Shunde, Guangzhou

It was said that best Guangdong cuisine actually comes from Shunde , even the snacks are excellent .

We visited Shunde , just to visit one private garden - Qinghui Garden which was once the residence of a rich man in Shunde.

The garden was not big in area , but big for a residence with various gardens . Here we were intoduced to the layouts of a typical rich Chinese residence .

One uniqueness is the walls of the house . Rice & wheat were used to blend the soil or clay to make the bricks.

now under the country's heritage protection

see the bricks

one end of the garden

a study room

Here in this residence, many scholars were ' groomed ' .

the scholars' hall

another side of the garden

beautiful fountain in the residence garden

what  a  brilliant designer window in the garden walls

no two windows has the same scenery from the garden behind

And to commemorate Deng Xiao ping's visit to Shunde, they have this built .

Deng's statue seen here with his signature two cats

" Black cat or white cat , as long as it can catch the mice, it is a good cat  ! " - Deng Xiao Ping quoted .

This made Shunde memorable.

Foshan, Guangzhou

Our second day itinerary in Guangzhou started at 8.30am . We travelled an hour to another district called Foshan .
This is Huang Fei Hong memorial hall .

Huang Fei Hong Memorial

Portrait of the one and only REAL Huang Fei Hong

We watched a very commercialized performance of lion dance here by the 'wong fei hoong' trainees .

Frankly, our Malaysian lion dance is better , more youthful & energetic , more lively.

Next, the Ancestral Temple of Guangzhou. It was said that this was the oldest of all temples in Guangzhou. It sat on the center axis too, like most chinese palaces .

the opera stage facing the temple

the fantastic ceramic figurines on the roof tops , so refine .

the second layer is the gold painted wood carvings, awesome 

one of the huge piece of gold painted wood carvings .

devotees left incense in the temple, not burnt

Ip Mun was Bruce Lee's teacher / master

Bruce Lee & Ip Mun

Most surprisngly was the display of Bruce Lee's handwritten letters to his fellow brothers. Very neat cursive handwriting in deed .

look at  the signature

is this familiar ?

There's the Confucious Temple next to it . Many people went make wishes and hang the wishes on this tree.

look at all the wishes printed on red cards

I did too...... I think I have to throw 4 to 5 times to get it done .

must throw hard and get it stayed on the tree

Finally....this piece is mine. Got my wishes on the tree.

So, this was at Foshan suburb.

A short visit to Guangzhou

It 's end autumn .This southern city of China welcomed us in a sunny day.

Buses were not allowed to pick up tourists in front of arrival . We have to walk a long way out , across the street to board the bus .

Boarded , we were to visit the Sun Yat Sen Memorial  and the YueXiu Park.

 

A unique octagon roof top

Portrait of Dr Sun Yat Sen

The interior beneath the octagon roof --- no pillars blocking at all .

A copy of  Dr Sun's writing 

 From the memorial , just across the road not too far away is the Yuexiu Park which has a 5-goats Statue . The park was scenic but too pack with people on a hot sunny Thursday.

5 Goats Statue - symbol of Guangzhou 

The local tour leader seems eager to cover as much spots in the itinerary as possible. Soon after lunch, we visited the Shamian island which was an area leased to British & French those years in history.
Now, it is a beautiful leisure park, a popular scenic spot for bridal photo shooting , we were told. True enough, we were lucky to see the evidence .... many couples were there taking photos .

Different buildings with different architectual designs

young couples at the photo shooting session 

This bride-to-be was seen changing entire outfit there in the open .

Refreshing fountain

Artistic bronze scultures

There's even a primary school in the midst .

We found another interesting thing here in the park ...... it was equipped with fitness exercises tools , all in perfect condition . No vandalism .

Wonder how long would this metals last in our park before the 'collectors ' steal and sell it off ?