her school to see who could make up the best itinerary for a tour of
Guangzhou to take foreigners on, and whoever wrote the best one would
actually take us on the tour in real life. We were a little skeptical,
but very excited to see what the wanted to show us. The students'
papers were so good that Jenny picked 3 tours for us to go on.
We went on the first one today with Liz, that is her English name she
picked for her school. First, she took us to some underground shops to
start the day. They were all fake designer goods with super cheap
prices. We were very tempted to buy stuff, but resisted for now. Next,
we went to Shamian Island. This area of Guangzhou is best known as an
adoption area. There are a lot of foreigners that stay here to adopt
children. The road we were on was so beautiful and it felt like we
were far away from a big city. Liz took us to this souvenir shop
first, which was the best we had been to so far. Jes and I both bought
Chinese style dresses! Then, we walked around through the park and
streets and saw all the beautiful Victorian style buildings. It is
also a popular location for couples to take their wedding photos. We
saw at least 8 couples in wedding attire taking pictures. It is weird
here because brides rent their wedding dresses instead of buying them.
The dresses were really elaborate.
Liz took us to another shopping mall area for lunch. It was Cantonese
food... This means that we only ate the rice ha. This meal grossed me
out in particular because it contained fish heads! We tried to eat the
meat but it had a certain flavor that all Cantonese food has that we
haven't been able to stomach! Instead, we bought some donuts on the
way to the next place. My strawberry one really hit the spot! I would
also like to add that there are McDonald's and KFC on practically
every corner, but we are trying to avoid them to experience the real
Chinese culture.
The next place we went was Beijing Road or Beijinglu. This was an
awesome mall that young people go to and is pretty modern. They also
had really cheap prices with decent items. This is where we bought the
most stuff. I bought 2 pairs of shoes because they actually have my
size everywhere. I guess having small feet pays off if you are in
Asia! Jes unfortunately had the largest foot in China haha, jk. But,
she did have a difficult time finding a shoe to fit, but finally found
a pair of flats. We also both bought scarves. Jes bargained for the
both of us since she is better at it. The most expensive thing we
bought that day was around $7 US dollars, so cheap! Then we went to
another shopping area called Haighu, which is known for shoe city.
They had a lot of great shoes, but at this point we were pretty worn
out. We took a break at McDonald's to talk to Liz and eat ice cream.
Last but not least, we went to see the Pearl River (every time Jes
sees water she thinks it's the Pearl river but it never is, this time
she was right!). It was very beautiful and it just so happens that
there was a boat parade taking place for the Asian games since
Guangzhou is hosting them starting Nov. 12. We couldn't tell for sure
but it looked like each boat represented a different country
participating in the Asian games. It was really awesome to see! Liz
finally took us back to the metro and said goodbye. We had an awesome
first tour and very tiring day!
Liz was really awesome and so fun to hang out with. She spoke English
very well and had no issue communicating with us. She was a modern
Chinese woman we thought, and she said she was around 24-25. So weird
how people here do not know their age. She also had a clothes dryer,
which is really rare to have in China or to use (everyone hangs their
clothes outside to dry). Anyways, she was like my Asian counterpart.
We have the same name, same iPhone, same pink camera, same shoe size,
like the same tv shows, etc. She told us she watches shows like
Desperate Housewives and Lost. We really learned a lot about life in
China from her since we felt like we could ask her anything and she
was young and similar to us. Liz was definitely a fun tour guide.
Tomorrow, we have another tour. It will be very hard to compete with
the one we went on today!
On a side note, we have not been able to access our blog since being
in mainland China. China has blocked our blog and Facebook. We have
figured out alternative ways to post blog entries but we can't see
them after we post so be patient and keep checking back. We will try
to post as timely as we can! Thanks :)
Pic 1&2: In the park at Shamian Island
Guangzhou to take foreigners on, and whoever wrote the best one would
actually take us on the tour in real life. We were a little skeptical,
but very excited to see what the wanted to show us. The students'
papers were so good that Jenny picked 3 tours for us to go on.
We went on the first one today with Liz, that is her English name she
picked for her school. First, she took us to some underground shops to
start the day. They were all fake designer goods with super cheap
prices. We were very tempted to buy stuff, but resisted for now. Next,
we went to Shamian Island. This area of Guangzhou is best known as an
adoption area. There are a lot of foreigners that stay here to adopt
children. The road we were on was so beautiful and it felt like we
were far away from a big city. Liz took us to this souvenir shop
first, which was the best we had been to so far. Jes and I both bought
Chinese style dresses! Then, we walked around through the park and
streets and saw all the beautiful Victorian style buildings. It is
also a popular location for couples to take their wedding photos. We
saw at least 8 couples in wedding attire taking pictures. It is weird
here because brides rent their wedding dresses instead of buying them.
The dresses were really elaborate.
Liz took us to another shopping mall area for lunch. It was Cantonese
food... This means that we only ate the rice ha. This meal grossed me
out in particular because it contained fish heads! We tried to eat the
meat but it had a certain flavor that all Cantonese food has that we
haven't been able to stomach! Instead, we bought some donuts on the
way to the next place. My strawberry one really hit the spot! I would
also like to add that there are McDonald's and KFC on practically
every corner, but we are trying to avoid them to experience the real
Chinese culture.
The next place we went was Beijing Road or Beijinglu. This was an
awesome mall that young people go to and is pretty modern. They also
had really cheap prices with decent items. This is where we bought the
most stuff. I bought 2 pairs of shoes because they actually have my
size everywhere. I guess having small feet pays off if you are in
Asia! Jes unfortunately had the largest foot in China haha, jk. But,
she did have a difficult time finding a shoe to fit, but finally found
a pair of flats. We also both bought scarves. Jes bargained for the
both of us since she is better at it. The most expensive thing we
bought that day was around $7 US dollars, so cheap! Then we went to
another shopping area called Haighu, which is known for shoe city.
They had a lot of great shoes, but at this point we were pretty worn
out. We took a break at McDonald's to talk to Liz and eat ice cream.
Last but not least, we went to see the Pearl River (every time Jes
sees water she thinks it's the Pearl river but it never is, this time
she was right!). It was very beautiful and it just so happens that
there was a boat parade taking place for the Asian games since
Guangzhou is hosting them starting Nov. 12. We couldn't tell for sure
but it looked like each boat represented a different country
participating in the Asian games. It was really awesome to see! Liz
finally took us back to the metro and said goodbye. We had an awesome
first tour and very tiring day!
Liz was really awesome and so fun to hang out with. She spoke English
very well and had no issue communicating with us. She was a modern
Chinese woman we thought, and she said she was around 24-25. So weird
how people here do not know their age. She also had a clothes dryer,
which is really rare to have in China or to use (everyone hangs their
clothes outside to dry). Anyways, she was like my Asian counterpart.
We have the same name, same iPhone, same pink camera, same shoe size,
like the same tv shows, etc. She told us she watches shows like
Desperate Housewives and Lost. We really learned a lot about life in
China from her since we felt like we could ask her anything and she
was young and similar to us. Liz was definitely a fun tour guide.
Tomorrow, we have another tour. It will be very hard to compete with
the one we went on today!
On a side note, we have not been able to access our blog since being
in mainland China. China has blocked our blog and Facebook. We have
figured out alternative ways to post blog entries but we can't see
them after we post so be patient and keep checking back. We will try
to post as timely as we can! Thanks :)
Pic 1&2: In the park at Shamian Island
That's great that you had someone so friendly to show you around, especially since she's so much like y'all. What a cool experience.
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