Bigger and bigger

Like most Asian cities, Guangzhou isn't without it's tall buildings. While the International Finance Centre, pictured here, isn't quite as tall as its Shanghai cousin (this is the 11th tallest skyscraper in the world whereas the Shanghai World Financial Centre is the 4th), it's still a sight to behold nonetheless. At night it's lit up beautifully, showing a symmetric cris-cross pattern from top to bottom. Equally striking is the clean curves of the Guangzhou Opera House - you can see part of it at the bottom left of the picture.

From out of nowhere

I walk past this strip of Guangzhou shops twice a day. Suddenly today there is a fancy opening ceremony for a new Pele Kona coffee store - a shopfront that I swear was not there yesterday. Either it was boarded up and I didn't notice - or chinese artisans have fitted out this shop complete with interior fittings ready to open for business - literally overnight. Both are real possibilities. This reminds me to write something on the extraordinary scale and speed of general construction in GZ - more on that later.

Different city

All Chinese cities are not created equal. I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that Guangzhou is slightly different to Shanghai in a few ways. Guangzhou does not use coins as currency - plenty of 1 rmb and Mao coins used in Shanghai but GZ uses notes only. Strange. Traffic is better in GZ - despite it's huge population. And oddly, there are no motorbikes allowed in GZ. Almost impossible to believe as two wheeled modes of transport are so commonplace elsewhere in China. People in GZ get around by car or via the relatively extensive underground metro network. Motorbikes were outlawed in 2010 - in an effort to clean up the city prior to hosting the Asian Games. Now streets like the one below are empty of bikes. A similar street scene in Shanghai would be so different.

Grey Guangzhou

A bright spot in an otherwise grey and dull GZ day. It could be leftover decorations from Chinese new year. But more probably it's more permanently enshrined - 2012 is the auspicious year of the dragon after all.

Canton!

Updates will be less this month. I am working in Guangzhou (formerly Canton) during March so am away from the family. Guangzhou is China's third largest city in the heart of the Pearl River Delta - and just a skip across the border from Hong Kong. GZ has a nice feel to it. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the Cantonese food.