The Gateway of Chinese Goods to the World: Guangzhou

Guangzhou, the 3rd largest city of a huge country like China, has a very important place in our daily lives as both the starting point of the historical Silk Road and one of the most important points of global trade today, although it is difficult to pronounce in our language. The reason for this is that many products used in daily life all over the world are produced in this region and it is the transfer centre of logistics to reach us, the users.

The city has an extremely large international airport, and due to the logistics transfer I mentioned above, a separate area for cargo aircraft is reserved as a very large area. Both passenger and cargo flights from our country are intensively carried out here. After your arrival at the airport, some of the officials welcoming you and most of the local people can only speak in their own language. But most of them can communicate through various applications downloaded to their mobile phones. My advice to you is that if you download such an application to your mobile phone, you will be less likely to have problems with communication here.

If you do not have a private transfer from the airport to the hotel you will stay at; metro, bus and taxi options are waiting for you. Making such a preparation for your accommodation before you arrive will make you extremely comfortable. The transport network is extremely wide and regular with bus services connected to some metro lines. You can easily get your tickets by selecting the English option from the machines in the terminals. The average single line metro fare is 2 Yuan and 3 Yuan (1 dollar = 7 Yuan) if you use another line with a transfer.

This Chinese city is full of foreign visitors and business people due to the various Trade Fairs organised throughout the year. Even in the hotel where you will be staying, you will be able to easily recognise such people by the Trade Fair identification badges around their necks. Since it is the centre of trade, it is very natural to come across business environment employees and bosses of all scales from all parts of the world here. For this reason, restaurants and street flavours for world cuisines are waiting for you at every point of the city. A meal for about 10 dollars is within the possibilities. 

The weather in the city is not very cold almost every month of the year, but it has the feature of containing heavy rainfall from time to time. For this reason, while coming here, it is important to choose clothes according to the current weather conditions, but you may suddenly encounter heavy rainfall at any time of the day. For this reason, I can recommend you not to go out without taking the umbrellas prepared for this purpose in the hotels. The preparation in question will often help you to protect you from the intense sun environment. Of course, you will also need to add the ever-present humidity to this.

In the city, which is the beginning of the historical Silk Road, there are trade centres, shops and shopping facilities for all kinds of products used in our daily life. You can find the products you will buy without bargaining later at a more affordable price elsewhere. For this reason, I strongly recommend you to bargain. Bargaining, which started at a rate of 1/10 before the pandemic, now starts at a rate of 3-4/10. If he does not call or come after you when you turn around and leave, it means that the price in question is the last price and you cannot get it below. If you tell the price in your mind or write it on the calculator and do not buy it after bargaining, you should be prepared that the environment can become extremely tense. Although the quarrel is considered extremely normal, do not make physical contact, the results may not be what you expect. Country laws and practices are extremely strict about physical contact (including pushing). 

In addition to extremely luxurious hotels, there are accommodation options suitable for every budget. The most important thing to be aware of is that they are a geography that is not very sensitive about hygiene. Meat, chicken, duck, etc. slaughtered in the open can easily wait for their buyers in a hot environment. For this reason, especially the choice of cooked products is important in terms of nutrition. Care should be taken against products consumed raw. If you come here for both trade and sightseeing, you may need to spend at least 1 week.

One of the main places to visit in the city is the historical Chen Clan Academy. It is a work that will fascinate everyone who visits it with its very different architecture. Even while walking around the city, you can come across many temples and historical artefacts. 

While walking around the city on foot, you can see the laundry washed and left to dry on the balconies of old houses, and a little further on, you can come across old Chinese people who are keen on gambling playing cards under the tree in the park. Another artefact that will leave an impression on you while travelling is Sanyuan Temple. Many more similar artefacts await you according to your time and interest. Many large and small museums in the city are open to visitors and most of them are free of charge. You only need to check whether it is open during the hours you want to visit. Most of them are closed on Mondays. Unlike other parts of the world, shopping centres and shops are open every day, including Sundays. 

Have a pleasant trip.