Top Picture is one of the restored barracks at the Haungpu Military Academy.
Next picture was taken from the ferry on the way to the Academy
The third picture is of Jenny, Mr. So, Sister and Helen in the hallway of Mr So's home.
The third picture is of Jenny, Mr. So, Sister and Helen in the hallway of Mr So's home.
Bottom picture is taken at Mr So's estate.
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
November 12, 2008
We are getting ready to go to China tomorrow for four days (yeah, I know I’m in Hong Kong, which is China, but it still seems like another country). We will be using Sister’s second home in China, which is just about fifteen miles south of Guangzhou; from there we will be touring around the area, so when I return I’ll have some more good stuff to report.
November 17th -We arrived back in Hong Kong late last night; we were three whipped puppies! We had a great time and I will try to go over the highlights as time permits. Here is the brief summary:
We spent four nights in the Country Garden Resort in Shangde, about 15 miles south of Guangzhou. From there we visited a number of sites in Guangzhou; the most interesting were Zhao Mo’s Mausoleum (second Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (137-122BC), Huangpu Military Academy Historical site, and the site of a naval battle between China and England in 1839; the results of this battle and several others ceded parts of Hong Kong to England in 1842 and 1860.
Before I go into details of what we saw I would like to talk briefly about who we were traveling with in China, which was one of the most interesting part of the visit.
In addition to Jenny and me, Sister also went with us. Jenny’s closest friend Helen (not to be confused with niece Helen), who Jenny has known since grade school, came to stay with us at the Country Garden the last two nights and helped show us the sites with her friend, Mr. So.
Mr. So and his family have been friends with Helen and her husband for years. They met through a common interest in traveling, not just in China but also other parts of the world. Helen and Mr So spent a great deal of time ensuring that we visited many sites and, of course, ate at some of the best restaurants. We also visited Mr. So’s home and met his family.
Mr. So and his family have been in Guangzhou for centuries and reside in a nice section of Guangzhou. He is the General Manager of a manufacturing company and he is, needless to say, well to do. His home is huge by any standards, although different than you might expect (think of a home in NYC, say upper east side or similar large city.) He owns three buildings where he lives, two of which he and his extended family lives and the other larger building is leased. The home we visited has four levels and I would guess, maybe 3000+ sq ft.; probable the other building, where the family also lives, is as large. Remember most Chinese would consider themselves lucky to have a flat that is 300 sq. ft
Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, is a huge metropolis with population somewhere north of ten million people; with some who say it is closer to twelve million if you count all of the undocumented migrant workers.
Guangzhou is not the city I remembered about ten years ago, where there were bicycles everywhere, with few cars on the road, with drivers who drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the horn. Now most of the bicycles are gone, replaced by mostly cars and motorbikes. There are still lots of traffic jams and drivers who drive like there are no rules, but drivers blowing their horns have largely disappeared. Weird!
Guangzhou is also a much cleaner city today. It has a modern subway system, which opened in 1999 that looks very much like the Hong Kong system that opened in 1979. The subway system is clean and easy to get around, since signs are in English as well as Chinese; fares start at RMB2 (US$.25) for the first four kilometer and increase RMB1 for each addition four kilometers thereafter.
I’m always curious about gasoline prices, so while in China I had to check it out: a gallon of gas is about US$3.70, which is much higher than I remembered.
I believe the Chinese government is not subsidizing the automobile as it once did. In fact the China’s automobile industry is huge; in addition to many local manufacturing companies, there is also General Motors and Volkswagen who have joint ventures with local companies. If one does decide to buy an import, be prepared to pay about 27% import Taxes.
Haungpu Military Academy, located on ChangZhou Island, is the military school started by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, father of the Republic of China, in 1924 to train revolutionary military officers; the school was later moved in 1930 to Tianjin. At one time General Chiang Kai-shek was an instructor there; later he became the leader of the Kuomintang Party.
The School was destroyed in 1938 by Japanese bombing and was later restored beginning in 1949, after the Communist Party, under Mao Tse-tung, was victorious in the civil war over General Chiang Kai Shek; the General later fled the mainland for Taiwan. China is still trying to get Taiwan to agree that the Island is a part of China. It may happen one day, but it ain’t going to be easy!
More to come on our trip to China!
We are getting ready to go to China tomorrow for four days (yeah, I know I’m in Hong Kong, which is China, but it still seems like another country). We will be using Sister’s second home in China, which is just about fifteen miles south of Guangzhou; from there we will be touring around the area, so when I return I’ll have some more good stuff to report.
November 17th -We arrived back in Hong Kong late last night; we were three whipped puppies! We had a great time and I will try to go over the highlights as time permits. Here is the brief summary:
We spent four nights in the Country Garden Resort in Shangde, about 15 miles south of Guangzhou. From there we visited a number of sites in Guangzhou; the most interesting were Zhao Mo’s Mausoleum (second Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (137-122BC), Huangpu Military Academy Historical site, and the site of a naval battle between China and England in 1839; the results of this battle and several others ceded parts of Hong Kong to England in 1842 and 1860.
Before I go into details of what we saw I would like to talk briefly about who we were traveling with in China, which was one of the most interesting part of the visit.
In addition to Jenny and me, Sister also went with us. Jenny’s closest friend Helen (not to be confused with niece Helen), who Jenny has known since grade school, came to stay with us at the Country Garden the last two nights and helped show us the sites with her friend, Mr. So.
Mr. So and his family have been friends with Helen and her husband for years. They met through a common interest in traveling, not just in China but also other parts of the world. Helen and Mr So spent a great deal of time ensuring that we visited many sites and, of course, ate at some of the best restaurants. We also visited Mr. So’s home and met his family.
Mr. So and his family have been in Guangzhou for centuries and reside in a nice section of Guangzhou. He is the General Manager of a manufacturing company and he is, needless to say, well to do. His home is huge by any standards, although different than you might expect (think of a home in NYC, say upper east side or similar large city.) He owns three buildings where he lives, two of which he and his extended family lives and the other larger building is leased. The home we visited has four levels and I would guess, maybe 3000+ sq ft.; probable the other building, where the family also lives, is as large. Remember most Chinese would consider themselves lucky to have a flat that is 300 sq. ft
Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, is a huge metropolis with population somewhere north of ten million people; with some who say it is closer to twelve million if you count all of the undocumented migrant workers.
Guangzhou is not the city I remembered about ten years ago, where there were bicycles everywhere, with few cars on the road, with drivers who drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the horn. Now most of the bicycles are gone, replaced by mostly cars and motorbikes. There are still lots of traffic jams and drivers who drive like there are no rules, but drivers blowing their horns have largely disappeared. Weird!
Guangzhou is also a much cleaner city today. It has a modern subway system, which opened in 1999 that looks very much like the Hong Kong system that opened in 1979. The subway system is clean and easy to get around, since signs are in English as well as Chinese; fares start at RMB2 (US$.25) for the first four kilometer and increase RMB1 for each addition four kilometers thereafter.
I’m always curious about gasoline prices, so while in China I had to check it out: a gallon of gas is about US$3.70, which is much higher than I remembered.
I believe the Chinese government is not subsidizing the automobile as it once did. In fact the China’s automobile industry is huge; in addition to many local manufacturing companies, there is also General Motors and Volkswagen who have joint ventures with local companies. If one does decide to buy an import, be prepared to pay about 27% import Taxes.
Haungpu Military Academy, located on ChangZhou Island, is the military school started by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, father of the Republic of China, in 1924 to train revolutionary military officers; the school was later moved in 1930 to Tianjin. At one time General Chiang Kai-shek was an instructor there; later he became the leader of the Kuomintang Party.
The School was destroyed in 1938 by Japanese bombing and was later restored beginning in 1949, after the Communist Party, under Mao Tse-tung, was victorious in the civil war over General Chiang Kai Shek; the General later fled the mainland for Taiwan. China is still trying to get Taiwan to agree that the Island is a part of China. It may happen one day, but it ain’t going to be easy!
More to come on our trip to China!
No comments:
Post a Comment