My Life in China

Yesterday I decided to take a trip to Foshan, a small city 30 km outside Guangzhou with a population of 6 million. I read in my Lonely Planet guide that Foshan is an important ceramics / pottery centre for all of China and also hosts a few notable temples. It took some time trying to figure out how to get to Foshan from downtown Guangzhou since everybody I asked kept pointing in different directions. That happens a lot here in China, you ask for directions and they point to somewhere off in the distance, when you get there and ask for further directions people will point you to a totally different place. It's frustrating but at some point you will come across someone who will literally go out of their way to help you, even if it means walking with you for 10 minutes to show you the right spot. So I guess China is like everywhere else, some people have no clue and just want to get rid of you, some people think they know but don't and some people actually know and want to help you, which is the golden combination.

So after some time wandering around various coach and train stations I took a bus to Foshan which took an hour, which was strange since it should only be 30 km from Guangzhou. Another thing which makes travelling in China a bit of a bother sometimes is that it takes more time than you'd think to go from point A to point B. Mainly due to the large amount of traffic. But when you've done it once, it becomes easier to find ways that are quicker (thank god for the metro!).

Foshan wasn't what I had expected, even though it's supposed to have 6 million inhabitants it felt like a smaller city, the temples weren't very impressive either but one thing I really liked was Liang's Garden, it was beautiful! Here are some photos:

Always bring an umbrella with you! Even if the sun is shining in the morning a thunderstorm is never far away.

I planned to go to a neighbouring village named Shiwan where it is possible to make your own pottery but the rain started pouring down as thunder closed in on Foshan. Well, when the metro goes all the way to Foshan from Guangzhou I'll make another attempt on Shiwan. I'll also try to see some Wing Chun sparring as there are many martial art academies in Foshan.

A very small bus station in a very populous city.

On my way home I stopped by in a Tesco shop, it does not have the same kind of brands as in U.K though.

But what it does have is oddly dressed sample girls! In every major supermarket there are loads of samples given out, some companies apparently take their campaign one step further.