April showers and all that...

Feeling hemmed in

It has been some time since my last blog post. After visiting Chiang Mai and adopting a pair of young cats, life has reverted to something resembling normality. In other words, not much of note to, um, note. As a month has nearly passed, what follows is a collectionn of happenings in Guangzhou 广州 spanning the end of March to the end of April...:

On the last weekend of March, seeking something to do, we drove to the Guangzhou Cultural Center 广州市文化馆 at my wife's suggestion. A relatively new entrant on Guangzhou's sightseeing scene, we had become aware of its existence a couple of weeks prior, when we visted the Guangzhou Haizhu National Wetland Park 广州海珠国家湿地公园. One of the things we did while we were there was to hop on a tourist boat that took us to the rear of the cultural center before turning around and returning to the dock:

Despite the free admission, there were surprisingly few visitors, at least in comparison to some of Guangzhou's more well-known attractions. I chalked that up to the center having only been open since May 2023, but the coming storm clouds might also have influenced weekend plans: 

The first thing the two of us did after entering was to seek out lunch. Because the Guangzhou Cultural Center's mission is to showcase the region's Lingnan culture 岭南文化 (encompassing Guangdong 广东, Guangxi 广西, Hainan 海南, Hong Kong 香港 and Macau 澳門), it seemed appropriate to have some dim sum: 

After the meal we had a look at some of the recreated traditional gardens: 

Shu-E takes a selfie...:

...and then beckons me over for a shot to share with our daughter back in the States:

Though the center aims to introduce the region's traditions, there were quite a few cosplayers having their photos taken. I suspect that as word spreads the Guangzhou Cultural Center will eventually be overrun by young people more interested in modern-day anime and manga than China's so-called "5000-year-old" cultural heritage. The end result could be an admission charge, a ban of cosplaying or a combination of the two:

Period costumes for rent:

Some of the "exhibition rooms" were merely shops selling expensive souvenirs, but this embroidery exhibit featured genuine examples dating back to the Qing dynasty 清朝: 

The main exhibition hall dominates the cultural center complex:

We took the elevator to the fifth-floor observation deck. At this point it was raining intermittently:

We then proceeded to descend via the stairs to the ground floor, taking in the exhibitions from the fourth to first floors. Because we were moving in the opposite direction the first thing we read was the conclusion, dripping with patriotic good feeling thanks to the correct and wise leadership of Comrade Xi Jinping 习近平:

An example of Kwon-Glazed Porcelain 广彩, an export variety of porcelain with a history going back 300 years. This piece, however, was completed in 2022:

Spring of the Greater Bay Area (2021) 大湾区之春, a massive (326x53x108 centimeters) sculpture made from buffalo bone: 

The artist carved the most representative cultural and natural landscapes of eleven cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area: 

Southern Fists - Cantonese martial arts:

Shu-E orders some local food dishes:

A jade carriage 2.15 meters long, 1.23 meters high (including the wooden base) and 0.9 meters wide, made entirely of emerald green and weighing 400 kilograms: 

I liked the insects on this jade piece: 

And finally there was this work of jade art, created in 1967 and entitled People Around the World Love Chairman Mao 世界人民热爱毛主席:

The skies opened up as we began the drive home from the cultural center, with some of the heaviest rain I've seen from behind the wheel of a car in quite a long time, along with lightning strikes and strong winds. The biggest challenge, however, was navigating some flooded stretches of road, though in the end our Geely made it through and safely home without stalling or losing braking power:

My wife came across a "Taiwanese bistro" on WeChat, and so at my suggestion one Wednesday evening when it wasn't raining we went to check it out. The interior didn't give off any Taiwanese vibes, even though the owner apparently was from Ilha Formosa. Instead, with its red hues, inspirational slogans on the wall and a Leslie Cheung video playing on the TV, Vital Club appeared to be appealing to a younger Cantonese crowd. Either that or this is what a typical Taipei 台北 bistro looks like - my ignorance due to having lived in a backward burg like Taichung 台中: 

The QR code menu only featured a limited number of items, and the chicken-and-rice bowl and "Taichung spicy fried chicken" were both lacking in flavor. There were off-menu dishes, however, advertised on the walls (such as fish tembura 甜不辣 and Taiwanese-style sausages) that might be worth a return visit to see if these would be better-tasting options:

And I can't believe I'm writing this but the bistro didn't even have Taiwan Beer:

The Chinese name 歪頭酒館 wāitóu jiǔguǎn translates as "Tilted Head Tavern", which partially explains the Krusty the Clown figure on the sign. Why he apparently is tripping on acid isn't clear:

The fifth day of April was Tomb Sweeping Day 清明節, with Monday being a public holiday so as to make for a three-day weekend. It's an important holiday in both China and Taiwan, meaning that traveling anywhere domestically in either country would risk facing immense crowds. Which is why we opted not to go anywhere out of town during the holiday weekend, a decision reinforced by the intermittent rain. That isn't to say we stayed indoors for 72 hours, however.

Parklife in Flower Square 花城广场 on an overcast Saturday afternoon:

We've been here seven months now and this abandoned car has been sitting in this parking spot the entire time:

On Sunday morning Shu-E and I took in a move, Project Hail Mary. China strictly limits the number of Hollywood films that can be shown in the country, limiting our choices, though the movie we saw was a good one (95% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes). The cinema was located in the GT Land Plaza 高德置地广场, a shopping mall with a spacious atrium but seemingly few resident shops other than aesthetic salons: 

Following the movie we headed over to the nearby K11 mall to have lunch at a restaurant called Feidachu 费大厨, where the most popular dish is this stir-fried pork with chili peppers:

The food was good but I was suprised at the size of the lemon tea (a popular drink in this part of China) that came with the set meal. And here's hoping the Oregon State Beavers have a much better season this year than their disastrous 2-10 campaign in 2025 :

We made it back home before the skies opened up and the rain came down, though as it was possible to walk from the restaurant to our residence almost entirely underground we would've remained dry regardless:

Evening came, with the tops of the highrises enveloped in the clouds:

That Monday holiday we took Moon and Tiger to the vet for them to receive some required vaccinations as well as an evaluation of the ringworm both have (the prognosis was to continue administering the prescribed cream but the condition for the boys is improving). If Tiger were to be put into a pet carrier on his own he would resist ferociously and vociferously; when sharing one with Moon, however, he becomes remarkably docile: 

The neighborhood where the veterinary clinic is located. The water looked nasty but there were some surprisingly large fish swimming in it:

In the afternoon, while the cats were sleeping off the effects of the morning shots, the missus and I took the APM line to Night Shanghai 夜上海 for lunch and to have a look around. Night Shanghai is a section within a shopping mall that I was introduced to two years ago when I was in Guangzhou to attend a GSO workshop. I don't know the story behind the "pedestrian street" but I suspect the original intention was to evoke an air of nostalgia only for it to be overtaken by businesses appealing to today's Chinese urban youth - pop-up stores, clothing boutiques, anime/manga-themed shops and so on. There were far more cosplayers walking around than people just barely old enough to recall what Shanghai might have looked like before the Communists made their mark. Just being in Night Shanghai surrounded by all those young people (many of whom were young enough to theoretically be my grandchildren) was enough to make me feel older than I already am. 

Our daughter might like to go there, however, the next time she's in town:

No blog post would be complete without some more feline fotos. Here's Moon taking his frustrations out on an unfortunately cardboard box...:

...while Tiger turns every nap into a modeling session:

The wife bought me a large bottle of PBR in a thankfully unsucessful attempt to turn me into a hipster. I think I'll grow a beard, wear flannel and stick to IPAs:

A long walk on a slightly muggy Saturday afternoon led me to the Tianhe Sports Center 广州天河体育中心, a complex featuring a stadium, gymnasium, bowling alley and other venues providing a space for residents to get some exercise. The weather was a reminder we're edging closer to the heat and humidity that will turn Guangzhou into a steaming soup during the summer months. Or so I've been warned: 

On a dreary Sunday we made the short walk across Flower Square to the Guangdong Museum 广东省博物馆, which I had visited years before on my first trip to Guangzhou in 2015. This black cube (supposedly inspired by a Chinese lacquer box) is devoted to the culture and history of Guangdong Province 广东省, of which Guangzhou is the capital: 

     

The museum has permanent collections devoted to Guangdong's history and culture, natural resources, pottery and porcelain, inkstones and woodcarving, as well as special exhibits. The first room we entered was one of the latter, focusing on lacquerware, like this carved red lacquer vase with a design featuring figures and landscapes. It was created sometime during the Qianlong period (1736-1795) of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) 清朝:

This post will not go into an in-depth analysis of the museum's collection (namely because the author can't be bothered to put in the effort required to do so), so what follows are a few examples of what visitors such as ourselves could see, such as this 19th-century black lacquer and gold painted eight-pane screen depicting a dragon boat race:

Another eight-panel screen, this one dating from the 1840s:

An 1892 example of a Duan inkstone 端砚 apparently featuring a shape of the Monkey King, though I find it helps to use your imagination: 

A beautiful example from an 18th-century landscape book:

Across the square from the museum is the Guangzhou Opera House 广州大剧院, designed by noted architect Zaha Hadid. We will get around to visiting this place before our time in Guangzhou comes to a close:

An example of a large woodcarved screen from Chaozhou 潮州, a region noted for its wood carving art:

I assumed upon first glance that this porcelain feline was of a more recent vintage, but apparently it dates from a period of the Qing dynasty between 1816 and 1864:

A blue and white-glazed hexagonal vase with a design of flowers and fruits, from the aforementioned Qianlong period:

This cheerful fellow (an Arhat) carrying books is an example of Dehua porcelain 德化白瓷 and was made sometime during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) 明朝: 

I was particularly taken with this pottery granary (created as a funeral object) due to its age, dating back to the Western Jin dynasty (265-316) 西晋!:

Shu-E, however, drew my attention to this nearby proto-celadon ding 鼎 (a tripod vessel used for cooking cereals and meat), which was made way back in the Warring States period (476-221 BCE) 战国时期!:

Replicas of this rare Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BCE) 西周 bronze vessel can be yours at the museum gift shop:

My wife pointed out that my mother-in-law used similar cake molds in her kitchen during Shu-E's childhood, an example of the cultural connection between southern China and Taiwan. This observation, however, constitutes in no way an endorsement of the One China principle 一個中國:

Having never seen a dragon boat race in-person I had no idea of the length some of these boats could actually reach:

This year's Dragon Boat Festival holiday unfortunately coincides with Juneteenth, which means that instead of two separate days off I'll have to make do with one combined holiday (akin to having one's birthday falling on December 25). Perhaps I should heed our daughter's suggestion to go see some of the races this time around:

(You can also watch this video by a Western shill working for CGTN)

The last part of the museum checked out by us was the exhibit on Guangdong's history. Or should that be Canton's history, as that was the name more familiarly associated with Guangzhou up until recent times? Below is a 20th-century panoramic view of Canton made of silk:

A silver trophy manufactured for export during the Qing dynasty:

A depiction of a likely romanticized Canton street scene:

Kaiping 开平 is a city located 140 kilometers/87 miles southwest of Guangzhou that is famous for its diālóu 碉楼, strange multistory residdences built in the early 20th century by villagers who made a fortune for themselves working as laborers overseas. The Juneteenth federal holiday three-day weekend might've been a good opportunity to visit, but not this year thanks to the lunar calendar (see above first-world gripe):

Sun Yat-sen 孫中山 in the middle, having a chat with Liao Zhongkai (L) 廖仲恺 and Li Dazhao (R), the latter two noted personages that Shu-E had never heard of for obvious Communist reasons:

Speaking of the Chinese Communists, the section on the Sino-Japanese War 中国抗日战争 unsurprisingly focused almost entirely on the CCP's guerilla activities following the fall of Canton on 21 October 1938, while making little mention of the Republican forces who bore the brunt of the fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army 大日本帝国陸軍. Interestingly, according to the museum Guangzhou wasn't "liberated" until 1950, with the end of the Chinese Civl War 国共内战: 

The Guangdong Museum also has a large permanent exhibit devoted to the region's natural features and pre-history (think dinosaurs), but Shu-E and I decided to give it a pass. Amber will be here at the beginning of summer for a visit, so during that time one or both of us can take her to the museum, one of the benefits that comes with living within walking distance of an attraction that has free admission.

Instead we once more headed off in the direction of the K11 mall in search of lunch, passing this sign along the way:

We ended up at a Thai bistro called Kawa, and it was sheer coincidence that I happened to be sporting a replica jersey of a certain country's national soccer team:

Late one different Saturday afternoon and at the wife's suggestion we took the metro to a neighborhood called Pantang 泮塘, which according to Shu-E boasts a history going back over 900 years. It certainly reflected an earthier side of the city compared to the flashy Central Business District where we reside: 

A certain foreign dork was sighted in the vicinity:

Pantang boasts a large collection of resident felines enjoying life. These two were the first of many cats we could come across:

An old tomb sitting smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood. Note the cat sleeping next to it on the right:

A very Chinese scene - a large crowd of old men gathered round to watch a smaller group of geezers playing cards:

The area of the Pantang Wuyue 泮塘五约 village, Liwan Lake 荔湾湖 and the Lizhiwan River has been dubbed by the tourist authorities "Lychee Bay" 荔枝湾, an apparent reference to the lychee trees that grew there in "ancient times". This probably explains why this gelato shop specialized in lychee-flavored ice cream. Not my taste but the wife enjoyed it:

The park and its surrounding streets have been given over to the tourist trade (think cafes and cutesy crafts shops), but the relative lack of crowds compared to similar neighborhoods in Guangzhzou made it a pleasant area to explore:

Looking across the water to the Panxi Restaurant 泮溪酒家, where former President George H.W. Bush once dined:

We tried to see Renwei Temple 仁威庙, but arrived too late to go inside. I was still able to get a photo of an altar that remained open to passersby to plead their cases to the gods:

Eventually we stopped to have dinner at a Western-style cafe around the corner from the Panxi Restaurant:

It turned out the establishment where we ate was actually some sort of lower-priced annex to the Panxi. Afterward we went into the latter to have a look around:

From Pantang we walked to the Yongqing Fang 永庆坊 area, a far more livelier (i.e. crowded) old neighborhookd, which we had first visited late last year. An outdoor performance was being given at the Cantonese Opera Art Museum 粤剧艺术博物馆:

An interactive display imagined what Shu-E might look like as an opera perfomer:

We eventually took a Didi back to our residence, arriving home around 21:00, which is a late night for us these days. With the weather beginning to warm, I have a feeling that we will be starting to go out more often in the later afternoons/early evenings to placate my heat- and humidity-adverse spouse:

This guy still has some tolearance, however. Which is why the following day I set out on foot in the 31° C/88°F heat and 122 AQI to catch a glimpse of the Chigang Pagoda 赤岗塔:

Constructed in 1619 the pagoda is unfortunately closed to the public:

However, walking around to a parking lot provided this contrasting view of the new and the old of Guangzhou. By this time, however, conditions were beginning to get to me, so I returned home via the subway:

On the final Saturday of the month we left home late in the afternoon again at my wife's suggestion (a combination of her desires to avoid the heat and to take in a night view), riding a crowded subway train to the Cultural Park station 文化公园站. A few minutes on foot found us on a bridge overlooking the Pearl River 珠江:

The covered-up building in the background is the Canton Customs Mansion 粤海关旧址, which we visited the last time our daughter was in town:

We began strolling along the river in an easterly direction. The Taying Tower 塔影楼 was built in 1919, though the information sign out front failed to specify what the purpose of the building was:

We soon found ourselves in a neighborhood of old buildings. Shu-E observed that a century ago this would have been considered a desirable part of town but nowadays is home to cheap hotels and is largely bereft of visitors:

We stopped at one restaurant for dinner where the house speciality is meat and veggies on rice in a hot bowl, similar to bibimbap. You're supposed to eat the crunchy rice adhering to the bottom of the bowl but I found it hard to do so:

I surreptitiously took this photo of some cosplayers waiting for the light to change in order to cross the road. Right after I did so an Indian gentleman approached and asked if he could take a photo with them, which immediately made me feel like a voyeuristic creep:

Our ultimate destination was a relatively new shopping mall my wife found on local social media called Lumina. The draw here is the outdoor patio on the 7th floor and the view it provides of the Pearl River below:

The buildings in the distance (opposite the Canton Tower 广州塔) are located in the area where we live:

Across from Lumina is Haizhu Square 海珠广场, a public space noted for the Guangzhou Liberation Statue. Erected in 1959, this stalwart symobl of socialism is now almost completely enclosed by the surrounding icons of capitalism, er I mean Socialism with Chinese characteristics 中国特色社会主义. Mao Zedong 毛泽东 must be spinning in his glass case:

And so May approaches, and with it hopefully greater opportunities to post with more frequency. 再见 for now!