Do You Delta?
Like construction? Like getting lost? Like monkey brains? Nor do we, but we went to Guangzhou anyway – and so should you.
They say the Pearl River Delta is the brightest spot on Earth. As you’d expect, we’re not sure who “they” are, and it may be a slight exaggeration, but there’s a grain of truth to it. Ask anyone who does business in China. Ask any one of the developers working on the ten new five-star hotels opening in Guangzhou next year. Ask Li Ka-shing, who’s building another Pacific Place-esque shopping mall in the middle of the city. Guangzhou’s only getting bigger, better and more important for us in Hong Kong.
So it’s time bite the bullet - it’s time to Delta. And being the good people we are, we went up first, to find all there is to do in a weekend in Guangzhou.
15 Things to do | Guangzhou Nightlife | The Don'ts | The Logistics
1. Take a night cruise along the Pearl River. It’s a little cheesball touristy, but it’s still really pretty. Boats depart from several locations throughout the day and night. Try the 8pm-10pm boat from Da Sha Tou on Yanjiang Zhong Lu. Plus, it’s cheap as chips: ¥48/USD7.20 for those two hours.
2. Feed the koi at Baomo Garden. A dreamy Chinese water lily park worthy of “Memoirs of a Geisha.” (The cast was Chinese, why not the set too?) With rainbows of koi carp swirling in every pond and, at the wrong time of year, tour groups spilling into them, Baomo is best seen very early in the morning, when the sky is pink. Take a walk at sunrise, or perch on a bench, feed the fishies with a bearded wise man, and watch the oldsters put their grandkids to shame with precision kung fu mastery. Don’t mess, brutha. Coaches from Guangzhou Coach Station depart at 8am, 9:10am, 10:20am, 11:50am, 2:20pm and 3:40pm. Tickets ¥30/USD4.50.
3. Eat hot pot at Xiao Fei Yang (The Little Fat Lamb), perhaps the most popular hotpot restaurant in the entire Delta. It’s a chain restaurant that originated in Inner Mongolia and has spread across China. The Hong Kong branches aren’t as authentic as this one is, with its famous ginseng, garlic, clove, ginger and onion broths. 2/F, Peng Yuan Development Building, 187 Xiao Bei Road, +86-20-8354-4158.
4. Take the yellow taxis, which are driven by local Guangzhou people who know where they are going. The green ones are driven by immigrants (more often than not, confused, lost immigrants). And when you do get in one, put your seatbelt on. …