Last week, I went to this little artsy area that had some
cool crafts, including handmade belts, bags and bracelets. Although I’d never
heard of it, a colleague who lives in my apartment complex had and took me. I
told several people at work and it seems everyone has heard of it.
It seemed a simple place to get to, only three metro stops
away, so on Saturday evening, I went with someone who is working here
temporarily. And got horribly lost. I really thought it was just one street
from the metro, but I was really off somewhere.
With absolutely no language skills, I have a hard time
asking directions. Fortunately, I’d brought a map that had the Chinese writing
and, after asking about 15 people along the way, we got to the place.
After visiting just one store, the skies opened and we had a
huge thunderstorm. Before it got too heavy, we did make it to the leather store
that I’d earmarked and I spent way too much money on a belt and two bracelets.
The first treats for me since I’ve arrived! I finally have something to show for eight months in Guangzhou.
Today, we also visited Shamian Island,
which is a fairly small island (as in, you can walk around it in maybe half an
hour) that, from what I understand, used to house a bunch of the consulate
generals in the city. We saw old ones from Britain,
the U.S. and India, among
others. We also saw some people swimming in the river, which I thought was
disgusting. There were cement stairs to get in the brown water and you could just see all the trash.
The area was really great for walking and my colleague
bought a bunch of stuff. I couldn’t believe it, but she was knocking some names
off her list and was really thrilled with her purchases. I got a magnet.
As an aside on that, probably half the multitude of magnets
that I own are made in China.
It was really weird to buy a magnet for China. I got one with the Canton Tower,
which I see outside my bathroom and bedroom windows.
It’s 100 stories high and you can pay to go up to the top.
There’s also a “horizontal ferris wheel” where you get in this little bubble
car around the top portion and get a view of the city.
No thank you. Heights are not my thing.
I did, however, meet my colleague at her hotel, which is
next door to mine. I takes up floors 70 to 100 of a building, so it’s as high as
the Canton Tower. And meandering up to the 70th
floor, where the hotel lobby is, is free. There is also a bar or something on
the 99th floor. I'll have to do that later.
When I met my colleague, I went on up to the 70th
floor and snapped a few photos. It’s always overcast here – clouds, fog or
pollution, but the view was still pretty phenomenal.
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