Night scene at Pearl River

Shameen or Shamien Island is an artificial island formed of sand as the name implies,'Sha'-mandarin word for sand while 'Mien'means surface.

In this old aerial photo,the island is located to the south of the western suburb of Guangzhou city beside the Zhujiang River or Pearl River in Liwan District.

An irregular oval, it is about half a mile in length by some three hundred yards in breadth, and comprises two Concessions: one British and the other French.

This is the home for foreign residents in Canton since 1863.

Following a 1757 Imperial Edict by Chinese Manchu Emperor Qianlong, foreign trade—and therefore its communication with the outside world—was prohibited outside of a tiny enclave called the “Thirteen Factories.”

The Factories(Chinese Merchants) were located on a small stretch of the Zhujiang (Pearl) River in the west suburbs of Canton outside of the walled city, which foreigners were not permitted to enter.

The thirteen appointed Chinese merchants (or Factors) were responsible for the foreigners’ behavior.
One such regulations is that only male foreigners were allowed in Canton, and they were only permitted to stay for the duration of the trade season (6 months a year) after which they were required to leave China—either for Macau or back to Europe.

Western style building architectures,Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel,Christchurch and the many beautiful tree lined boulevard were some of the features of the island.

The White Swan Hotel which is a luxury hotel having hosted to many high ranking foreign dignitaries is adjacent to the United States Consulate Office.

Huangsha Station of Guangzhou Metro is located within a short walk from the island, via an overpass crossing the busy Liu'ersan Road.

There is also a ferry running from Huangsha Pier to Fangcun Pier, which runs every 10 minutes carrying foot-passengers and bicycles. Fares are from 0.5RMB for a foot passenger and 1RMB for a passenger with a bike.

There are no public buses on the island itself, although there are several nearby bus stops. Guangzhou Cultural Park (文化 pinyin:Wen Hua) bus stop is east of Shamien and nearest.

It took me close to an hour to walk leisurely from Zhongsan 6th Road to reach the Pearl River bank.

 After crossing onto Zhongsan 7th Road,made a left turn to Renmin Zong Lu,the olden days shophouses were still intact and business activities were very lively

.Almost every corners of the street have surveillance CCTV and this is a very safe city.

Had a simple 6 Yuan mixed-riced dinner where you need to buy a coupon and then pick your dishes.

 Public buses were still jammed packed after office hours.

Bus Number 37 route ends at Guangzhou Rail Station and Bus 823 headed Lihua Coach Terminal beside the rail station.

After passing by Guangzhou Children's Hospital and the 5 Rams City Hotel(a three star ,room rates between US38-USD85),noticed a night bazaar in one of the side streets.

Bai Gong(White House) Hotel is behind Zhongsan University Hospital II. Another Xin Ling Hotel is beside some sea-food hawker street.

Most of the businesses centred near the Pearl River are mainly electronic consumer goods such as this Electronic and Digital City Building. Another big wholesale electronic business is in the Nanjiang International Digital Building.




  The Zhujiang River (Pearl River) flows out via the Zhujiang Estuary near Shenzhen and Lantau Island in Hong Kong and then into the South China Sea.

This RenMin(People's) Bridge connects to Haizu District which is an Island by itself and Shamien Island is beside the bridge on the right(not in photo)

Hotels in Haizhu District:
1) South American Grand Hotel(No. 16 Haiming street Binjiang West Road)-82USD
2) Riverview Hotel (No. 298 Yan Jiang Zhou Road) -72USD
3) Zhuying Garden Hotel (No.354 Xinggang Zhong Road, inside the Pearl Film Making company,Beside the Kecun subway station exit D) -41USD
4) New Pearl River Hotel (No:795 Bingjiang East Road) -77USD
5) Guangzhou Tianyue Hotel (NO:1 Jili South Street) -37USD
6) Guangzhou Huahai Hotel (No.232 Jiang Nan Avenue) -33USD
7) Plaza Canton Hotel (Rosedale) No.348 Jiang Nan Road -77USD
8) Guangzhou Xingdu Hotel (No:172 Middle Changgang Road) -39USD
9) Paco Business Hotel [NO.438 Jiangnan Avenue (Jiangnan Dadao)] -30USD
10) Guangzhou Hongdu Hotel (No.53, Yiju Street, South Island Road) -25USD
11) Ai Du Hotel ( No.1441 Dongxiao South road) -25USD

 Places in Haizhu District that might interest you:

 Zhongda Fabric Market,main campus of Sun Yat Sen University,Museum of Biology Zhongsan University,Guangzhou International and Exhibition Center,Zhujiang Water Fun Park,Xiaogang Park,Wufeng Mountain,Yingzhou Ecology Park,Henan Christian Church,Guangzhou Pagoda and Zhouzhoule Mass Cultural Square.









A beautiful European styled building currently being used as an electronic shopping plaza.
 Chinese cities were planned as segregated environments, with separate districts for different purposes.

The official headquarters, usually in the north central area of the city, faced south over their subjects.

 Wide avenues separated residential wards from each other, and these wards often had gates.

Market places were spread through the inner city, but much of the mercantile activity took place outside the city walls.












There were dozens of luxuriuos cruise ships taking tourists for a ride down the Pearl River.
 The night sceneries along the banks of the Pearl River was very spectacular and gorgeous.

 My current location is Xidi Wharf where there is a ticketing booth nearby.

Cruising time:19:30,20:00,20:30,21:00,21:30 and 22:00.
Ticket price:1st Floor(38Yuan),2nd Floor(48Yuan) and Upper Deck(58Yuan)

During the day,there were ships cruising between Xidi Wharf and Aozhou Wharf.
Sailing time:09:00 - 11:00 and between 17:00 - 18:30.
The fares were 0.50Yuan per head,0.60Yuan per bicycle and 0.25Yuan for senior citizens above 65 years.





  The historical Marine Custom House which must be the centrepoint of The First Opium War or the First Anglo-Chinese War that was fought between the British East India Company and the Qing Dynasty of China from 1839 to 1842 with the aim of forcing China to allow free trade, particularly in opium.

 During the 19th century, trading in goods from China was extremely lucrative for Europeans and Chinese merchants alike.

Due to the Qing Dynasty's trade restrictions, whereby international trade was only allowed to take place in Canton (Guangzhou) conducted by imperially sanctioned monopolies, it became uneconomic to trade in low-value manufactured consumer products that the average Chinese could buy from the British like the Indians did.






  A night to chill out with Heineken beer at this outlet beside the Pearl River.
Guangzhou Asia Pacific Brewery Co. Ltd (GAPB) greenfield brewery factory is in the Huangpu District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong.
 

View of Pearl River from Renmin Bridge,The other bridge downstream is Jiefang Bridge,then the Haizhu Bridge near Tianzi Pier and the big Haizhu Wholesale Flea Market Square.

Pearl River,the third longest river in China has a length of more than 1,376 miles (2,124 kilometers).

Originating from a calcareous cave at Mahongshan, Qujing city, Yunnan province, the Pearl River runs across Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces,Hong Kong and eventually flows into South China Sea.

With sparkling lights on both banks of the river, modern buildings and several old bridges reflect themselves on the water surface, Pearl River Cruise creates a romantic atmosphere and leaves unforgetable impression to every visitor.





Cruise ship heading towards Tianzi Wharf,the most popular disembarkation port .
It owns more luxurious ship and better tasted buffet dinner.
Address: Beijing South Road, Guangzhou
Bus Route: 1, 4, 57, 59, 64, 194, 183, 194, 219, 281, 544 Metro Station:
Getting off at Haizhu Square Station, Line 2, Exit A

Cruise ship Nanhai Sen 80 minutes extravangaza:(cruise time from 18:55-20:05)
Deck 1F:Dinner only (USD30),Deck2F VIP Western Dinner (USD48),Rooftop deck -Snacks,tea,coffee (USD48)








Tips on how to use the Public buses in Guangzhou.

You'll see this route signboard at almost all bus stop shelters.

Don't worry if you can't read the mandarin script. This bus route map is at Ximenkou,
Zhongsan 6th (Liu) Lu and has red wording being your current position.
Since most of the buses are left hand drive,the route correspond to their driving directions.
Take Bus 104,there are still 10 more stops before it ends where all passengers will get off the bus.
If you would like to have a city ride,try hopping into any of them but not Bus 193 where you have only two more stops before ending.

Just get ready your 1Yuan notes or coins and put it into the deposit slot beside the driver,no questions asked and enjoy the ride.

Hopefully you are lucky to have a seat otherwise just hang on throughout the journey. Once you've reached that destination get off the bus and check your map to learn more about the place including the Mandarin scripts.

Look at Bus 233,on top of the many bus stops were red icons meaning Metro Station stops.

Huaisheng Mosque,Guangzhou

Nestled in between some of the old buildings of Guangzhou at Guanta Street is the Huaisheng Mosque with an exterior arch having a blend of a Chinese temple.

Passerby might not noticed that this place is a Muslim house of worship.

On every Friday,this street will be abuzzed with Muslims of various nations congregating at this mosque to perform their Friday prayers.

Huaisheng Mosque is among one of the oldest mosque in China as manuscript evidence showed that it was built during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

During the earlier Tang Dynasty (619AD-907AD),Guangzhou has already been a trading centre where Arab merchants must have brought with them the Islamic culture.

Please note that non-Muslims are not allowed in unless you are with a tour group and the opening hours are from 08:30-17:00.





The walls of the east and west parches in Huaisheng Mosque were completed by ramming muds during Kangxi time each having thickness of between 70-80cm.

 There is at one section of the mosque displaying the type of metamorphic and sedimentary Hongsa rocks in an enclosed glass casing.

 In mandarin 'Hong' means red while 'Sa' means sand.

 Emperor Kangxi was the greatest ruler of China reigning for nearly 61 years.

He was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1912)

This  Building for the sighting of the crescent to confirm the date for the beginning of fasting months.

The wall was being built using the Hongsa rocks during the 276 years rule of Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).

The top tier roof is being constructed to shape like a hill top with double caves roof.

Upper and lower caves are arches of four tiers and it is the relics of the Kangxi period.

 When it was rebuilt during Qing Dynasty the upper part of the north door was written  
" This is Allah your God,there is not an adorable God but him,he is the Creator of all things on earth and you must adore him."

North Door "Jiao Chong Xi Yu" is the authentic writing of Cixi,the mother of Guangxu Emperor of the Qing Dynasty during 1901 which was stamped and decorated with dragons on both sides.

Jiao Chong Xi Yu means Islam Comes from West Makkha.

Main prayer hall building.
In fact the mosque covers an area of more than 2,966 square meters (3,547 square yards) and features six important buildings, the Imam Hall, the Wangyue Attic, the Covered Corridor, the Storehouse of Islamic Scripture, the Stone Steles Pavilion and the Light Tower.
The mosque was also named Light Tower Mosque.

 The Light Tower is a minaret, which used to serve as a beacon for boats on the Zhujiang River(Pearl River).

In addition, sailors often climb up to the minaret to observe the weather conditions.

Although the mosque presents a typical architectural style of the Tang Dynasty, the Light Tower seems to develop a new school of its own, which is deeply influenced by Arabic architectural flavor, an attractive feature of the mosque.





Main entrance to prayer hall that have a Chinese version design.
Other Mosques in Guangzhou includes: Guangzhou Dongjiao Mosque at Dongxianli, Dongjiaochang, Guangzhou.

Guangzhou Haopan Mosque at No. 378, Haopan Street, Tiancheng Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou.

Guangzhou Dongying Mosque at No. 1, Xiaodongying, Yuehua Road, Guanghzou Location: Near Guangzhou City Hall and Yuexiu Park.


 


View of prayer hall.
Muslims are commanded to perform prayers five times a day.
The five prayers are each assigned to certain prescribed times (al waqt) at which they must be performed, unless there is a compelling reason for not being able to perform them on time. Fajar:-Dawn to sunrise, should be read at least 10–15 minutes before sunrise
 Zohor:- After true noon until
Asar Asar:-Afternoon.
Maghrib:- After sunset until dusk.
 Ishak:-Dusk until dawn,it is makruh(sinful) to read Isha after midnight








The Imam hall.
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community.
Imams may lead Islamic worship services, serve as community leaders and scholars, and provide religious guidance.

Calligraphy is the most important and pervasive element in Islamic art.

 It has always been considered the noblest form of art because of its association with the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, which is written in Arabic.

 This preoccupation with beautiful writing extended to all arts—including secular manuscripts; inscriptions on palaces; and those applied to metalwork, pottery, stone, glass, wood, and textiles—and to non-Arabic-speaking peoples within the Islamic commonwealth whose languages—such as Persian, Turkish, and Urdu—were written in the Arabic script.

  Beef Seller.

  Gadgets for grilling beef used by this Muslim restaurant.

















Hui Chinese transporting goods on an electric powered tricycle.
 Muslims live in every region in China.
The highest concentrations are found in the northwest provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia, with significant populations also found throughout Yunnan province in southwest China and Henan province in central China.

Recent census counts imply that there may be up to 20 million Muslims in China.

The largest groups in descending order are Hui (9.8 million in year 2000 census, or 48% of the officially tabulated number of Muslims), Uyghur (8.4 million, 41%), Kazakh (1.25 million, 6.1%), Dongxiang (514,000, 2.5%), Kyrgyz (161,000), Salar (105,000), Tajik (41,000), Uzbeks, Bonan (17,000), and Tatar (5,000).

A Pakistani owned Muslim Restaurant beside Bo Luo Hotel.

Notice the red wording neon light,that's the Mandarin word for hotel (pinyin :Bin Quan)

Tips:if you happened to see these words displayed outside some shops, they are budget hotel so practise hard writing this manuscript.

Rooftop view of the minaret and nearby Zhongsan 7th Road area.

TESCO Supermarket is just less than 10minutes walk from here near the Ximenkou Metro.

 Xi (West),Men (Door),Kou (port)

Jiamei Hotel,No:51 Guang Tower Road,Yuexiu District,Guangzhou.(directly opposite Huaisheng Mosque) Tel:(020)81915858,81910711,81910733. Fax:(020)-81922955
Room rates:from 100




Yuan Bo Luo Hotel (a few shops further up of Jiamei)Guangta Road,Yuexiu District,Guangzhou.
Fax:(020)62794855 /Tel:(020)62794288
Room rates from 100Yuan  

Directions to above hotels:

 Metro train Line 1 will show you the word Ximenkou station that is the 6th station stop from Tiyu Xilu Interchange.

 From Baiyun (White Clouds) International Airport,Metro line 3 get off at TiYu Xi Lu interchange and walk to nearby platform for Metro Line 1(no need to pay) and you'll be right on target to the destination.

If coming by public bus which only cost 1 Yuan within the districts,(exact notes or coins please otherwise you won't get your change back since a deposit box is doing the work),look for Zhongsan Liu Lu (中山六路) buses.

Zhongsan is a name after Dr Sun Yat Sen while Liu is Number Six and Lu is Road.
 In fact Zhongsan Road is the main arterial road here(Yuexiu-Liwan districts) that stretches from Yi (1) Lu (where Old Canton Youth Hostel is located till Zhongsan Ba(8) Lu (Chen Clan academy located).
 It takes nearly 2hours to walk from Yi (1) Lu(Road) to Ba(8) Lu but you got lots of shops and sights to see. China's buses have a state of art computerised bi-lingual announcement when the bus is approaching each bus stop or even if there's a zebra crossing ahead.

Midnight arrival in Guangzhou.

Arriving at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou,China thirty minutes pass midnight can be a big problem in terms of transportation and place to sleep.

I was joined by a Muslim couple from Malaysia who were also first timer here. A large section of the arrival halls have lights switched off as we we were on the last plane to land and airport security personnels discouraged us from hanging around here.

 A few unlicensed minivans were around soliciting their services but we have no plans of heading into the city in the wee hours.

My main decision was to locate the Departure Hall and spend a night there.

Inside the arrival hall,turn to your right a short distance away is the escalator which will lead you to the skybridge linking to the main Departure Hall.

The escalators worked on sensors whereby if one were about to step on it,then only will it move.
No trolleys were allowed onto the escalators so the other alternative is using the lift elevator and head to the second floor.





The Pullman Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport(pinyin:Jichang) Hotel(pinyin:Jiudian) is a five star business class hotel with room rates from 900Yuan till 1760Yuan and is less than 10 minutes walk from Departure Hall.

At the Departure Hall,seating area were limited so we have to be contented seating on the floor at one corner near the handphone charging points outlets.

 If you go to the first floor where restaurants were located ,ample seats were available including kiosks for charging handphone.

There is also a dispenser for hot and cold drinking water beside the washroom at the Departure Hall near Counter H.








Adina Chan,a Muslim with her husband not in photo and Chinese National Miss Lin Win from Fuzhou Province.

We all spent a sleepless night at the Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport exchanging views and fostering our friendship.

Adina Chan is also involved in internet marketing while Miss Lin Win who will be catching an early morning flight home has just completed her Master in Biology from the University of Florida.

Her next ambition is to pursue for the Phd Degree and is looking forward to complete it in the United States.








Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong Province or alternative English name Kwangtung province.

 This is the place of origin where Cantonese speaking overseas Chinese communities  has its roots.

Guangdong Province main economic hub is Shenzhen and together with Guangzhou are the most populous cities in China having a total 120 million permanent residents and migrants put together.

 Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate inland though nearing a tropical climate in the far south. Winters are short, mild, and relatively dry, while summers are long, hot, and very wet.

The city of Guangzhou is further divided into six districts and most travellers will stay round
1) Liwan,
2)YueXiu,
3)TianHe,
4)Haizhu,
5)Huang Pu and 6)north of Panyu.

 The original Yuexiu District with a history of over 2000 years is the birthplace of Guangzhou.

Since the ancient times, it has had a strong commercial atmosphere and we still remember it was called Canton at that time.

The Old Canton Backpackers Guesthouse is located around here and do not just hop in to get accomodation.Room occupancy is very high throughout the year.

Another best place to find accomodations is around Liwan area where there are many three star hotels with room rates around 140 Yuan.

The original Liwan features a lot of ancient buildings and the prosperous Shangxiajiu shopping area. Liwan District is located in the west of downtown Guangzhou, on the east and north bank of the Pearl River.
The new Liwan is aimed at building a modern trade and cultural tourism area after adding Fangcun, which enjoys a reputation of "the first flower county in Lingnan."






Guangzhou was historically called Canton derived from a Portuguese transliteration of "Guangdong" which refers only the provincial capital.

 If you are a leisure traveller,do not come to Guangzhou during the Canton Fair which is the largest biannual China trade fairs held in Guangzhou.

Hotel rooms will be inflated due to overwhelming demand exceeding supply.
•Phase 1: 15th-19th Oct. 2012 9:30-18:00
•Phase 2: 23rd-27th Oct. 2012 9:30-18:00
•Phase 3: 31st Oct- 4th Nov. 2012 9:30-18:00

Canton Fair Complex, the largest modernized exhibition center in Asia, is located at No. 380, Yuejiang Zhong Road in Pazhou Island, Guangzhou, China.
Canton Fair Buyers enjoy free shuttle bus or hotel bus or you may take Metro Line 8 and get off at the Xingangdong Station or the Pazhou Station.





  In 2011, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was China's 2nd busiest and world's 19th busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, with 45,040,340 people handled.

The underground subway Metro train lines were very fast and efficient mass rapid transit line.

Airport South is the the final stop from the city's line 3 which operates from 06:10 till 23:00.

The fares is 7 Yuan to TiYu Xilu interchange.(you need not have to pay further fares during station interchange as long as you did not exit the station.
No washroom within station itself.







With a total length of 18.48 kilometers, the Guangzhou Subway Line 1 is made up of 16 stations, including Guangzhou East Railway Station – Tianhe Sports Center – Tiyu Xi Lu – Yangji – Dongshankou – Martyr's Cemetery – Peasant Movement Institute – Gongyuanqian – Ximenkou – Chen Clan Academy – Changshou Lu – Huangsha – Fangcun – Huadiwan – Kengkou – Xilang

At the following stations of Line 1, you can transfer to other subway lines: Gongyuanqian → Line 2 Yangji → Line 5 Tiyu Xi Lu / Guangzhou East Railway Station → Line 3 (to Airport S) Xilang Station → GuangFo Line(32.16 kilometers from east at Lijiao of Guangzhou to west at Kuiqi Road in Foshan.






 In the event travellers do not have small notes or 1 Yuan coins,near the entry to the Metro terminal is a booth where one can exchange the big notes.
 The officer here is also very helpful in providing guidance and they do speak a little English as well.








The enquiry and Metro line schedule screen to assist travellers.
At the Departure Hall,go to the lower basement where the Metro line 3 is located. During morning rush hours,the train can be overly crowded and you might miss getting out at specific station as other passengers might block the exit door.
The door only opens for one minute. Don't worry just continue the journey and get off at other stations and just take the reverse train.

There's a LED display of the route station stops near the door so the best way is to count the number of stops that you need to get out.

There'll be an English/Mandarin announcement at each station stops. As long as you do not checkout(putting the plastic coin into the exit slot) of the terminal,you can just sit inside the train whole day but mind you there's no sceneries to see.






Single-trip ticket(a plactic coin token) is often used by tourists.
It is only valid on the day when you purchase it. You can return a single-trip ticket within 30 minutes after you buy it.
 Tips how to purchase a single-trip ticket:
a).Find the TVM (Ticket Vendor Machine) according to the signs in the subway station; b).Choose the station on the machine's screen; c).Make sure how many tickets you want to buy;
 d).Pay for the ticket according to the amount of the money shown on the screen;
 e).Get the ticket and the change. Remark:

The machine only accepts CNY5, CNY10 and the coins of CNY0.5 (5 Jiao coin) and CNY1 (1 Yuan coin).