LAST DAY TOUR OF GUANGZHOU

Today, its tour of Guangzhou city itself. We had been here before but the previous time, we visited the ancient tourist attraction eg the Chan Clan Museum and the Bai Yue Garden etc. But this time, we were taken to view the latest addition in Guangzhou since the Asian Game. I think they are very proud of being the host for the Asian Games and the effort they have put in.

Our first stop was to the Science Center. It is located in the vicinity of the Guangzhou University.


Lots of Panda welcoming us.

The Museum -very interesting exhibitions going on. One of them on inkstone.

Inkstone is one of the 4 treasures of the Chinese literary/study world- the other 3 being the brush, paper and ink/inkstick.
This is one of the famous purple inkstone which was used by the Emperor.

Next stop is the Asian Games Stadium. This stadium is on an island.

Entrance of the stadium.
Behind is the stadium and the seats.

The sails and the boat. In front you can see the swimming pool (brown colour). It is empty now but at the switch of a button the water will flow in and out from the Pearl River.

We went into the stadium and sat down at the seats just to get a feel of the moments at the Games.

After lunch, we went up the Canton Tower (in chinese they call it "Siew Man Yew") (small waist)

The tower is encased within the steel rods and not totally enclosed by them so that the winds can pass through. It is able to withstand earthquake as well as typhoon. There is a water tank in the middle to balance the movement/tilting.

Its 108 floors up

Sticking to the solid ground. I was too scare to stand out on the glass floor that juts out from this floor.

Gotcha- this is only a 3-D effect

Our last stop was to the renovated ancient village of Li Chee Wan.

The facade of these houses have been refurbished by the Government. Mostly are shops now.

The river cruise along Li Chi Wan -
There is platform for Chinese opera along the river as well. This is for the community here.

After wandering around the park, it is time to say goodbye to our guide and the tour ended here.

We had dinner at the 6th Floor of the Lido Hotel in Beijing Road. The outside of this restaurant is not impressive but the food here very good.

Quail - they costs only RMB 4 each.

Sticky caramelised pork ribs

Blanched fresh prawns

Scallop with minced garlic

steamed "Wan Cheong" Chicken with salad of peanuts, black fungus

Seaweed soup

Pork balls and oyster mushrooms in milky soup

I think this is limpets- type of abalone?

This is the shell- there are 9 holes in each shell.

Fried Milk-

crispy skin and smooth and custardy inside

Hakka Taufoo - stuffed with minced meat.

Claypot eels

Cold platter of roasted meats including some smoked fish

the smoked fish

Finale- Fried Rice in omelette. There are actually around 20 dishes including the dim sums.

Desserts- Ginger Jelly- strong ginger taste but sweet

Milk tarts

"Polo" Buns

There were much toasting and the farewells were said at the end of the dinner.

I felt a bit sad as they have taken so much trouble and care to ensure that we had a good time here- not forgetting their precious gifts for us to take home. It has been a most memorable and unforgetable trip. Ku Che and her family will always be in our thoughts.

All I can say is a Big Thank You for all that you have done and till we meet again- take care and God Bless you all.

DAY 5 GUANGZHOU-DANXIASHAN

It is the last day of our visit to Shaoguan. We took our breakfast at the resort. There is no dimsum and we were served with the normal Chinese breakfast. After breakfast we check out from the resort and departed for the last tourist attraction - NANHUA TEMPLE.

The temple faces Danxiashan and the Abbot of the temple is the 6th generation of China's Buddhism. His remains are in this temple. The guide led us through the temple explaining the history of each prayer halls till we reached the back of the temple. There is a mountain spring for us to wash our hands and face (and don't wipe your hands instead put your hand in your pocket together with water - pocket your luck home!) before going back to the prayer halls.

Entrance of the Nanhua Temple

The worshippers here discourage from burning/lighting the incense/joss sticks in the prayer hall itself. You say your prayers with the unlit incense and then leave them outside on the table and the monk will collect them and burn them later. This help to preserve the image of the deities in the hall and besides this is not irritate the eyes of the worshippers. No photography is allowed inside the temple halls.

There is a big Bodi tree in the center of the temple. Buddha was enlightened under the bodi tree. It is believed that going around the tree in a anticlockwise direction will bring blessing and enlightenment and peace.

So going around 3 times - praying for peace and harmony.

Somewhere in this big temple, we find a small altar for a Chan family. The story is that the whole land belonged to a rich man whose surname is Chan. The Abbot has perceived that this place is ideal for a temple and had on numerous occasions requested Chan to sell the land to him. Chan was a very arrogant man and told the Abbot that he will not sell but can give the land to him if the Abbot can win him in contest. The Abbot won the contest and Chan had to honour his pledge. So he asked the Abbot how many acres he wanted. The Abbot told him that as many acres as his shawl can cover the land. So Chan looked at the Abbot's shawl and thought how big can the shawl be? He agreed. The Abbot tossed his shawl up towards the heaven and the shadow of the shawl covered the land where the temple now stand. However there is the hole where the hook held the shawl in place and that hole is this place not covered with the shadow of the shawl. So this tiny altar belonging to the Chan family remains in the temple to this day.

Moral of the story: Is it what you sow is what you reap?

The golden bowl outside the temple. If you toss in a dollar it will multiply many many times. It is not as easy as you think- see the hole on top of the bowl. Well, it all depends on God's will.

There are only 4 of these tress in the temple grounds. It does not look big and yet it takes 5 grown men to circle it.

Any leftover incense will be burn in the urn outside the emple before you leave.

Pots of Pickled Bittergourd and Snakes in Wine for sale at the restaurant.

Pork belly braised with Mei Choy (left) and Steamed fresh taufoo (right)

Fried Julienned Potatoes in Chilli oil. A bit spicy and crunchy. Another way to cook them is with Rice Vinegar.

Green chillies fried with fish paste. Very tasty.

After lunch, we visited the Yao Minority community in the province. This is the usual dances and stunts by them. There is a young man burning his arms with a lighted torch and another one standing on two sharp blades. You are invited to participate in their dances and a mock wedding was staged with their girls.

The slippers dance- its a matter of co-ordination

We had a good laugh when my brother-in-law's trousers kept dropping!

Its time to say goodbye and returned by bullet train back to Guangzhou.

The arrival hall of the Bullet Train Station- very huge and almost every 15 minutes there is a train coming in from somewhere.

We were met with heavy rainfall - the typhoon coming to town and after office hours jam.

We met up with our cousins again for dinner at a famous Resturant in Li Chee Wan.

The courtyard of the restaurant and there are actual lychee trees growing here.

The view outside our dining room. Food was good here. Some of the items:

Braised Char Siew and Taufoo

Thicken Taufoo Soup(kang)

Steamed grass carp with preserved black olives. The chinese olives is very salty and is an acquired taste.

The desserts finally made their appearance. The pastry chef is a renowned old master. You can see his exquisite workmanship.

Tiny pretty birdies- filled with custard pudding.

Fluffy white rabbits - its prawn dumplings

Tiny golden piggies - with curry meat fillings.

The happy trio- waiting to be eaten.

We were rushing through our dinner as we had to join the Pearl River Cruise at 8.30 pm. Thank God the rain had stopped. This is a popular night cruise along the Pearl River which runs through Guangzhou. One of the famous river in China besides the Yellow River. The Mayor of Guangzhou had done a very job to clear up the river and beautify the surrounding areas for the Asian Games. My camera would not do justice to the beautiful night scenes but my cousins were busy taking photographs for us and with us. But I know I can only see those photographs the next time I visit Guangzhou. It was a memorable and relaxing cruise with the cool breeze after the rain.

DAY 4 GUANGZHOU-DANXIASHAN

Our buffet breakfast was on the ground floor. Our guide had said 1st floor and pointed at the cafe on the ground floor. So I come to the conclusion that they called the ground floor, the first floor. There is not much choice in the buffet and there is no coffee at all. Luckily, we had bought a packet of 3-in-1 from Kuala Lumpur and so we share it out as this will have to be last us 2 days!.

The typical Chinese breakfast- fried noddle, hardboiled eggs (this time its eggs in tea leaves), hot milk, crullers, sweet potato and plain buns.

We left for DANXIASHAN one of the world heritage site in China. These are red-coloured mountain range in Shaoguan. We are going to climb up the mountain and the main attraction is to see the rock formation - one called the Male Stone and the another called the Female Stone in the YuanYong Shan.

Entering Danxiashan Heritage site. Umbrellas galore- by the way they are cheap and pretty.

Our journey began with a cruise along the gorge. As we cruise along, we were told to look out for the rock formation that resembles the Buddha's Five Fingers, the hen, elephants crossing a river etc. Well you have to tell yourself that 1o% is the actual figure and 90% is your imagination. The surrounding was peaceful and cool except for the excited crowd on board. The cruise took around 45 minutes.

This is the Buddha's Five Fingers.

Beating the drum to announce our arrival at Danxiashan

There is a cable car service up to the top of the mountain. However it was closed for maintenance so we had no choice but to start walking up. It was quite exhausting as some parts were steep and the heat was not offering any relief to us. We were totally drenched by the time we reached the lookout point.

I am happy - got shade and my own mini fan!.

Finally after around more than an hour I think, we reached the lookout point.

The Male Stone- magnificient piece of God's architect!

The guide told us that there are 3 things which we should not do when viewing this stone.

One- do not feel self-conscious and/or feel small

Two- do not compare yourself

Three - do not make the "V" sign. No doubt it may be the universal sign for whenever we are posing but here this signifies a pair of scissors and no male wanted that!

Many people comes here to pay homage to this Male Stone so that they will be bless with children especially male ones.

After resting and photographs, we descended to a nearby restaurant for lunch. We had ice cold Apple Cider -what a refreshing drink. Lunch is again 10 dishes and soup. However after eating for more than a day, we find that the dishes are more or less the same.

After a long lunch, its time again for another cruise to a different part of the mountain to see the Female Stone. The long trek would normally take around an hour but at the rate we have exhibited, the guide wisely suggested that we take the cruise to cover at least half of the journey up. The other half way up was much easier- in the forest shade and more gradual slope.

If you are not careful at this point, you can literally "bang your head against the rock not wall"!

We even passes a bamboo forest- tall swaying bamboo -giving some breeze and gentle music.

Notice the bamboo strip supporting the rock. The Chinese believe that if you can put a bamboo strip under the rock and it remains tall and straight, then you are able to shoulder every obstacles along your life.

The strip does not actually support the rock - they are just placed under the rock-gotcha!

Just around the corner, we finally met the Female Stone- the beginning of all life!

There were barbed wires around to protect the stone.

However there was no praying here!?

Here you can see the whole of the Danxiashan range.

After this, we check into the Caoxi Hot Spring Resort for the night.

This resort is owed by a man and his whole extended family are working at this resort. Nice bungalows and rooms are just sparsely furnished.

We had our dinner at the dining room and we were finally served the famous "Ng Chee Roots" soup. The rest of the dishes are so-so- normal fare and very salty.

The aroma is just like coconut soup.

After dinner, we went for some soaking at their hot spring pools. There are all sorts of hot spring pools- the Milk pool ( sorry not white milk but only milk smell); Medicine Pool consisting of Ginseng pool, Cinnamon pool, peppermint pool, Yuk Chuk pool, Dong Shen pool etc.- each with their medicinal value and very relaxing. We also relaxed in the Hundred Flowers Pool and felt like the concubine Yong Kwei Fei! We buried ourselves in their Salt Pool and tried their Hot granite bed too! Some of us went for body/foot massage - to rejuvenate ourselves after a tiring day. Photograps were not allowed here.

We then retired for a good night rest.