Revisiting the Homeland (Part 2): The Outskirts of Guangzhou and University Visits

- May 30-June 1, 2017, Tuesday to Thursday.

- Guangzhou's downtown left a good impression on me (click here for Part 1), as most main cities do, but going to the outskirts always intrigues me as I feel there are some underrated places waiting to be experienced. That was my delegation's agenda for our third day in Guangzhou.

- Our morning stop was a trip to the Museum of Huangpu Military Academy in Huangpu District. It is located in one of Guangzhou's suburbs, making it quite far from the downtown. There are many ways to get to this former military academy either by bus or by ferry (these options can be found here, here, and here.) Personally, I may also suggest renting a car since this place is really far from the center.

- The Huangpu Military Academy was established in the 1920s by Sun Yat Sen, the father of China and the president of the first Republic of China. The academy was later moved to Nanjing, and this original academy was eventually destroyed by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The academy was eventually restored, and has a vast exhibit ranging from the students' books and uniforms, to Sun Yat Sen's things. Speaking of Sun Yat Sen, one of the academy's highlights is the yellow Custom House that was once Sun Yat Sen's house too. By the way, Sun Yat Sen moved around a lot so he has houses in many parts of Asia.

Tweedledee Tweedledum.

Revolutionist.

HEYOO.

Here we are!!

Inside the museum.

One of the academy's meeting halls.

Dining hall.

The academy was quite huge.

The Customs House which, at one point, was one of Sun Yat Sen's houses.

At the entrance.

Sun Yat Sen's statue from the top of a small hill

- After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon at the Lingnan Cultural Impression Park, which is a cultural theme park that showcases the "Lingnan" culture, or southern-Chinese culture. There are exhibition halls, shows, cultural experience galleries, mini-museums, and temples, particularly from the Cantonese and Hainanese cultures. The buildings are both historical and new, giving some authentic village vibe to this park. By the way, this park is near the Higher Education Mega Center South Gate metro station.

On the way to the park. Such perfection!! To think I took this from the bus.

At the entrance.

Propaganda trash cans.

The streets of the park.

A man making candy. He shapes the melted sugar into animals and other things.

This park is a place for photoshoots.

Fake cherry blossoms.

- One can easily spend a whole day in this park, and I sure would have wanted to stay longer for the shows and all the attractions. Each corner and alley is not to be missed, as they lead to a totally different cultural experience.

Inside one of the family halls.

My Chinese surname.

I'm a fortuneteller.

If fortune telling doesn't work out, I can do this as my other job

The gate near the entrance to the "village."

Peeping Tom.

- After the afternoon in the park, we had dinner. Since we ended dinner early, and we usually have nights off, I decided to roam around the city. That evening I decided to visit another shopping street called Beijing Road (and yes, it is in Guangzhou, not Beijing.) I took the subway from the university to Gongyuanqian metro station, since it was more convenient in terms of train exchanges compared to Beijing Road metro station. Both metro stations are near Beijing Road. Although famed for being a shopping street, Beijing Road is also important because archaeologists found out that this road has been in use since the Song Dynasty. The original road can be seen under glass panels in today's more elevated street. It reminds me of what they did to the old streets in Athens (click here to see.)

I saw the Big Buddha Temple on the way to Beijing Road; it was built in the 10th century AD.

The old road.

The "original" Beijing Road.

I was so thirsty, so I got myself this larger than large fresh mango drink. It had fresh mangoes too so it was dessert and a beverage in one!!

Beijing Road at night.

Street performer.

- The following day we attended lectures and discussions on the Belt and Road in Sun Yat Sen University. We had one in the South Campus (where our hotel was,) and in the afternoon, in their East Campus in Guangzhou. The Belt and Road initiative of China is China's soft power attempt to "re-open the Silk Road" by fostering more ties with its neighboring countries. Despite China's efforts, they have more things to work on especially in the problem of censorship and control over media.

A Chinese gazebo in the main campus.

Dr. Sun Yat Sen himself.

Our delegation. I'm the youngest; photo from Dr. Stephanie Coo.

Opening ceremony and discussion.

In the east campus.

Discussion on Chinese media by Dr. Zhang Zhi An.

- After the discussions we got to tour around the Department of Communication and Design of the East Campus. Their big data laboratory was impressive, since they get to analyze well, big data, such as national media usage in that lab.

The East Campus.

The only photo I too from the Big Data lab, since the laboratory is just a room with many computers. Their other gadgets were stored away, or were being used.

- Our last morning was also another university visit to Jinan University to talk more about the Belt and Road initiative. This time, we got more insights from a more international-relations and political-science perspective.

Helloooo.

Prof. Dai Fan at the center. He is specializing in Philippine Studies.

Michael Jackson, apparently, had another job. HAHA. Just kidding.

Jinan University campus.

- After our brief discussion, we had lunch and were whisked off to the airport for our domestic flight. Unfortunately, we had to suffer a 5-hour delay due to weather conditions. Still, it kept me excited since I finally would have the chance to set foot in the imperial capital - Beijing!! (Please don't forget to read Part 1 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here!!)