China Trips: Guangzhou Local Tour

As the first quarter of school ended, the high school students departed for their respective China trips— all gleeful with anticipation for whatever awaited them. However, some students were unfortunately unable to make it due to various reasons such as injuries—and that just happened to include me. Thus we were assigned to the Guangzhou Local Trip, which was organised by Ms Jess Barga (who happens to be the supervisor of The Beacon). The number of students that attended the local trip numbered around ten, and some were unable to be present on all days—nevertheless, the trip was a success.

On the first day, we were set to climb Baiyun Mountain, a major tourist attraction in Guangzhou which was fortunately deserted on that day. We began with a cable-car ride to a spot near the summit of the mountain, and for the most part, all we did was climb. Ms Sarah Ting, who accompanied us on the trip, insisted that we tried the beancurd on Baiyun Mountain, a famous local delicacy. Unfortunately, not many of us liked it (although personally I found it rather delectable). It was pouring most of the time and some of us enjoyed the rain, while some others did not, but we certainly were all soaked. When we finally ascended to the summit, we took a short while to enjoy the lovely, cloudy view, before heading downwards once more. Due to time constraints we decided to board the shuttle bus down the mountain, and we even had to change buses thrice until we reached the foot of the mountain. During then we were too constantly looking for a restaurant to eat luncheon at, but unfortunately we were unable to find one, until we walked about the foot of the mountain and found a hotel that happened to have a restaurant in it.

The next day focused on New Guangzhou, and we began with a trip to the Guangdong Museum of Art in Ersha, which was rather near to our Ersha Campus so we just walked there, after of which we visited the new library in Guangzhou. The highlight of the day certainly was the buffet at the Four Seasons Hotel— essentially a grand feast that all who had gone on the other trips would definitely be jealous of. The place did seem like a cornucopia that would refill itself every time it was emptied. After that, we visited the Guangdong Museum of History.

The third day involved community service, and we spent the first half of the day at Ersha Campus, entertaining our juniors, followed by a delicious luncheon at a Chinese restaurant and finally assisting handicapped English students at GETCH. The fourth day was concentrated in the historical districts of the city, and involved visiting the Six Banyan Trees Temple, shopping on Shangxiajiu, and eating lunch at another traditional Chinese restaurant in the Liwan district, one of the oldest in Guangzhou.

On the last day we had a brief stop by the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial in Guangzhou which commemorates the martyrs of the 1911 Chinese Revolution, before heading over to the Garden Hotel for a highly entertaining dumpling making session, in which we shaped dumplings to resemble various objects from mutant ducks to even odder shapes, followed by another lovely meal.

All in all, it was certainly a splendid trip, and definitely worth the experience: anyone who happens to be unable to go on their next trip need not worry, for the local trip certainly matches or even perhaps transcends the other trips on how immersive and enjoyable it is—you will be in good hands.