I was in Guangzhou 'bout 1-2 years back; food's relatively cheap 'cause of the exchange rate. Dollar-to-dollar; it's 'bout the same price or slightly cheaper as our food. The real highlight of Guangzhou I feel; is the food, food and food. Oh right; shopping things are really cheap there as well. I bought a decent loafers for RMB30. Lasted me 6 months only though.

Nothing really much to do in Guangzhou. I visited the botanical garden where they make sculptures out of trees and plants. I think that was really the highlight of Guangzhou as there's nothing really much else there. Most of our time there was spent in touring the other cities like Shenzhen and some other ones whose name elude me now...

I think the zoo in Guangzhou is one of their real attractions. They spent alot of $$$ in doing it up; and it's very apparent. You can even take a train and go smack right through the animal enclosure; gives you the feel of a safari.

Just a rule of thumb though; most of the "tourist attractions" are commercialized and not worth the hype. Try to go for off-the-track ones. I visited a countryside sunflower farm; that was quite nice, but was spoilt by some stupid Chinese typical "commercialization" whereby they tried to turn it into a mini amusement park as well.

The river cruise is not bad; but nothing spectacular. Just lights on a river cruise and it's normally quite packed. The seafood restaurants next to the river though; are really nice. Plenty of interesting things there. Hermit crabs, silkworms, maggots, crocodile head. It's pricey by chinese standards; but affordable due to conversion rate. If you're feeling like splurging lar.

The food in Guangzhou is amazing though. Don't judge the price of a restaurant in China by their appearance. You'll be surprised that those aircond restaurants serve RMB10-15 dishes. And generally; the more packed the restaurant is by locals, the better the food.

Oh right; the weather there fluctuates; but generally it's cooler than in Malaysia lar. I went there during Spring if i'm not mistaken and the average temp was around the 20-24s. Just remember to drink lots of water and Vit Cs 'cause the air quality sucks shit. Viz on a good day is not more than 2kms. However; public transport is really good there. And their LRT system definitely beats ours to a pulp. You can take a bus everywhere. If in doubt however; take a cab. Cabs are cheap there; just make sure they use a meter. They generally do though. It's safer to take a cab than walk; in some places even, due to China mad driving styles. I saw a bus make a U turn from the middle of 4-lane road in the city.

Anyway; be careful with your belongings in Guangzhou and avoid deserted areas as petty crime is high and the police don't bother much.

This post has been edited by glozz: Oct 27 2008, 11:08 AM