Guangzhou

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province. It is located north of the Pearl River Delta, and is an important trading and manufacturing center, as well as a busy port. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of Q in Guangzhou. It was soooo hot and humid, and I didn't want Q to suffer in the heat. Nonetheless, here are a few photos, compliments of some of my friends from the trip I went on.

When we first arrived in Guangzhou, we took a bus to Panyu, which is a district of the city. Here we were treated to a series of lion dances. During the performances, we were served ginger milk custard, which is a traditional snack in the Pearl River Delta.

Baomo Garden is in the village of Zini, near the town of Shawan. The garden was built at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and is an excellent example of Lingnan architecture.

Feeding the fish at the garden. They were crazy!

This is the Memorial Hall for Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou. He was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader, and is frequently referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China.

The hall is in an octagon shape, which is typical Chinese architectural style. Today the hall is used for important conferences and performances. It was rennovated in the 1990s.

Also in Guangzhou, the Panyu government held a banquet lunch for us where we all learned how to say gan bei ("cheers")! They gave us nice souvenirs from the 16th Asian Games, since Guangzhou will be the host come November 2010. We also went to the Guangzhou Higher Education Center, which accommodates 10 universities and up to 350 to 400 thousand people. Here we listened to a lecture on China's economic development.