Poszliśmy też na wyspę Shamian, która tak naprawdę prawie nie jest wyspą, bo trzeba tylko przejść przez mały mostek nad kanałem, żeby się tam dostać. W XIX wieku Anglicy i Francuzi mieli tu swoje rezydencje i biznesy, a dla Chińczyków był zakaz wstępu na wyspę. Obecnie to ładna okolica ze starymi drzewami i odnowionymi budynkami kolonialnymi. W jednym z nich mieści się ambasada Polski :-)
Po drodze na wyspę i z powrotem mijaliśmy dzielnice pełne targów i specjalistycznych towarów, takich jak olbrzymie suszone grzyby, suszone owoce morza wszelkiego rodzaju, suszone penisy jelenie, plasterki rogów jelenich i wiele innych. Dziwaczne i fascynujące zarazem, mam nadzieję, że zdjęcia oddadzą choć trochę, co tam widzieliśmy.
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We went to Guangzhou because that's where the flight to Hanoi was from. It is home to the famous Canton Fair (the city used to be called Canton), and it was just our luck that it was on when we were there. What it meant for us was that it was hard to find a hotel at a reasonable price, but in the end we managed to find a place that was like a Chinese copy of the Ibis chain that wasn't too bad. It was almost across the street from a huge park, where we spent a few hours one day.
We also went to Shamian Island, which is barely an island, really - you cross a small bridge over a canal to get there. In the 19th century the British and the French had their residences and businesses there, and the Chinese were not allowed to enter the island. These days it's a beautiful neighbourhood of old trees and restored colonial buildings. One of them houses the Polish Embassy :-)
On the way to the island and back from it, we walked through neighbourhoods full of markets and specialty wares, such as huge dried mushrooms, dried seafood of all kinds, dried deer penises, sliced antlers, and many others. It was bizarre and fascinating, and hopefully the photos will show at least a bit of what it was like.
Spiky tree in the park |
These goats are a symbol of Guangzhou |
Jon found himself some friends |
And me too :-) |
In the orchid garden in the park |
Pink flowers |
Orange flowers with tiny white ones growing in them |
This one looked the coolest |
A pond in the park |
On Shamian Island |
Catholic church on the island |
Hairy tree |
Some sculptures |
Another one |
There were lots of them |
A game of badminton at lunch |
Curios in jars at one of the markets |
Dried sea-horses in these boxes |
Huge black dried mushrooms |
Sliced deer antlers |
A small street in Guangzhou |
Drying beetles |
Przepiękne te zdjęcia kwiatów.
ReplyDeleteWhat those Drying beetles for?
ReplyDeleteI thought you might know more about those strange things than me, Normann. I assume they were for making medicines with. Or to eat as snacks :-)
ReplyDelete