Gillick's World Explores China: Hunan, Guangdong and Guanxi | Page 25

Guangzhou sunrise on the Pearl River

Guangdong is China’s most populace province with 107 million people;
Guangzhou the capital, houses 7 million. But for those travellers who cringe at
the prospect of having to elbow their way through lineups and crowded streets
while constantly muttering hmm ho yee see (sorry) and megoi (excuse me),
opportunities abound to enjoy moments of reflection in the alleyways, markets,
parks, mountain paths, bamboo groves and on the shores of lotus ponds.
We flew from Toronto to Shanghai and on to Guangzhou before checking into the
Hotel Landmark Canton. My 17th floor room had a perfect view of the Pearl River,
which wends its way past the hotel and seemingly disappears into the downtown
core of the city.
The next morning while exploring the area, I came
upon an old neighbourhood where small well-lived-in
houses huddled along a narrow maze of st ɕ