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.