16 Nov)
Currency exchange rate:
CNY 100 = SGD 19.92 (Nov '18 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

Started off the day by taking a taxi to the airport early in the morning.

Kopitiam @ T3 Changi

Decided to have breakfast in this food court located at basement two of Terminal 3 (left photo below). Got myself a bowl of dry "Duck Noodles" at SGD 5 (right photo below). Taste was acceptable for the noodles. After which bought a cup of Teh-C from Heavenly Wang café at SGD 2 before clearing the immigration.
Singapore Airlines

Glad that SQ 850 took off on schedule at 0810 hours (left photo below). During inflight meal serving, I selected a chicken mushroom noodles (right photo below). It was savory but the noodles were rather dry.
Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (广州白云国际机场)

Did not realize at first that I had arrived in the newly opened Terminal 2 of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. In operation since April 2018, this new terminal has an area of over 808,700 square meters and houses many international airlines. The IATA code for this airport is CAN.

As part of the immigration requirement, all passengers are required to have their fingerprints (all five from both hands) taken at the automatic machines before custom clearance.

Guangzhou Metro (广州地铁)

Bought a "Three-Day Pass" at the airport station for CNY 50 which was valid for 72-hours (photos below). Noticed that the design of this pass had changed to highlight the popular culture and attractions of Guangzhou.
IBIS Guangzhou Yuexiu Park (宜必思广州越秀公园地铁站酒店)

The IBIS Guangzhou Yuexiu Park was booked via internet at CNY 1,014 for 3 nights per standard room. This 3-star hotel is located just 5-mins walk from Yuexiu Park metro station (photos below).


During check-in, the hotel decided to upgrade me to a bigger room (left photo below). The attached bathroom was clean with basic amenities provided (right photo below).
Tongtai Rice Noodle Roll - Guangxiao brunch (同泰肠粉 - 光孝路店)

Took metro to Ximenkou metro station to have my late lunch in the Tongtai Rice Noodle Roll restaurant (left photo below). Ordered a shrimp roll at CNY 8 and lean pork preserved egg porridge at CNY 7.5 (right photo below).


The porridge was rather diluted but overall taste was good.

🍔 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)

Revisited this temple which is just few minutes' walk from the Ximenkou Station. Guangxiao Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Guangzhou. However, most of the buildings were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. The newer buildings in the temple were rebuilt since the 1980s (photos below).
Left the temple after visited for about an hour.

🎫 Guangxiao Temple (光孝寺)
Website:	WeChat Code:
Access:	Ximenkou Station (西门口站) Exit C
Opening Hours:	0830 hours to 1630 hours; opens daily
Admission:	CNY 5 (Adult)

Beijing Road Pedestrian Street

Extending over 1,500-meters, Beijing Road is one of the most prosperous and bustling pedestrian streets in Guangzhou (left photo below). Many shopping malls and restaurants are located along this road. In addition, there is a site of a thousand-year-old lane covered by transparent glass for visitors to have a clear view (right photo below). This added a sense of human cultural history to the commercially rich pedestrian street.

💡Travel Trivia: Many cities in China designated their streets using names of other provinces, cities and counties. Coincidentally, some of these streets have become famous and popular shopping street in that particular city. Examples of such are Nanjing Road in Shanghai and Beijing Road in Guangzhou.

Haidilao Hot Pot - Beijing Road Brunch (海底捞 - 北京路店)

Had my early dinner in this Haidilao outlet located at Beijing Road (left photo below). My favorite self-made sauce is the peanut flavor with lots of parsley leaves (right photo below).


Ordered a single soup base (left photo below) and some meat balls, prawn paste and beancurd skin (right photo below).


Total cost was CNY 112. As usual good food and service was expected from this restaurant.

🍔 Haidilao Hot Pot • Beijing Road Brunch (海底捞 • 北京路店)
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

Supper

Bought a slice of Durian Crepe Cake at CNY 20 (left photo below) from a local bakery and a bottle of almond milk at CNY 23 (right photo below) from a kiosk stall in the Yuexiu Park metro station. Taste was good for both the crepe and drink.


Had a good rest in the hotel.


Day Two

Fast-food Breakfast

Took MacDonalds as breakfast near the Yuexiu Park metro station. Ordered a Big Breakfast with grilled chicken steak (left photo below). Topped up with another dollar for soybean milk with chestnut taste which cost a total of CNY 28.50 (right photo below).


Guangzhou Chimelong Tourist Resort (广州长隆旅游度假区)

Chimelong group is a company that owns restaurants, hotels, and operates theme parks in China. Based on the location, it can be divided into Zhuhai Chimelong and Guangzhou Chimelong:

• Zhuhai Chimelong consists of an Ocean Kingdom, a Circus Theater and several hotels in Hengqin district of Zhuhai City near Macau. I had visited the Ocean Kingdom back in 2016, refer to this blog for the write-ups.


• Guangzhou Chimelong resort currently consists of one theme park, one circus venue, two zoological parks, one waterpark, and three hotels located in Panyu district of Guangzhou city.

Took metro to Hanxi Changlong metro station. Instead of waiting for the shuttle bus, I decided to walk for about 10-mins towards the entrance gate. First theme park encountered along the path was the Chimelong Paradise (长隆欢乐世界) which is the largest amusement park in China (left photo below). After another 6-mins walk, I finally reached the South Gate of the Chimelong Safari Park (right photo below).
Chimelong Safari Park (长隆野生动物世界)

Opened in 1997, the Chimelong Safari Park occupies and area of more than 2,000 acres of land and holds more than 20,000 rare animals, including orang utans, Asian elephants and giant anteaters. There are more than 10 giant pandas in the park, including the world's only surviving giant panda triplets, and more than 60 koalas of seven generations which make it the largest population outside Australia.

Tiger Mountain

The park boasts the largest number of tigers of close to 300 individuals. Tigers at all stages of growth could be seen in this park from cute cubs between two to three months old (left photo below) to playful cubs at half year to one year old (right photo below).
In contrast, adult tigers had the majestic appearance (left photo below) and capable of jumping more than 5-meters in a single leap (right photo below).


Besides the white tiger, there are also extremely unusual varieties of tigers on display in the park. These rare variations were my first time seeing them. The Snow Tiger comes from a gene mutation of Bengal tiger's hair color which cause the stripes to be brown or light brown on a white body (left photo below). There are only about 50 snow tigers in the world. Another rare variety is the Golden Tiger that comes from gene mutation of Bengal tiger's hair color which cause the golden and white body to have brown stripes (right photo below). There are only a dozen of these beautiful golden tigers in the world.

Lunch and Souvenir Shop

Had lunch inside one of the restaurants. Ordered a braised pork noodles at CNY 68 (left photo below). Taste was acceptable; however it was expected for food to be overpriced as it was inside a tourist attraction.

Visited one of the souvenir shops where it has the most selections of animal soft toys. Interestingly there was a tiger specimen displayed inside a glass cabinet (right photo below).

Tram Ride

The safari section of the park can only be visited through self-drive personal vehicles or trams provided by the park (photos below).



This allows visitors to explore the Asian steppes, American prairies and African savannahs (photos below).
In addition to the hoofed mammals, fearsome brown bears (left photo below) and awesome white tigers (right photo below) could also be seen from the tram.

Walking Trails

The walking trails is another highlight not to be missed as rare animals such as active leopard (left photo below) and energetic meerkats (right photo below) could be spotted.

Panda Paradise

Located in the heart of the exhibits, about 12 giant pandas live in this park including those from Wenchuan earthquake-stricken area and Asian Games. As they are kept in open spaces, therefore vivid photos could be taken without any reflections from the glass panels (photos below).
Younger pandas are more active with lots of playing time (photos below).

After exploring the park for about 4 hours. I then took the same route back to the same metro station.

🎫 Chimelong Safari Park (长隆野生动物世界)
Website:	https://www.chimelong.com/gz/safaripark/
Access:	Hanxi Changlong station (汉溪长隆站) of Line 3 and Line 7 Exit D, then get free shuttle bus or walk for about 10-mins
Opening Hours:	0900 hours to 1830 hours; opens daily
Admission:	CNY 250 (Adult)

Pappa Roti (帕帕羅蒂) Café

The One Link Plaza is another must visit place when in Guangzhou. Had my break in this café after exploration the plaza (left photo below). Ordered a milk tea and Pappa Roti signature bread set at CNY 26 (right photo below). Interestingly the password for the free WIFI in this café had not changed for almost a year.
Cantonese Dinner

Decided to have dinner in a Cantonese cuisine restaurant (left photo below). A glass of milk tea was served soon after my order when I had taken my seat (right photo below).


This was followed by a plate of roasted duck and char siew with rice (left photo below). Total cost for this meal was CNY 55 (right photo below).

Taste was acceptable but the meal portion was rather small.

🍔 Kowloon Restaurant (鹅与九龙烧腊 • 正佳广场店)
Address:	Floor M, Zhengjia Plaza, No. 228 Tianhe Road (广州市天河路228号正佳广场M层)
Access:	Tianhe Sports Center Station (体育中心站) Exit D3
Operating Hours:	1030 hours to 2200 hours

Dafo Temple (大佛寺)

The Dafo Temple, which means Big Buddha Temple, is a Buddhist temple located in the middle of Beijing Road. It has been praised as one of the "Five Largest Temples of Guangzhou" in history. It is amazing especially at night when it lights up and looks like the whole building is glowing (left photo below). The bas-relief sculptures on the ground floor is one of the highlights (right photo below).

Bodhisattva Samantabhadra and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī are exquisitely carved and are located on both sides of Shakyamuni Buddha (photos below). Together with Shakyamuni Buddha (释迦牟尼佛), Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī (文殊菩薩) and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (普贤菩萨) form the Shakyamuni Triad (华严三圣) in Mahayana Buddhism.
Supper

While walking back to the metro station, bought two durian flavored egg tarts at CNY 8.50 each (left photo below), and a bottle of almond milk at CNY 23 from a kiosk stall in the Yuexiu Park metro station (right photo below).


Had a good rest after which.


Day Three

Tao Heung Restaurant - Qiaoguang brunch (稻香酒家 - 侨光店)

Took metro to Haizhu Square metro station and walked towards Hotel Landmark Canton (华厦大酒店). This restaurant is located on the second floor of the hotel.

Ordered a red-rice noodle rolls (left photo below), fried carrot cakes (right photo below), shrimp dumpling (bottom left photo) and steamed chicken feet (bottom right photo).

Total cost for this fulfilling breakfast was CNY 67.50 after discount.

🍔 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

Took metro to Zhujiang New Town metro station. As weather was good, I decided to take a slow stroll towards the museum.

Zhujiang New Town (珠江新城)

The Zhujiang New Town is a central business district in Tianhe district of Guangzhou. Flanked by skyscrapers, at the southern end of the district hosts the four newly built cultural venues, namely the Children's Palace, Guangzhou Library, Guangdong Museum, and Guangzhou Opera House (大剧院) that has the futuristic look (left photo below). Across river stands the Canton Tower (广州塔) which is the tallest structure in Guangzhou (right photo below).
Guangdong Museum (广东省博物馆)

The Guangdong Museum is a general museum of Cantonese art, nature, culture and history in Guangzhou. The design of the museum was inspired by the traditional Cantonese ivory puzzle ball where the four-storied exhibition areas are layered around the center atrium (left photo below). During my visit, most part of the museum was renovating so there were not much exhibitions except for the Sanxingdui relics on display from 30 Sep to 18 Nov 2018 (right photo below).


"Treasures of the Ancient Shu" exhibition (古蜀宝藏)

Many Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui (about 1700 B.C to 1150 B.C) to be part of the ancient kingdom of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early and legendary kings.

It is believed that Shu kingdom was founded by Cancong who had protruding eyes, therefore many masks and figures of Sanxingdui are a representation of Cancong (left photo below). Other rulers of Shu kingdom include Boguan, Yufu and Duyu, and many objects are fish or bird-shaped suggested to be totems of Boguan and Yufu (right photo below).


There were also several bronze heads excavated from the Sanxingdui site where their artistic style was completely different from the mainstream Chinese art (photos below). This even led to the belief that Sanxingdui culture was a mysterious and separate civilization in southern part of China.


Even more astonishing was people from Sanxingdui period already mastered the skills and technologies of smelting and soldering. Examples included the bronze head wrapped with gold foil mask (left photo below) and the 4-meters tall human figure (right photo below).

Admission was free and foreigners like me just need to show the passport at the security checkpoint (photo below).

🎫 Guangdong Museum (广东省博物馆)
Website:	WeChat Code:
Access:	Zhujiang New Town (珠江新城站) of Line 3 and Line 5 Exit B1 Go straight to Opera House, then walk 200-meters east along Linjiang Avenue
Opening Hours:	0900 hours to 1700 hours; Closed on Mondays
Admission:	The museum issues 5,000 free tickets a day.

Fast-food Lunch

Took metro to Teem Plaza. After glancing through several restaurants, I then decided to have lunch in Café de Coral. Ordered a beef curry rice with warm almond milk tea (left photo below). Total cost was at CNY 49 and the taste was good especially the thick curry gravy.

Guangzhou Books Buying Center - Tianhe Branch (廣州購書中心-天河店)

After lunch, I then walked across the street to the Guangzhou Books Buying Center. It is a huge book store occupying five floors of the building. Spent more than an hour browsing at the books before heading back to the Teem Plaza.

Tea Break

Had my tea break in a fast-food restaurant where I got five-piece McChicken and a hot Lipton tea at a total of CNY 12 (right photo below).

Trusty Congee King (靠得住)

After some window shopping in Teem Plaza, I then opted to settle my dinner within the mall. The Trusty Congee King has a cozy and modern renovation (left photo below). Ordered a beef brisket noodles at CNY 36 (right photo below).
In addition to the main dish, I also gotten a dumpling soup at CNY 30 (left photo below) and a soy bean curd at CNY 15 (right photo below).


Taste was good and comparable to those restaurants in Hong Kong.

🍔 Trusty Congee King • Tianhe brunch (靠得住 • 天河城店)
Address:	Shop 703C on the 7th floor of Teem City Shopping Center (天河城购物中心7层703C商铺)
Access:	Tiyu Xilu Station (体育西路站) Exit C
Operating Hours:	1000 hours to 2200 hours

Back to the hotel to pack my luggage.


Day Four

Hotel Breakfast

Took breakfast in the hotel at an additional CNY 25 (left photo below). The food selection was rather limited and taste was average (right photo below). Was very much regrated as I could have walked a little further to the McDonalds to have better breakfast.
Checked out from the hotel and then booked a cab to the airport. The total cost for this journey was CNY 117.

Singapore Airlines

Glad that the flight took off on time. While browsing through the movie menu in the KrisWorld, I realized there were already five 'Transformers' movies and I had only watched two of them (left photo below). Thus caught one of them during this flight. During the inflight meal serving, I selected 'mashed potato with beef' which tasted quite good (right photo below).
The flight SQ 851 landed safely on Singapore. With this, it ended my 4-days trip to Guangzhou.