Exploring Guangzhou, China
It is no secret that China is rapidly becoming an economic powerhouse, noteworthy for growth that is occurring as fast as anywhere else in the world. Development almost unprecedented in world history is rapidly transforming the standards of living for tens of millions ordinary Chinese people. One of the best places to get a firsthand look at how quickly China is changing and modernizing itself is Guangzhou. It’s just a few hours from Hong Kong by train, and with superior restaurants and Guangzhou cheap hotels, even a few days in this vibrant city on the Pearl River are really an eye-opener.
One of the first things you’ll notice is how much this city resembles any other modern metropolis in the world. Many of the structures built decades ago have been demolished in favor of huge new shopping complexes and high-rise accommodations for the waves of Chinese who have come from the provinces to take part in the economic boom that is the new China. On a recent trip to Guangzhou, I kept coming back to the word “scale”: everything seems to have been conceived in an enormous context, and the audacity of some of the building projects is breathtaking at times.
At the same time, there are pockets of history that still exists in Guangzhou, such as Shamian Island, a small quiet oasis of colonial architecture and wide streets situated right on the river. If you’re looking for a cheap Guangzhou hotel, I would seriously recommend Shamian Island as a base for explorations of the city. I enjoyed returning in the evening for a dinner in one of the many restaurants that line the waterfront near the hotels, with superb seafood and other regional Chinese delights.
The conventional tourist activities of shopping and eating in excellent Cantonese restaurants are certainly enough to keep you busy for a few days. But expect to come away impressed by the story of Chinese growth in the 21st century, a theme that is sure to be relevant in the decades to come. There are few cities in China that combine tourist infrastructure, fine dining and one of the most relevant themes of current events, that of China’s rise on the world stage, as well as Guangzhou.
