Off to my Ancestral Homeland!

My paternal grandfather migrated from the province of Guangzhou, China to Singapore when he was 13 years old. Guangzhou is more commonly known as Canton, where the dialect of Cantonese originated from. My paternal grandmother also has roots in Guangzhou, though her ancestors were from a different village.

Anyway, in September of 2015, my bestie told me that she was going there for a work trip, and asked if I wanted to accompany her. HECK YES!!! It was my first time going to mainland China, and hello, she was literally going to my "ancestral province." Despite the exorbitant visa application price (US$140...valid for 10 years, which is okay but still!), I jumped at the chance to travel with her. I wasn't able to visit the two ancestral halls because they were far from where we stayed, and I can't speak fluent enough Cantonese to hunt them down.

But I could still absorb in the sights, sounds and smells of my "ancestral province." Some of it wasn't that great. In case you think people exaggerate when they say you don't see the sky in China due to the pollution, they weren't kidding. It wasn't that bad in Guangzhou but the sky was overcast everyday. We also saw people smoking early in the morning, before snuffing out their cigarette buds to start their exercise routine. Yeah...

Other parts of the trip were awesome though! First, thanks to my bestie's company, we stayed at the luxurious Marriott Hotel (at Tianhe), which was (conveniently) across the street from Tianhe Fashion Mall, a HUGE underground shopping center. The mall is easily the biggest I've been to, although apparently it isn't the biggest in Guangzhou (or China). We browsed the stores for hours, and only conquered half of it. There were also many quirky corners that were fun to explore, such as the one evening when we came across a small pen of 3 horses. No idea why they were there but horses inside the mall?! Super random.

And of course we ate! It's funny because we ate Japanese ramen and Korean bbq since they are cheaper compared to Singapore. Have no fear though-- we also ate local food, most notably, dim sum. We went to the restaurant at Hotel Guangzhou (广州酒店), one of the oldest, more reputable eateries. Not the best dim sum I've had but good enough!

[L-R: My haul of Guangzhou's famous dried sausages and other snacks; tea and dim sum...such a Cantonese thing to do; ramen that was SO GOOD]

Plus at the restaurant, I saw the largest Lazy Susan in my life! Imagine how heavy that thing would be to turn with dishes piled on it. Not so practical yah? 

We also visited The Museum of the Nanyue King of Western Han Dynasty. In 1983, construction workers were digging a plot of land scheduled for development when they stumbled across the tomb of the second Nanyue king, Zhao Mo, who ruled over the southern China/ Northern Vietnam region from 137 to 122 B.C. How cool is that?! Along with the MASSIVE tomb, archaeologists also found precious jewels and artifacts, and the remains of his concubines and animals. The museum guided visitors through the history and findings of the excavation site, and also showcased a special exhibition of historical ceramic pillows. I was in history nerd heaven. And it only cost 12 yuan (US$1.90/ S$2.50)!

[L-R, T-B: Outside of the museum; ancient Chinese people were short, and I'm already considered petite!; the massive tomb; the famous dragon-phoenix jade disc; sampling of the ceramic pillows on display.]

I couldn't take pictures of most of the exhibition, but those sections that I could take, some of them were just weird. Like this two-human-headed tomb dragon, and the monkey & human-faced shape ocarinas, all from the Tang Dynasty. Actually, we don't even know if these artifacts are genuine (see THIS SCANDAL), but it was still weirdly cool. 

After the museum tour, we hopped down to the famous Beijing Road for more shopping and eating. Most of the goods there aren't that cheap, even though every shop claimed to be "on sale." But I managed to snag my big, blue bag I carry everyday now, a few Pixar and Studio Ghibli movies, and one of those popular adult coloring books (Secret Garden). Not too bad. Thank goodness the evening crowd had not yet arrived. 

[Couldn't resist taking a picture of this cute Chinese girl]

The ultimate highlight, however, had to be my first Chinese massage. We went to the Tianhe North Road branch of Fu Yuan Tang/ 扶元堂, one of Guangzhou's more reputable massage places. I paid slightly over S$100/ US$73 for a complete package that included a deep-level tissue massage, gua sha and oil treatment. 

HOLY MOLY.

THE MASSAGE HURT LIKE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I screamed into my hand and teared up at one point because the masseur used so much strength on one particular muscular knot (and she claimed to only be using a soft touch). I've always liked gua sha so I wasn't shocked by the results, but my back was so delicate, it hurt to wear clothes. Overall, I felt better and lighter, and would do it again, though I would request a soundproof room so that I can scream my heart out. 

I enjoyed my trip Guangzhou, and would love to go back again! Next time, I have to visit my ancestral halls. Beside, I better make use of that expensive visa ;)

P.S. Buy the lychee-flavored Pocky sticks that you can only find at the airport-- yummy!!