Monday, May 31 - Friday, June 4, 2010 - A Brief Stay in the City of Five Goats, Guangzhou

After staying in Shenzhen for less than two days, we then went off to Guangzhou to visit some more relatives. This time, it is my half-aunt from my mom's side and a few of my dad's childhood friends. Again, I have never before met these relatives, so it would be nice to introduce myself. We took the Guangzhou-Shenzhen train to Guangzhou, then had a long bus ride to Guangzhou Paper Mill Road. First thing I was told before I headed off is to put away all expensive jewelry and keep a close watch on my purse and wallet. My aunt told me horror stories of pickpocketing, necklace-grabbing, people roaming the streets with hidden knives, etc., and I was stunned. My aunt had her necklace stolen off her neck when someone purposefully stepped on her feet, and as she bent down to massage away the pain, someone unhooked her necklace and ran off the bus with it.

Unfortunately, these stories do seem to coincide with people's habits of holding their handbags in front of them as they walk, and not wearing any jewelry at all.  Aside from this, Guangzhou is a nice place, or more like, getting nicer.The roads are currently very dusty and the buildings very grimy, but that is because Guangzhou is hosting the 2010 Asian Games, and the city is being revamped for this special event (which includes overturning all the roads and replacing the dirt roads with stone and bricks.

My aunt's place is cheap public housing, since she is elderly and both her and her husband do not work anymore. I never got used to the bathroom, which has the typical squat toilet (with no flushing, so you have to dump water in the hole to flush) and a shower above the toilet. Hot water is obtained by a tiny boiler system that you turn on for a shower. Mosquitoes are intense, and pollution outside is terrible; I oftentimes cannot sleep because of the bustling streets and honking cars.

Though the city may seem chaotic and busy, many people, especially the late middle-age to elderly, are relaxed and find comfort even amongst dirt roads, alleys, and bustling streets. Many go to eat at restaurants everyday, and sit outside in the shade, chatting with neighbors and friends. It seems that they have a relaxing lifestyle after retirement. Shopping is cheap and the food are fresh.

Uncle is a tea expert, and is really good at Gongfu cha, so he took us the famed tea district of Guangzhou. Here, every shop sells all kinds of tea and tea ceremony accessories. I bought a tea seat, with tea pan and traditional toad/frog statue thingy that you place on your tea pan for good luck. When you boil the tea, you dump a little water on the toad/frog to "wash" it. Auntie even taught me how to boil, wash, and soak the tea. Gongfu cha a complicated process, but very relaxing and refined.

statues in Guangzhou's busiest shopping town

my aunt at some green cafe

eating goose meat and goose intestines at a restaurant with my dad's old friend and his wife

delicious cha siu bao!

forgot what these buns were called, but they have red bean paste inside and white sugar on top; they were so fluffy and sweet!

so delicious; too bad they got soggy when we got home

in the town near my dad's childhood apartment

the part of Guangzhou where my mom used to live when she moved from Dongguan to find work

a famous monastery whose name I forgot

behind is one of the guardian deities of Buddhism that guards doors

the other deity

this guy sells a traditional Chinese toy; he looks a little like my dad :)

eating sushi with auntie - she loves sashimi as much as I do!

the alleyway apartment where my dad used to live has been converted into an egg tart shop

the alleyway apartments where my mom used to live

these alleys have a distinctive Guangzhou village flavor; everyone knows each other (some elderly here even remember my dad after 18 years!)

my other auntie's dog named Fandy; she barks loudly whenever a stranger comes into the house, and auntie would have to scream "NO FANDY!"

my auntie's gorgeous apartment on the high-rise; this high-rise is in the shape of a butterfly when seen from above

relaxing on the patio; below is a huge swimming pool where all the kids play

Fandy being a good girl

me and a mock brandy - how embarrassing!

haha I don't know how to play; the soft wool cushion was extremely comfortable

My other auntie's house, in contrast, is absolutely gorgeous. It is even larger than auntie Yuk's place, with lush carpets, a piano, a huge patio, and  five huge rooms, two bathrooms; it looked like a 5th avenue lux apartment. I wanted to stay over, but unfortunately, we had to leave for Shenzhen again at night. 

For dinner, they took us to a unique restaurant called "Yun San Yun Hoi" in Cantonese; I don't know how to accurately translate it in English, but it is a popular Chinese idiom for "many people", as many and vast as the sea and mountains. They had live snakes, water beetles, silkworms, alligators, fish, and every possible kind of lizard and seafood you can think of. Of course, I begged uncle to order fried silkworm, water roaches/beetles, and snake meat. I almost scared my auntie and uncle when I ate half the plate of silkworms and snake meat.

the fried water beetles; you peel off the legs and back, then pop the whole thing in your mouth; really delicious

the best dish of all - fried silkworms! They are crunchy and taste almost exactly like french fries

awesome relatives

I had a lot of fun in Guangzhou. We laughed a lot, and had a good time. I look forward to coming back some other time.