Today marks the end of my first week of living in Guangzhou, a city that is not new yet so unfamiliar to me. Honestly, I find myself having a bit of difficulty coping with the city. First of all my body is not used to the cool temperature yet, then I am having problems with food selection, recreation, finding my way around, etc... I am just completely losing motivation and interest to explore this city. Anyway, will write about this in more details next time.
Many fellow Malaysians whom I have met during my recent home trip have a very vague idea of where Guangzhou actually is. They is also confusion between Guangzhou and Guangdong. No surprising. I was once unclear too. Who would be interested in learning more about Guangzhou anyway, except for those who visit factories and the world-reknown Canton Fair.
So, here is a little bit about Guangzhou that I have learned from my research. Guangdong is one of the twenty three provinces of China, and Guangzhou is the capital city of the Guangdong province. It is one of the first tier Chinese cities amongst Shanghai and Beijing.
Over 20 million people reside Within the main Guangzhou city itself (this is almost as large as the entire Malaysia's population), while the population around the greater Guangzhou vicinity is estimated to be 50 million. Unlike Shanghai which is the financial and commercial hub and Beijing the administrative centre of China, Guangzhou is more industrial in comparision.
The history of Guangzhou is believed to have dated back to as far back as BC 214 year. During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) (ehem...of course I didn't know this, copied from book one lah!), it was apparently already an international port, and it remained as an important port for many centuries after, opening up China to many foreigh trades.
Many of our ancesters hail from Guangzhou, or other parts of the Guangdong province. As a result of this, Guangzhou somehow holds a rather special place in my heart. I have not been to my ancestral hometown. Being the third or forth generation in Malaysia with virtually no education from my parents about the home of my great grand parents, I have no clue whatsover what to expect, but I am eager to pay a visit to the ancestral village during my stay in Guangzhou.
Many fellow Malaysians whom I have met during my recent home trip have a very vague idea of where Guangzhou actually is. They is also confusion between Guangzhou and Guangdong. No surprising. I was once unclear too. Who would be interested in learning more about Guangzhou anyway, except for those who visit factories and the world-reknown Canton Fair.
So, here is a little bit about Guangzhou that I have learned from my research. Guangdong is one of the twenty three provinces of China, and Guangzhou is the capital city of the Guangdong province. It is one of the first tier Chinese cities amongst Shanghai and Beijing.
Over 20 million people reside Within the main Guangzhou city itself (this is almost as large as the entire Malaysia's population), while the population around the greater Guangzhou vicinity is estimated to be 50 million. Unlike Shanghai which is the financial and commercial hub and Beijing the administrative centre of China, Guangzhou is more industrial in comparision.
The history of Guangzhou is believed to have dated back to as far back as BC 214 year. During the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) (ehem...of course I didn't know this, copied from book one lah!), it was apparently already an international port, and it remained as an important port for many centuries after, opening up China to many foreigh trades.
Many of our ancesters hail from Guangzhou, or other parts of the Guangdong province. As a result of this, Guangzhou somehow holds a rather special place in my heart. I have not been to my ancestral hometown. Being the third or forth generation in Malaysia with virtually no education from my parents about the home of my great grand parents, I have no clue whatsover what to expect, but I am eager to pay a visit to the ancestral village during my stay in Guangzhou.
2 comments:
Haha ... I am one of the blur ones. I too did not know the difference between Guangzhou & Guangdong. Thanks for the enlightenment!
Wah! GZ got so many people ah??
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