Pegasus' Travel Experience

March 18, 2012

Play Hard on Weekend - Feel the Prosperity in Guangzhou in the Past

We planned to visit of the Guangdong Provincial Museum but the queue was unexpectedly long, thus, we headed to another place.

Contemporary style buildings in Haixinsha Square, the venue of 2010 Asian Games.

Shangxiaju Pedestrian Street is a shopping area in Guangzhou. Most buildings there are name Tong Lau which is an architect style mix with Western and Chinese characteristics.

The area is part of the old town, named Xiguan where were the homes of many wealthy businessmen. These statutes showed the life in the past, such as tea house and cultural exchange between the East and the West.

Shamian Island was an important port in Guangzhou where the Western countries started to construct rows of buildings for work and stay around. Therefore, the architects there are mainly in western style.

Today, the are becomes the best background for shooting wedding photos or clothes catalogs. It's also an ideal place to dry clothes after hanging up a line between the trees

A wall picture described the old life on the island. Courier station was full of horses but now is full of bicycles. It proves the world is ever-changing.

March 17, 2012

Play Hard on Weekend - Feel the Prosperity in Guangzhou

Work Hard Play Hard is my survival principle. This time, a friend who is familiar with Guangzhou City showed me its latest development.

A farm in the Mainland China area on the way from Hong Kong to Guanzhou East Station. Hope the crops grow healthily and naturally.

Traditional Chinese paintings at Guangdong Museum of Art. I like the bright-color goldfishes swimming freely in the water. My friend prefers the shan shui picture because it is peaceful.

Western art is also available in the museum. Awaiting for something? Good news I hope.

Daily life can be part of arts or arts is part of life? These Tibetan people looked almost 20 years older than their actual age because of the harsh climate in their living area.

Busy traffic on weekend along the Pearl River. Busy is probably a synonym of prosperity.

Residential area in Tianhe District is for those rather well-off and expatriates. Both the cake and coffee were excellent in a cafe there. The price was far beyond national average, a bit higher than that in Hong Kong.

A poster in a bookstore @ Taikoo Hui. The books reminded me university life. Besides of selling books, the bookstore also serves as a cultural hub by organising cultural events from time to time, like Eslite in Taiwan. The guest of the day was a Hong Kong intellect who attracted numbers of people filled up the entire shop.

Yummy Korean dinner at reasonable price in Taikoo Hui. It is a cousin of multiple-use complexes in Hong Kong developed by the major shareholder, Swire Property. In Hong Kong, you can see many people queue up outside brands but this phenomenon did not happen in mainland. Weird.

The lighting on the podium level recalled me the night view at Roppongi, Tokyo.

This poster is fun. But the reason of its birth is not.

Famous night view with Canton Tower in the background.

My friend recommended Leeden Hotel Guangzhou which is really a good choice for the room is spacious, clean and comfortable.

March 12, 2012

Tai O, a Fishing Village on an Outlying Island

Tai O is a fishing village on the Lantau Island. Its unique old-world and rather laid-back style is the best refreshment to busy city people. It is better to visit Tao O on weekends for more shops open at the time.

Stilt house (棚屋) is a signature in Tai O. Back to 200 years ago, fishermen built stilt houses over the water as safe accommodation from terrible weather.

Small area of mangrove proves the water quality in Tai O is pretty good.

Famous shrimp paste in production. The fresh savory shrimp flavor may disappear soon for the Hong Kong government plan to ban nest fishing to protect the environment. Then, the owner said he may replace the main ingredients by mainland shrimps which are in lower quality and hurt the taste. Wonder how a small business can hurt the environment and why transfer a natural coastal area into an artificial beach cannot.

The small market provides convenience to the aged population in the small village.

Cats assembly at the door of a post office under a rainy day. What a funny scene.

Tai O Heritage Hotel Hong Kong

Tai O Heritage Hotel was the old Tai O Police Station which built to prevent pirates attacks. Under a historical building revitalisation project, the official Grade II historic building has become a 9-room boutique hotel.

The hotel organised a number of tours to introduce its history to the public before grand opening. My friend and me attended one on weekday. We this jetboat shuttle to the hotel from Tai O bus station. HK$10 for a 2-min ride. An alternative is 20-min walk for free. Time is valuable, right?

A guy was for defensive use but now is for decoration.

From an abandon building to a beautiful colonial style hotel. Examine the building carefully to find out bullet marks.

One of modern and cozy rooms. I would spend a night here.

A small room for temporary detention of suspects.

This water lily pound was built by a naughty policeman as a punishment of offensive behavior against superior.

A hotel restaurant provides dishes with Tao O specialists.

A drawing about traditional festival and customs from a Tao O artist.

This revitalisation project was not limited to building renovation. It linked up the history and local community closely for the local people involved deeply during the revitalisation, say some people provided photos of the past and some recorded interesting stories in video. Moreover, it provides job opportunities to local Tai O people. The project has demonstrated a warm and humanistic interaction between human and environment. Hope there are more successful revitalisation projects in the near future.