China in the New Year (15): more Guangzhou

It has been the last day of my amazing two-week visit to China with my Chinese ‘family’ Hua and son Joshua to celebrate the Chinese New Year and it was our second day in the southern city of Guangzhou. Typically we had a very varied programme.

In the morning, we visited a place called Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area – a mixture of the kitsch and the colourful. Whereas yesterday, we were in a park full of little children, today we were in a park full of old people – the Chinese cater for everyone. Again someone took a photograph with me, the only foreigner in the place.

In the afternoon, we drove over to the new (2010) Guangzhou Museum, close by the very tall Guangzhou Tower (which was not worth going up because the weather was so gloomy). At the museum, I looked at Ming & Qing dynasty porcelain, Chaozhou woodwork, and Duan ink stones as well as – to my surprise – a special temporary exhibition of the work of the Czech Alphonse Mucha.

In the evening, we went on a boat ride on the Pearl River. We were treated to a show which combined traditional costume and singing with very high tech sets and lasers. Then we enjoyed looking out at the illuminated buildings along the river, most notably the Guangzhou Tower.

Tomorrow morning, we leave our hotel at 6 am for the 13 hour flight back to Britain. I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading these postings about our trip as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing these experiences with you. And, if you’re a friend of mine on Facebook, you’ll have seen lots of photographs too. But actually living these events has been something else.


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