Aging gracelessly

Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!

My wife went to Taiwan and all I got was this shirt*:

Actually, it was my mother-in-law who gifted the shirt, which references the Baishatun Mazu Pilgrimage 白沙屯媽祖進香, an annual event that has seen explosive growth in participation and popularity in recent years, with Shu-E among those drawn in. The character on the back of the shirt 勇 is yŏng, meaning "brave", an adjective that cannot be accurately applied to me in recent years. 

As can be inferred from the above photo, the wife has returned to Guangzhou 广州. If you've read the previous blog post you might assume my mood immediately improved, but it has taken a while to get my spirits up. Understandable considering depression is a topic Shu-E prefers to avoid, hoping that medication will magically make the condition disappear. If I do try and bring up the subject, she will often just roll her eyes, or say something along the lines that everyone (including her) feels this way from time to time, with the inference that one should just get over it. So, yeah, best to wait for the Wellbutrin to arrive in the mail.

In addition to the shirt, the wife also came back from Taiwan with a nasty cold, and her first Saturday in town was welcomed with one of Guangzhou's sudden, intense downpours:

The rain held back the next day, so while my wife was busy seeing to her fish (who miraculously managed to survive my taking care of them) I went for a walk in the afternoon to Li's Ancestral Temple 李氏宗祠. And unlike my previous pair of attempts, this time the entrance to the hall was not blocked by a large banquet either in progress or being set up, so I was able to go in: 

The ancestral hall was first built during the Qing dynasty 清朝 and is one of the most well-preserved in Guangzhou. One of the figures on the exterior doors:

A sweaty self-portrait inside the temple, soaking in my new pilgrimage shirt:

The altar in the main room of the ancestral hall:

Just as in Taiwan, temples are popular spots for old men to gather:

A smaller wing sits adjacent to the main hall:

A sculpture depicting people excited about eating some kind of food (the English sign called it "dices", but Shu-E couldn't understand what the Chinese was referring to) associated with the Dragon Boat Festival 端午节. This year's holiday unfortunately coincides with Juneteenth, meaning that instead of two separate paid holidays we've had to make do with a combined singular three-day weekend (a First World problem, I know). Kind of like being born on Christmas Day: 

Speaking of dragon boats, just in front of the ancestral hall tourists have the opportunity to do some paddling themselves:

Taking the cats to a routine appointment at the vet means leaving the bright lights and skyscrapers of the Central Business District and venturing into the ordinary neighborhoods where the overwehlming majority of Guangzhou's residents dwell. It's a side of modern Chinese life most foreign idiots influencers will never experience for themselves (and I suspect most of them would not want to): 

Another year, another birthday, another day closer to retirement, another reminder the majority of my projected life span is now in the rearview mirror. This time Shu-E and I "celebrated" at a Japanese restaurant called Matsusaka-tei 松阪亭. At least the food (I indulged in a エビフライ丼セット while the wife enjoyed a bowl of ラーメン) was good, and the sashimi 刺身 portion slices were generous. My wearing of a Hanshin Tigers 阪神タイガース jersey was purely coincidental:

As noted above this year's 19th of June was both an American and a Chinese holiday, thanks to the latter being observed according to the lunar calendar. I normally don't like to travel within China on local holidays due to the massive crowds that descend on some of the more well-known locations, but at the same time I couldn't let a federal holiday go to waste so the wife came up with a compromise - spend a night within Guangzhou but return a day early before the hordes venture back home. Getting out of our area on Friday morning was difficult due to crowds descending upon the Liede 猎德 area to watch the dragon boat races but once across the Pearl River 珠江 the traffic lightened up considerably. Seeing the location of the dragon boat races was good to know if next year we want to see the action in person - the site on the river where the races are held is within walking distance of our residence.

Once on the opposite bank we drove to the Shawan Ancient Town 沙湾古镇, an 800-year-old town (dating back to the Song dynasty 宋朝 for those of you playing at home) in the city's Panyu District 番禺区 that spans 153 hectares/378 acres and is choc to the brim with examples of Lingnan 岭南 culture.  Bilingual information boards in China often presume foreign visitors know more than they actually do:

We entered through the quieter western side of the town. There was a recommended revolutionary route containing signs announcing the army loves the people, and the people support the army and of how the revolutionary tradition is being passed down from generation to generation (somewhat ironic considering the, you know, Cultural Revolution 文化大革命). As self-centered individualists we opted to follow our own path:

The streets of the village are free to wander about but a 40 RMB ($5.90) ticket** gives entry to several buildings and museums, like the Liu-geng-tang Ancestral Hall 留耕堂, one of many buildings in the town linked to the He family. I couldn't find any mention of what happened to them after the revolution. Was their property seized? Did they flee to Hong Kong, Taiwan or elsewhere? Or were they coopted by the Communists?:

The temperature that afternoon reached as high as 32°C/90°F, but it was the humidity and not the heat that made things very uncomfortable at times:

The Xuantian Emperor 玄天上帝 (aka the Supreme Emperor of Dark Heaven) is a popular deity in this part of China and is often depicted as standing upon a snake and a turtle:

Unlike some so-called "old towns" in China and Taiwan Shawan looked and felt like the real deal, although in typical fashion many of the old homes now serve as arts and crafts shops:

For the price of a drink each we could go up to the third floor of one building to have a look:

My price for admission was an iced matcha lemon tea:

We escaped the rain that fell in the early afternoon by having lunch indoors - fried rice for me and noodles for her, and our sharing of these fish cakes (apparently a local dish - a foodie I'm obviously not, which you can thank me for after you've finished reading this post):

 

Because of all the sweat Shu-E didn't want to have her photo taken this day, so I instead I snapped a picture without her knowledge of her buying some mangos from a street stall:

The shop where we had lunch was located in the busier southern part of the town where the majority of visitors enter and exit:

We cooled down inside a museum dedicated to the local Lingnan culture:

In days of old locals would use oyster shells stuck together with yellow brown sugar and steamed glutinous rice to cover exterior walls. This was apparently good for fire prevention, pest control and noise suppression, as well as keeping rooms warm in winter and cool in summer. Little did the residents know this method would also prove popular with Chinese tourists: 

Another museum that we entered using the combination tickets featured a small collection of traditional musical instruments, but I was more interested in the roof ornamentation and the view of crumbling alleys:

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a photo of the oyster shell house sans amateur models posing in front of it!:

The Wenfeng Pagoda 文峰塔:

From the Shawan Ancient Town we continued by car to our destination for the evening, the Guangzhou Marriott Hotel Nansha, where we had a buffet for dinner:

The view from our room. Nansha 南沙 is a "new area" 城市新区 , meaning a new urban district given special development support by the authorities. As a result there isn't much to see or do in the immediate area, which mostly consists of condos. The hotel, surprisingly, was booked solid for the holiday weekend, including many families. This was about as far as we could go while still being in Guangzhou:

The view the following morning:

On Saturday morning after checking out we drove to the Nansha Tianhou Temple 南沙天后宫, which is supposedly the biggest Mazu 媽祖 temple in southeastern Asia. At first it didn't feel like we were visiting a temple as the main path was lined with anime/manga-inspired characters, which my wife thought were left over from the Lantern Festival 元宵节 earlier in the Lunar New Year. Me and Li Xiaolong 李小龙:

Beside the temple is Guangzhou's lone sandy beach. There were many families sitting on the sand but no one was in the water despite the heat and humidity. With all the ships traversing the Pearl River just offshore it was understandable if people had concerns about the quality of the water:

Two characters from Kung Fu Hustle, an entertaining film and recommended viewing if you've never seen it:

Once past all the decorations and figures the temple finally emerged into view:

What it looked like once past the large Mazu statue pictured above:

Mazu is aided by one god always on the lookout...:

...and another always listening. Just like the CCP:

Making our way up the hill despite the heat (34°C/93°F) and humidity:

Inside the Hall of Blessing:

Two of the four Dragon Kings guarding the goddess:

It isn't clear in this photo but Hong Kong could be seen very far off in the distance:

Approaching the Main Hall:

We finally reached Nanling Tower 南岭塔, holding sway at 45 meters/148 feet tall: 

The view from the base of the tower (which couldn't be climbed):

Beaten down by the hot weather, we paid to be driven down to the bottom from the tower. Afterward I stopped for a much needed tea break at Mixue 蜜雪冰城, thereby bolstering my Chinamaxxing credentials. Note the Scotland jersey I was wearing - I watched the beloved team of the Tartan Army lose to Morocco 1-0 that morning in our hotel room. In retrospect we should've visited the temple the previous day so I could've beseeched Mazu to let the Scots move on to the next round:

Our last stop was at the Nansha Marina. The model of the surrounding area (or at least what it's projected to look like in the future) had many of the buildings toppled over, making it look some disaster had recently struck the district:

There were a few yachts moored in the marina but overall the quays were quiet:

We had lunch in a cafe before heading home in the late afternoon:

A short excursion, but a pleasant one that did much for my mood. This weekend was a welcome reminder that travel does much to improve my outlook on life.  And with our daughter arriving soon for a visit and an upcoming R&R trip that will take us out of China for a couple of weeks I'm confident the next few blog posts will be much more positive in tone and outlook. And oh boy, I can't wait to take advantage of all those upcoming senior discounts! 

*Well, this and a new iPad

** My ticket was half that price thanks to the senior discount, and one of the ticket checkers made my day by doubting I acutally qualified until I produced my diplomatic ID card 

Maikelei Beer 麦克雷