Trip To Guangzhou - Part 3

We began our 2nd day with a visit to the maqam of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, the maternal uncle of Nabi Muhammad SAW, and who ignited the flame of Islam in China. Shop as much as you wish in Guangzhou, but if you are a muslim, it will be worth to spare some time to visit China's must-see muslim attraction sites. The visit will give opportunity to know Islam in China and how different their mosques and graves as compared to what we Malaysian are accustomed to.

Here, we have our group photo and this is probably the only group photo we took together with the full members of the group tour. And again I want to say, so glad that we were traveling with a group of nice, friendly and understanding people, mainly from Semenanjung with a couple from Sabah and we were the only couple from Sarawak, which made our maiden trip to China an interesting, fruitful and enjoyable one.

Another Muslim attraction site in our tour itinerary is Huaisheng Mosque, nested away in one of the quieter streets of Guangzhou, which we visited on the 3rd day.

By 10.00 am, we made our way to Zhang Xi Lu Plaza which is near to the railway and bus station and  a clothing wholesale market having many well-known manufacturers, and also one of the main clothing distribution center in Guangzhou.

There is a huge number of clothing and garment wholesale markets here. Fashion, casual wear, bags and accessories could be found in the multiple markets around here. We were warned of pickpockets and be extra careful with our hand-carry bag.

Traveling away from home is always about food. Ana and I was finally relief to find a decent and clean halal food outlet here, located just next to the main ladies clothing complex where we both had a good nasi bryiani lunch.

Later in the afternoon, we were given option to go on our own. Instead of going to electronic centre which had been in my mind ever since I step foot in Guangzhou, I had to give in to Ana's favorite shopping place, the leather product district. We were amazed by the number of buildings and malls selling specifically only leather goods. You can spend several days in this area, browsing through all the different buildings and side streets. Finally we went into the Baiyun World Leather Trading Centre.

It is a modern, extensive and international trading centre for leather products of different grades and designs. This building is a good starting point in our quest for handbags, belts and accessories. The quality is good and easily can find many different grades and designs.

And the moment I step into this complex, I only have this to say. If you are handbag lovers, or fan of leather goods, you can get crazy exciting experience here. Don't get me wrong. I am not condoning business selling fake products but the high quality of imitation were impressive and very tempting.

You will find that the price of leather products vary greatly, along with the quality. Provided that your negotiation skills are sharp, you should be able to get a reasonable price.

Later in the evening, our dinner was at the famous Abdullah Qinghai Muslim Restaurant. This restaurant is very popular among Malaysian visiting Guangzhou.

Our last program for the day after dinner is walking on the Beijing Lu, in the the city center which is simultaneously fashionable and traditional.

Shopping and walking through Beijing Lu is an experience in itself. It's not just shopping but also about experiencing the rich culture of China and getting a taste of the nation's famed charm while dealing with business matters.

Beijing Lu is a very long stretch of road, flanked by many shops on both sides of the road, mostly middle-class fashion brands and a few local sports wear brand. Just be prepared to be annoyed by people harassing you to buy iPhone and watches with picture cards. Just ignore them.

The good thing about this place is that it is mixed with some significant history where they discovered the original road beneath during excavations, dated from 690AD. They have retained sections of the road and covered it for display in the middle, as you can see in the picture above.

It was an interesting-exciting-exhausting second day in Guangzhou and looking forward to a more bustling next day especially going to Garment and Textile Trading Centre and the place I really aim to go, that is the Electronic, Digital and Mobile Market.

Trip to Guangzhou - Part 2

Guangzhou is said to be the third largest city in China with a population of 12.8 million based on 2010 census.  Just for comparison, KL population is 1.6 million and population of Malaysia is 28.3 million.

One of the reason for us to join this trip is the fact that Guangzhou has long been acclaimed as a shopping paradise, famous for its many wholesales centre of all sorts. There are seas of shopping centre and malls, as well as the wholesale market, with tens of thousands of various products including clothing, electronic and IT related products, textile, leather goods, toys etc etc and the best part is, most of it are at very low price.

Below are some of the pictures that I had taken with my simple and reliable iPhone camera on our way to various shopping complexes.

Our first shopping stop-over on our arrival day is at the must-go place called One-Link Plaza, located  at Yide Road near the Haizu Square. At the first glance, I thought it's a common shopping mall but it is actually a wholesale market. If you are fan of accessories and looking for varieties, this is the place. One-Link Plaza is heaven place to shop for gift, home decor, clips, household furnitures, table clothes, pretty bedsheets, interior designed goods and other things beyond imagination.

Shops in One Link Plaza are mainly for whole-seller and business-minded traveler. Simple business principle apply here. If you buy many, they give you very cheap price. As we were not buying in bulk, Ana and I had to really bargain it hardly to get a cheaper price, but it still worth as it is cheaper since we are buying directly from the wholesaler, with more choices. Prices were reasonable and attractive, and unlike some other parts of Guangzhou, shop owners here were basically not pushing and it made shopping here a breeze and pleasant experienced.

Our 4 hours stop-over definitely were not sufficient, especially most of us were first-timer to China. While resting and waiting for our pick-up, we took the opportunity to interact and got to know each other better. Glad that members of this tour group were friendly, open-minded and understanding. That's something Ana and I really appreciate during this trip.

After a tiring and exhausting first day, it's time for our first dinner . As a muslim, halal food is of course a big concern and is a need. In Guangzhou, they're really quite a number of places which would be suitable for muslim and knowing the Chinese halal characters would be of help.

Apart from One Link Plaza, our group tour itinerary also includes going to Zhang Xi Lu, textile and fabric market, Shang Xia Jiu Lu, Beijing Lu and options to go to leather mall and trading centre, electronic centre and kids market. There were also visits to some popular muslim tourist attraction. Those pictorial stories will be posted later in other part of this blog.

Here are few things worth mentioning about Guangzhou, or China in some instances, in case you are not aware about it yet.

1. The Chinese Authority aggressively censors the internet, routinely deleting online posting and blocking access to websites it deems inappropriate or politically sensitive. So there is no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube, Blogspot and some other US social media and news online. At least it's a good break if you are a hardcore and 'very active' face bookers.

2. In Guangzhou (and may be some other parts of China), well-known Western fast-food chains like McDonald's and KFC are not halal.

3. Motorcycles are banned, partly because of theft and security. Of course there some other reasons for it.

My first day impression of Guangzhou, it is a must-go city for those who have not been here. At least you should experienced it once. And of course, if you are in a wholesale business, this is the place.

Have a good day ahead.

Trip To Guangzhou - Part 1

We touched down around 9.30 am local time at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, one of the three largest air hubs in China, being the 2nd busiest in passenger traffic and the 3rd busiest in cargo handling.  The weather was great, equally humid as my home place and not as cold as what I had expected.

Perhaps I need to mention that the red colour of my jacket was mere coincidence, resembling China's red colour flag which is so closely associated with Communism. And for the whole period of my stayed  here, I don't need that jacket.

This airport also boasts very convenient ground transportation system which is mainly made up of subway, intercity bus, taxi and shuttle bus. Just a simple advice, don't follow anyone offering transportation as a decent Chinese taxi driver will wait in his car in line and not walk into the arrival hall. Just ignore them. Better to be prepared and have your accommodation address in Chinese as most taxi driver does not speaks English. 

Being in the tour group which consist of 33 peoples, shuttle bus waited for us, about 10 minutes walk from the arriving hall and it took about 45 minutes to reach our hotel. 

The lady with that sweet smiling face in the bus is my travel companion, who took care of me and making sure that I have enough rest, will not spend unnecessarily on things that I don't need, especially on gadgets and golf accessories. She is, of course, my beloved wife.

Upon arriving at our hotel, the checked-in process run smoothly. I must say, our tour agent especially Firdous did a good job as we didn't have to wait long for our room key, and especially when we were tired and exhausted.

Our accommodation, Jinjiang Inn, located at Yuexiu District may not be a luxurious hotel, but it's good enough for the two of us., after all I am not a 5-Star traveller. The room is clean, that's very important to us, with basic facilities like water heater though without mini bar. And the best part, it has free Wifi in the room.

After checking-in, we had ample time to rest before exploring the city which has a long history of trade and business and known more for it's economy and proximity to Hong Kong than for being the major tourist destination. It was a good idea to depart at 5.30 am from LCCT as we were able to fully utilised our first day with the program started at 2 pm.

A friend back home did warned me that Guangzhou is a terrible place for tourist. There is mistrust in the air, everyone is paranoid about the money and is hostile and rude. It has serious societal issues and widespread moral defect. Don't expect any service standards or social grace of any kind, it doesn't exist in their culture. That's what I was told.

I am about to find out how true all these is in my 4 days 3 nights stay here.

Everyone seems cheerful and excited to start the first day. That story will be in Part 2.

Take care.

Guangzhou Trip - Departure

I had been to few parts of the world, but not China. So, it's understandble that I am nervous and also excited. For the last few days, I been spending time surfing and googling anything on Guangzhou.

Our Air Asia flight expected to depart 0535 hrs today (18 Oct 2013), we were at the LCCT by 0330 hrs. First thing first, short and quick briefing by the tour agent.

If you are a frequent traveller, this part is nothing much. It's just mentioning checking-in, boarding, filling-in arrival form etc.

Then we proceed to drop-in luggage as all of us had been checked-in by the agent before hand. It's a bit messy here.

If you are used to travel by Air Asia, you should know how 'friendly' and conducive LCCT is.

I am updating this blog while waiting to board the aircraft and time running short. Got to go now and hopefully will be able to update again once we settle down in Guangzhou. Wish us safe and enjoyable trip. Cheers

I am back blogging

Hi, my name is Udin bin Bujang, 50 years old, married and blessed with 3 lovely daughters. Am a proud Sarawakian, family origin from Rajang, born in Sibu and now living in Kuching.

That's just a simple-quick introduction, at least to give you idea who is behind this blog. Chances is that, you may to get to know me more if you follow this blog.

So what does the title of this blog mean?

Sometimes we try to satisfy people around us by walking a particular path in spite our own mind advises otherwise. Life is too short to spend all our time trying to make everyone else happy. Besides, it's impossible to please everyone all the time. At some point, we've got to stop caring about what everyone else wants for us, and start actually living for ourself. Make choices that take our mind, body, and soul into consideration. We are the only person who knows what's best for ourself.

Accept that someone else's opinion on us is NOT our problem. So, let's move on.