Trip To Guangzhou - Part 4

Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, built about 1300 years ago is one of the oldest mosques in China and is an excellent place to visit if you want to learn about Islamic culture in China. With traditional Guangdong architecture, it still plays a very important role in Muslim life in Guangzhou, welcoming Muslims from all over the world, including tourist and businessmen who are here either on leisure or  business trip.

Located at one of the quieter part of the city, this place is kind of hidden with serene ambiance and surrounded with several halal enterprises nearby, making it a must-visit to Muslims visiting Guangzhou. Our group spent a bit of time here to shop for food especially tit-bits at the halal supermarket across the road.

After the muslim site-tour program in the morning, top on the list of our itinerary today was shopping at fabric and textile market. And of course you-know-who was really looking forward to this kind of stop-over.

If you thought Jakel or along Jalan Masjid India KL was the bomb for shopping for fabric and textile, wait till you head to this area in Guangzhou.  Zhongda fabric market with other trading building nearby is really one of the largest markets I could ever access.

Technically, the storefronts in the building were showrooms for factories so if they do not have existing stock, they might offer for you to collect or send to you in a minimum order quantity in a few hours or the next day. Most were for wholesale business, so it's understandable that the price for small cuts of existing stock and mass production will be different. Keep in mind that many shops might not keep their existing stock in the store itself so its always the case they needed between an hour to one day to bring the fabric to the shopfront for you. And if you were to collect later, check thoroughly to make sure its the same as what you had placed order earlier.

Generally, the fabric in this building that we went to pertain to apparel making. Here you will find pure cotton, blends, silk, waterproof polyster, etc. Floors and floors of fabric swatches line the corridors of the building. Ana and I wasn't really sure where to begin. We were a little worried that the store owners would ignore us since we weren't really there to buy wholesale, so Ana took some time looking through the swatches.

While Ana going gaga over the fabrics and silk clothing available, naughty me took a bit of time to have my photo taken with some not so pretty salesgirls, which I thought if they were to come working in Malaysia, they could be made a good golf's caddies.

Just a reminder, be very careful to watch where you're going, even if you are in the building or mall, something we were not familiar with in our own country. There were a lot of bicycles, motorcycles and tricycle carrying fabric goods moving along swiftly and you definitely don't want to get in their way. I am sure most of us were not accustomed or never experienced to having a bicycle or motorcycle in the same lift.

The next time you're in Guangzhou, lady in particular, take some time to visit this fabric market. You should be prepared to wait for the fabric delivery. The roads could be congested and what the store owners promised may not be true, but if you're patient you could uncover some really pretty fabric.

In the afternoon, we had our own individual program, continued exploring, going here and there in Guangzhou's busy central commercial centre, with more confidence after been here for the last 2 days. You might not have must choice but to use tricycle as traffic can be terribly bad here.

Later in the evening, we went to Shang Xia Jiu Lu pedestrian street, a place bright with neon lights. I honestly think this place is good to visit for experience but nothing fantastic at this location. We just strolled along the street which was quite a long walk.

So many shops, so many restaurants and cafe along the street. Nothing here appeal much to both Ana and I. Imitation products and cheap quality clothing usually found here and the place was also very crowded and filled mostly with locals so it's definitely harder to bargain if you are foreigner or can't speak Chinese.

Anyway, it's still worth coming here since this could be said as part of the Chinese culture, that is being in the crowded place with the Chinese people. In short, I could only say this, not worth to shop, worth to explore.

Next will be the Final Part of our Trip To Guangzhou. Have a good day ahead.