Friday, May 09, 2008 Fun and shopping delights in Guangzhou By Jojie Alcantara Witerary
ACCORDING to Wikipedia, Guangzhou is the capital and a sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the People's Republic of China.
Known by its older name, Canton, it is a port on the Pearl River, navigable to the South China Sea, and is located about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Hong Kong (2 hours by train, as I was told).
As of the 2000 census, the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of roughly 8.5 million or higher, making it the most populous city in the province and the third most populous metropolitan area in mainland China.
Guangzhou was one of the first Chinese cities that opened to the outside world, allowing foreigners to come in and visit.
Upon my good friend Alex Divinagracia's invitation through Globalwings Travel Agency, I bonded with 17 other officers of top travel agencies in Davao as we boarded the Cebu Pacific flight from Davao to Manila, then Manila to Guangzhou by midnight last April (we also had Councilor Suzabel Reta and regional sales manager of Cebu Pacific Air Dinah Garcia with us).
The two-hour flight proved to be relaxing what with the great view of Guangzhou's bright and shimmering nightlights as we slowly descended.
A full blast of winter's end chill awaited us as we entered Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, one of three largest air hubs in China. Opened to the public in 2004, it occupies an area of about 5.8 square miles, with a 4E standard flight area, two runways and a terminal of 320 thousands square meters.
Serving more than 110 air routes from Guangzhou to over 100 domestic and international cities, Guangzhou Airport has an average annual passenger flow volume of about 25 million. It was so cold that they were laughing at me for wearing my Havaianas in winter. I had to buy socks the next day, while my group was in their boots and winter coats galore.
We were billeted at Furama Hotel and got to know the two Johns (John Chen and John Zhu of Shenzen Guomao International Travel Service, who organized the familiarization tour via Cebu Pacific), who were our very proficient tour guides night and day.
While we feasted at night in exotic restaurants that offer delicious cuisine, we toured the city's landmarks in the morning-Yuexiu Park, Five Rams Statue, Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Hall, Chan Clay Academy and the Six Banyan Temple.
What really made our group go "berserk" was when we were left to ourselves the whole afternoon shopping, shopping, shopping in Shang Xia Jiu Walking Street and the Beijing Road Walking Street (these are roads filled with people and vehicles aren't allowed).
So much energy in the air as your veteran Pinoy hagglers really fought off with the Chinese vendors who didn't speak English but communicated by calculator. Imagine the push and pull of the calculator as we haggled over prices way down low.
Once, I was so harassed by a vendor who was selling me and Alma with a "Louie Vuitton" scarf that's so beautiful. When we said no, she really clung to our arms and let herself be dragged away as we tried to escape!
"Okay, okay!" She finally said, agreeing with our price, which was half of the original price she quoted! Alma bought the scarf.
Our 2nd day was even more memorable when we had a special trip to the biggest safari park in Asia, and the most fascinating I've ever experienced! Chimelong Xiang Jiang Safari Park was so big with more than 40,000 animals.
At night, we witnessed the biggest circus show... yes, it was Cirque du China at its best. I knew I was ready to die happily because I've finally seen a white tiger up close.
Our last day in Guangzhou wasn't over yet, because our free time allowed us to go back to the shopping streets for last minute pasalubongs.
As always, I had a blast taking photos of my favourite fun signs (Jackie Chan endorses this Bawang Shampoo on the bottle labels, and I saw a restaurant called Just There). Our flight was near midnight, and by that time we were too exhausted but happy with the excess baggages we were carrying. While some in the group had boxes of macadamia nuts, I bought a new luggage just to carry my very cheap assorted items.
Alex informed me that Globalwings Travel arranged for special tour packages on May 1-6 for Davao-Singapore via Silkair, and May 27-June 2 Bangkok-Pattaya packages via Cebu Pacific.
These tours are at minimum of 25 persons so if you are interested, please contact Alex Divinagracia through Globalwings Travel at 082-3052210/082-3004210/09108546018 or email at alexddiv@gmail.com.
(email the writer at Jojiealcantara@gmail.com or visit her website www.witerary.com)
