We worked a half-day and got our freedom at 12 noon. Since my coworker Will decided to meet his cousin in Shenzhen and go check out Guangzhou, and jumped at the chance to go with. Always a little easier if you have travel companions to help you figure out the logistics in a foreign country.
Guangzhou is a 1 hour train ride up into the Pearl River delta from Shenzhen (see my Google Latitude picture) and is also known as Canton or Kwangchow. It is the capital of the Guangdong province and one of five National Central Cities and a key transportation hub and trading port. It is the third largest city in China and the official estimate of the city’s population at the end of 2009 was 10.5 million.
We splashed out and are staying in the posh Ritz-Carlton on the Pearl River (it’s one night only, and we found a special rate of $150).
Pictures .. first one is of all the train riders making for the train at Shenzhen station. The train is very nice and we had numbered seat assignments – so no need to push and shove! Next one is of our arrival at Guangzhou station where we got a taxi to the hotel. Wow! I said as I looked out my hotel room window. The plaza below was constructed along with the stadium for the 201o 16th Asian Games, held in November last year. The stadium is built on an island in the Pearl River, and the picture of the bridge is also close by, across the Pearl river. All of the following pictures were taken in and around the plaza. The spectacular tower is the Canton Tower, more pictures to follow since we plan to go up in it on Sunday. The tower is the tallest TV tower in the world, and the tallest structure in China at 610m (almost 2,000 ft). It opened in September 2010 after 6 years of design and construction.
