Right now I’m in Hong Kong for the May Holiday, but I’ve spent the past week in the Chinese Southern City of Guangzhou, and I will be back there after the May Holiday is over.
Guangzhou gets a short shrift from expats, guidebook writers, tourists, and visitors to China. I think its mostly justified, as Guangzhou can be described as dirty, polluted, hot, crowded and basically a disheveled poor country mouse cousin to its Cantonese sister Hong Kong just two hours away, and obviously not the cultural center that Beijing is, nor the commerce center that Shanghai is – and its not even a window on the brand new China like its close neighbor to the South Shenzhen is . . . so why do I feel the way about Guangzhou that I do?
I think the story starts 15 years ago when I lived near Guangzhou, teaching at Pei Zheng Commercial College and Guangzhou was our monthly McDonald’s and supplies run. But Guangzhou 1997 was very different than Guangzhou 2012 now – back then the Tianhe district was almost a suburb, with only the football stadium, book city, the brand new Teem Mall and the even newer east railway station. Nowadays the Tianhe to Zhujiang New Town corridor is where I’ve spent my last 5 visits – when 15 years ago, this corridor didn’t exist. And the Tai Koo Hui Shopping mall is nicer than any shopping mall in Hong Kong or Shanghai or Beijing. It is very nice.
As for what I like about Guangzhou itself, I’m not sure how to describe it. Its modern China in one sense, but I think the pace of life is much slower than Beijing and Shanghai. The sub-tropical weather and preponderance of short wearing makes it feel a lot more laid back. And while the city is near HK, it has its own distinctive Cantonese culture. I also happen to think that Guangzhou is the most tolerant city towards outsiders in China. While you can’t go five minutes in Shanghai without locals complaining about ‘waidi ren’ I have found the Guangzhou natives to be pretty welcoming of outsiders – foreigners and non-Cantonese alike. I’ve noticed that while both Shanghainese and Cantonese are very proud of their respective dialects, it feels to me like Shanghainese use their dialect as a wall between themselves and outsiders and as a identifier of who is really Shanghainese, the Cantonese teach outsiders Cantonese and anyone living there for more than a year has at least working relationship with listening in Cantonese.
I’m not recommending people move there, nor am I moving there myself – but I just wanted to defend a city which I think gets a short shrift.
I’m one of those that always gives GZ a bum rap. Despite it being my official home town, I always describe it to people as a sh*t hole. Even the brand new Teem Mall has a horrible smell once you go round the side to the elevators and that area is very run down. And don’t get me started on the airport. The moving people walkways have been “under maintenance” for over a year. I think when something breaks their solution is just to put a sign there and then forget about it. Truly appalling.
But you make some excellent points. Cantonese people are far less up their own arses compared to Shanghainese. And they seem to me a lot smarter and quick thinking than the northerners. I wrote once about a cashier in a supermarket in Beijing who used a calculator to check how much change to give me from a 100 rmb note when the total was 99 RMB. By contrast, most people in GZ could calculate in their heads the monthly repayments on a 500,000 RMB mortgage based on 5% interest.
Very true about the dialect thing too, although I’ve never thought about it like that. I don’t think I have ever seen a Shanghainese person teaching phrases to a non-Shanghai native.
“Even the brand new Teem Mall has a horrible smell once you go round the side to the elevators ” – Teem Mall is like 15 years old! You have a point, though, the newish Grandview Plaza has seen better days. However, I am not joking or exaggerating about the Taikoo Hui Mall. It is NICER than any mall I’ve been to in Greater China – INCLUDING IFC HK, IFC Shanghai, Times Square HK, Xinguang Tiandi in Beijing, Plaza 66 and Super Brand here in Shanghai.
The other thing I like about Guangzhou is it still has this lingering colonial atmosphere downtown, which isn’t being torn down (as much as in Beijing or Shanghai) but nor is it being overly gentrified like those two places. Its a lot more like Qingdao/Xiamen in that’s being lived in and around.
Teem mall is 15 years old? Okay, I’m thinking of the office tower which is new – my client moved there only a few years ago.
Taikoo Hui Mall seems to be the place to be, I’ll have to check it out. The new Element Fresh is there too, just opened 15th March (I missed the opening by one day). Ifit’s nicer than IFC SH then I have to see it to believe it!
And you’re right they don’t seem to be in a hurry to tear down the old, shabby buildings and replace them with shiny new ones.
@WoAi – See for yourself:
http://www.swireproperties.com/en/our-portfolios/mainland-china/Pages/taikoo-hui-guangzhou.aspx
Wow, the girl in the middle photo has amazing legs!
@WoAi – She could use a sandwich
You mean a WoAi and T sandwich I assume!
Nah, I’m not partial to women who look like sticks. I meant a pork chop sandwich.
Sometimes you have to take one for the team T, and she might be skinny but she’s no pork chop!
I think that’s beyond skinny and into eating disorder range.