Guangzhou

Guangzhou, known in the West as Canton, is the capital city of the huge province of Guangdong. Guangdong and its residents are regarded with a mixture of suspicion and fascination by their northern counterparts. This intrigue is partly due to Guangdong's fame as a dirty, noisy and dangerous city. Although the area has a fairly buoyant economy, the crime rate here is high and there are multitudes of migrant workers from out of town who hang about Guangzhou on the look out for money. Guangdong people are also famously aggressive and noisy. Many visitors to the city however, find this kind of enthusiasm refreshing and passionate as opposed to threatening and it is this attitude which laid the foundations for the revolutionary beliefs that the city has harboured in the past. Indeed, the revolutionary sights are among the more interesting aspects of Guangdong and the Communist Party Academy is a fascinating insight into the foundations of the PRC's political party.

There is also a colonial side to Guangzhou that has a relaxed and laid back feeling to it. Many of the buildings and churches on Shamian Island are well maintained and rather pretty, especially compared to the high rises and granite buildings on the other side of the river.

Perhaps the best thing about Guangzhou however is eating. The Chinese saying 'Born in Suzhou, eat in Guangzhou and die in Liuzhou' is a fitting way to describe the wealth of great food available here. (Apparently if you are born in Suzhou you have a beautiful mother, and if you die in Liuzhou you will be buried in the finest coffins!) Eating is certainly the main pleasure for the local residents here and there are literally hundreds of good restaurants serving up authentic Cantonese cuisine. The atmosphere in many of these places is great and not unlike the city itself-lively, friendly and very very noisy!