{"id":4654,"date":"2024-08-14T14:08:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/?p=4654"},"modified":"2024-08-15T16:08:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T15:08:19","slug":"manyis-travel-diary-1-guangzhou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/mandarinchinese\/2024\/08\/14\/manyis-travel-diary-1-guangzhou\/","title":{"rendered":"Manyi’s Travel Diary 1 – Guangzhou"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In this dedicated column 'My China Story' we are pleased to invite Isabella to share her very first travel experience in China, which she could not make it during her undergraduate time due to pandemic and lockdown. In May 2024, Isabella grabbed an opportunity to join a QUB delegation to China and journey made her dream to China come true.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
A Dream Trip To China Came True<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bags packed, passport in hand, playlist on shuffle; I arrived at Belfast City Airport and was on my way to China! A jam-packed trip, with cities to explore, new people to meet, and adventures to embark on. The trip started initially with butterflies in my stomach of nerves and excitement. A trip I had dreamed of for years, would it be everything I hoped? Spoiler alert: it certainly was!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Isabella Souza Mclaughlin<\/strong>, whose Chinese name is \u82cf\u8513\u4f0a (S\u016b M\u00e0ny\u012b), is a bilingual English and Portuguese speaker with a keen interest in language-learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graduated with BSc in International Business with Mandarin Chinese, Isabella is currently Global Marketing and Recruitment Co-ordinator in Global Student Recruitment at Queen\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Belfast-London-Guangzhou<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I flew from Belfast with a quick layover in London and then landed in Guangzhou. My first time flying with China Southern Airlines was a positive experience, and the selection of Chinese movies to watch and noodles for the in-flight meal made the excitement build even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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After an 11-hour flight, arriving in Guangzhou, it was hot and humid, with droplets of rain. Coming from Northern Ireland, I feared I would have been disappointed by the rain, but the city lights reflecting off the puddles on the ground, made them look like art pieces painted on the pavement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On that first night in Guangzhou, I walked around the Central Business District (CBD, \u4e2d\u5fc3\u5546\u52a1\u533a Zh\u014dngx\u012bn Sh\u0101ngw\u00f9 Q\u016b) located in the Tianhe District (\u5929\u6cb3\u533a Ti\u0101nh\u00e9 Q\u016b), where I was staying, an up-and-coming modern district.<\/p>\n<\/div>
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I visited a dim sum (\u70b9\u5fc3 di\u01cenx\u012bn) restaurant, typical cuisine of Guangzhou consisting of small dishes, shared among the table, including dumplings (\u997a\u5b50 ji\u01ceozi) and (\u5c0f\u7b3c\u5305 xi\u01ceol\u00f3ngb\u0101o), as well as cheung fun<\/em> (\u80a0\u7c89 ch\u00e1ng f\u011bn). With my first outing in the city, I quickly had to use my language skills, ordering dishes in Mandarin. I gazed at the menu in awe with the delicious dishes. I texted my friend, living in the North of China, time-zone differences now eliminated, to get some recommendations. Served with tea, every dish melted in my mouth, the flavours dancing on my taste-buds, mild in spice \u2013 typical of the Guangdong region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Welcome to Guangzhou<\/a><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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After a restful sleep, the next morning I woke up to sunny weather in Guangzhou and later made my way to the lobby to meet with my colleague who is based in the city for Queen’s China market. With a shopping centre and food court nearby, every restaurant was full by lunch time. We grabbed a seat at a noodle restaurant within the bustling food court. I had already felt welcomed in the city, but meeting with my colleague who greeted me with a warm smile and showed me around the local area, I knew I would be settling into my time in China just fine. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Spicy peanut noodles and conversation during lunch, then a meeting to discuss preparations for the upcoming work event filled my afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once our meeting ended, we grabbed a refreshment. With milk tea (\u5976\u8336 n\u01cei ch\u00e1) and boba continuing to be popular in China, the popularity of fruit tea has also been on the rise in recent years. This time I tried Naixue Tea (\u5948\u96ea\u7684\u8336 N\u00e0ixu\u011b de Ch\u00e1), enjoying a grape tea as I completed some work projects overlooking the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The efficiency of ordering food and refreshments via WeChat (\u5fae\u4fe1 W\u0113ix\u00ecn), was incredibly convenient. By scanning a QR Code (\u4e8c\u7ef4\u7801 \u00e8rw\u00e9i m\u01ce) on WeChat in restaurants and coffee shops, I was able to have a look through the menus and place orders via the mini-apps (\u5e94\u7528\u5c0f\u7a0b\u5e8f y\u00ecngy\u00f2ng xi\u01ceo ch\u00e9ngx\u00f9) function on WeChat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Pro-Tip<\/em>: <\/strong>If travelling to China, download WeChat before arriving \u2013 similar to WhatsApp and other social media apps, WeChat is convenient for communicating with friends, family and colleagues in China, ordering food and refreshments, purchasing tickets, and more. Ensure to set up WeChat Pay in advance, which can be used to pay for the above purchases, and can be used in stores and for travel in China as contactless payment.<\/p>\n<\/div>
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Later that evening, I went for a walk in Huacheng Square (\u82b1\u57ce\u5e7f\u573a Hu\u0101ch\u00e9ng Gu\u01cengch\u01ceng), a plaza leading to the Canton Tower (\u5e7f\u5dde\u5854 Gu\u01cengzh\u014du T\u01ce). The tower already looks magnificent in the daylight, but at nighttime, the tower stands, colourfully, lit up across the end of the plaza, with lights in the pavement changing colour in coordination with that of the tower. Music playing through the gardens and the city lights surrounding the plaza made for an incredible environment and ambience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Huacheng Square and Canton Tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Huacheng Square and Canton Tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Getting to know Guangzhou<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The next morning, I had a small mission to complete, my first experience of travelling internally in the city using Didi, the main taxi service in China, and asking transport queries in Mandarin. Using Didi was incredibly convenient, at the click of a button on the Didi app, a taxi would arrive in less than 5 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon arrival at the train station, I made my way to the ticket desk. The staff only spoke Mandarin, so it was challenging at first asking the questions I needed help with, but excellent language practice. Once I successfully acquired train tickets and the information I needed, I then made my way back to Huacheng Square, this time hopping into a taxi at the taxi stand. The taxi drivers in Guangzhou were incredibly friendly, complimenting my language skills, though I found my Mandarin rather rusty!<\/p>\n<\/div>
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Pro-Tip<\/em>:<\/strong> if travelling to China, learn the numbers 1-10, this will be helpful when using Didi. Taxi drivers will ask for you to confirm the last four digits of the phone number used in your booking (note: the driver won\u2019t be able to see your full phone number \u2013 only the last four digits – for data protection), to ensure you are the correct passenger and will often ask in Mandarin.<\/p>\n<\/div>
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Then, I met with a colleague and we decided to explore the Guangdong Museum (\u5e7f\u4e1c\u7701\u535a\u7269\u9986 Gu\u01cengd\u014dngsh\u011bng B\u00f3w\u00f9gu\u01cen), as recommended by our colleagues from Guangzhou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting to know more about Chinese culture, particularly Cantonese art and history, through intricate wood carvings and ancient pottery was amazing. For nature and archaeology fans, there was an exhibition on archaeological and paleontological finds and fascinating exhibitions on jade and other local minerals in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n