Liuhuahugongyuan 流花湖公园– Guangzhou, China

        Park is one of the vital components of a city for it helps reduce pollution and maintain the city's temperature. No wonder Guangzhou is known as the city of flowers for it has many public parks scattered over the city area. Unfortunately, parks are rarely found in the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta. Jakarta is already too packed with fossil-fueled vehicles without being sustained with a good management of public parks. So, the local government must take immediate actions to rejuvenate the city's face to avoid further damage. 

Tianhe Waterfall 天河飘绢– Guangzhou, China

The waterfall looks beautiful at night

        What do you usually do in the evening? If you stay in Guangzhou, you might not want to just stay in your apartment watching TV. That would be your last choice right? As a travelholic, I could not just quietly rest in my room. One day, I decided to take my mom and brother to see how the city looked like at night. Based on the information from the travel guide book of Guangzhou, I found that one of the interesting scenes in Guangzhou is a place called Tianhe waterfall, located in Tianhe district. That night, my mom, my brother and I decided to visit that place out of curiosity.

Shangxiajiulu Pedestrian Street 上下九路商业步行街 – Guangzhou, China

        If you ask me what country impresses me most, I would confidently answer “China”. Although I have heard some people say they do not really like China because of its dirty toilets and rude people, the astonishing fact is I feel such a very strong attachment with the country. Honestly, although I am an Indonesian, I never love a country like I love China. I love everything about China; the history, the language, the culture even the people. No matter what people say about how rude the Chinese people are, I would always be able to bear that fact and in return adapt with the situation. I just love the people as if they were part of my long-lost big family and on the contrary find their rude behaviors a challenge to show what we call “true love”. Everything about China always charms me. 

Shamian Island 沙面岛 – Guangzhou, China

  

        After visiting Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and Chen Clan Academy, my friends and I continued our journey to a small island called Shamian Island. We took MTR and stopped at the Huangsha station and went to exit D. We crossed the  pedestrian overpass and soon reached the spot. The island is relatively small but it has very unique characteristics, with the most obvious one is its colonial architecture. Although it is only separated with a series of bridges from the rest of the city, the island has a completely different face in terms of building architecture. The structures of the buildings on this island follow European style.

        If you travel to Guangzhou, a visit to the Shamian island is a must. The island was originally a merely sandbank on the Pearl River in Liwan district and an outpost for the city, which name literally means “sand surface” in Chinese. It was not a real island, but reclaimed in 1859 and became a concession area. The island is located a few yards from the rest of the city and is connected by a series of bridges closed at 10 pm for security reason. 

Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum 西汉南越王博物馆 – Guangzhou, China

        Are you a museum traveler? I am, and you might consider me a bit awkward since unlike girls in general, I prefer going to museums instead of malls. Yes, indeed my hobby is a little bit extraordinary.. haha.. Every time I asked my friends to visit a museum, they would refuse with various excuses. They were not interested to go there for they regarded museum as a boring place where there are only ancient artifacts and no entertainment at all (oopps… correct me if I’m wrong guys.. hehe). Is it 100% true? I don’t think so. Although museums display ancient things, they offer another side of entertainment to those who have special taste for history and culture. It is the place where you could see directly ancient stuff and catch a glimpse of past history.

        In summer 2009, I took my mom and my brother to visit a museum since I believe they were the only people willing to accompany to visit “museum”.. haha.. That museum did not look strange to me since I had passed it several times whenever I took public bus to go to Guihuagang, the wholesale center of bags. Each time I passed it, I wondered what that red building really was. After I searched on the map, I found out that that red building is actually a museum called the Western Han Dynasty Nanyue King Museum. Mmh.. what a long name for a museum.. The admission fee to the museum was only 12 Yuan. 

Martyrs’ Park 广州起义烈士陵园 – Guangzhou, China

 

        Besides the Mausoleum of 72 Martyrs, Guangzhou also boasts another modern martyrs memorial called Guangzhou Insurrectional Martyr Cemetery Park. Together with two friends, I decided to explore this site out of curiosity. The site is located not far from my relative's residence and is easily accessed by bus or MTR. If you take MTR, just stop at Martyrs’ Park station. I still remember passing by this place every time I took public bus to go to Yidelu. As I observed the site from inside the bus, I thought it was a grand Buddhist temple since it has red gates or a cultural park since it covers a massive area.