Right then, China.

Starting point, our knowledge of China consists of UK media reports and some very light research, and the only Chinese we speak is hello, goodbye and thank you.

Things may be about to get real and take us out of our comfort zone. Let’s see how long it takes after leaving Hong Kong.

Ok, less than 1 minute.

20 metres from the ticket barrier towards the boat from Hong Kong to China we saw a wall of photos showing people wanted for alleged crimes against the state.

After 90 minutes we arrived in Zhuhai, a coastal town that does not seem an obvious stop off for many Westerners given the amount of stares we got while walking along the street. We were staying near a small beach that was really busy after sunset but quiet during the day as it was too hot and sunny, almost the opposite of a European beach. I will expand on this in another post.

Macau

There is not loads to do in Zuhai so we went to Macau for a day to see the “Las Vegas” of Asia. We only visited the Venetian and The Londoner and, much like Vegas, they have all the tourist stereotypes, from indoor canals and gondola rides in the Venetian to “Big Ben”, a red double decker bus and a fake Tube carriage (too clean, wide and empty) with a “mind the gap” announcement at the Londoner. A sign of the times for the UK perhaps that, apart from the fake landmarks in The Londoner, I couldn’t see a single premium UK brand shop. everything was American or European.

The main difference to Vegas is that there is no alcohol visible anywhere in the casinos and other than those shopping, everyone seemed very serious about the gambling. Apparently they used to have shows and entertainment but that has all stopped so it really is just sober shopping and gambling.

Next day we tried the Chimelong Ocean theme park where we seemed to be the only westerners so attracted lots of stares and discreet photos but, apart from a school group nobody wanted to engage with us. They have the world’s largest aquarium with whale sharks, beluga whales, turtles, stingrays and much more, plus various rides and animal shows.

We have not turned on a single TV in any of the places we have stayed so far but curiosity got the better of me here. I know of Robot Wars in the UK with homemade robots being driven into each other. The first thing I saw here was effectively Robot UFC, with human shaped robots doing roundhouse kicks and the like. They were not perfect so the human race is safe for the moment but, give it two years………

Two days in Zhuhai (most of which was spent elsewhere) was enough so we set off on the train to Guangzhou. The trains are excellent, high speed, clean, more leg room than the UK and ontime. The cost for long trips can be similar to flying and although they take longer you get great views of the landscape along the way.

We had already noticed in Zhuhai that the language barrier is much more of an issue here than anywhere else so far. The internet restrictions have also kicked in with things like Google, Wikipedia, Netflix and even LinkedIn being unavailable on WiFi, but usually OK with our Airalo esims. Maybe it will be better in a big city.

Guangzhou is the fourth biggest city in China with over 16 million population and known as the manufacturing hub of the country.

Shopping

We tried a normal shopping mall so I could people watch as they were going about their everyday lives (and get my third pedicure of the trip, I am addicted). The place was huge, seven floors and, apart from the array of food and shopping available it also had a cinema, theatre, museum, fairground, two ice rinks and a go kart track. I can think of UK holiday destinations that don’t have that variety.

The reputation for leather goods is excellent and, as Pip likes a handbag or ten, we tried the leather mall known for unbranded or local designer items. Four floors of every type of bag you can imagine from handbags to purses, briefcases, holdalls and daysack. I take it as a win that she only bought three. Even I bought a small leather rucksack.

Food

Food has been more tricky than other places we have visited. There appear to be fairly regimented times for meals in China with lunch quite clearly between noon and 2pm. We walked into a small local restaurant which was busy and serving food to people at 3.30pm. After a couple of minutes of using a translate app on the wall menu we pointed at two dishes that we wanted to order. The woman running things huffed and puffed, seeming to say “this is too much effort” and shooed us out of the place and just waved goodbye. Obviously they are not getting by on tourism trade and as there is no tipping culture here we were obviously of little value.

Evenings

In the eveninga a lot of people just stroll around Guangzhou as there are some impressive buildings and light shows.

As you are walking you do notice the signs restricting how you behave. Take this example:

This was in front of a hotel next to a busy main road. Most are self explanatory although surprised they have a big unicycling or fruit picking problem given the location. I couldn’t quite get the third from right on the bottom row, it looked like don’t shout at crayons but is apparently no noise or painting.

It appears there are not many bars in Guangzhou. One night we even ended up sat in a 7 Eleven drinking a can of vodka and pineapple as we couldn’t fund anything other than one bar that only sold beer (Pip is gluten free).

Following that the next night we succumbed to our western cravings and found an Irish bar, Hooleys, although there was nothing particularly Irish about it. They did however have a house band and an open mic night for anyone who wanted to “be a star”. We had a great night. We met a very interesting guy who used to be an acrobat and toured with Cirque du Soleil, also his Canadian friend who nailed a couple of songs with the band. This made us feel better about China until we realised that we were in an Irish bar and most of the band, singers and audience were not Chinese. Maybe the next place will win us over?