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.