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| One of the chambers inside the temple. |
During my last day in Guangzhou, I spent it walking around accumulating 6 hours worth of steps. Sometimes I'm really amazed at the stamina that I have. My motivation that day was to look for Liwan Plaza believing that it might be a spot for selling wholesale beads. I was very immersed in DIY crafts at the time and I was hoping that I would find some sort of wholesale market. Sadly, I am not a native to the land and I didn't find it in the end. However, it did earn me some interesting new information.
I was going on a piece of unlikely clue. While searching the web, Liwan Plaza was suggested to me as a wholesale market for many things. I thought I would give the place a try since I had very little time left before my departure. So I started off my day by visiting the Onelink International Center. In my previous entry, I described it as a wholesale market. I went back mainly to purchase collapsible shopping bags at 15RMB (2.08USD) a piece. These would become my favorite bags because they would unfold into huge grocery bags and were made of resilient material. They also have a variety of designs available. It's been three years since I have purchased it. Other than a ruined section from a pointy package I held, they work fine.
Afterwards, I took the Guangzhou Metro to Changshou Road where I would stroll the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Mall for the rest of the day. I was quite hungry and sat down at Nanyang Laodie in Henbao Plaza for a meal. Bad decision on my part. The place is called Nyonya something and I highly recommend to stay away. In fact, you should stay away from all the eateries in the plaza and settle for places outside the plaza instead. you have a higher chance of experiencing better food.
The set meal I ordered was 30RMB (4.17USD) consisting of a barbecued pork over rice, a seasonal vegetable, and a milk tea. This place calls itself a Malaysian cuisine eatery, but nothing about this meal tasted Malay. I though initially that I made had chosen the wrong lunch set, but the food was sub-par. It was basically a char siu rice that was cooked in a overly sweet sauce instead of savory. Underneath the char siu are cucumber spears that are also glazed with the same sticky sauce. Not a good combo in my opinion as it didn't add to the entree. There's also some sort of shrimp chip and house made chili sauce. I don't remember the taste of it. The supposed seasonal vegetable that the meal complemented with ended up being lettuce. They drizzled a very odd tasting sesame oil over it leaving a bitter aftertaste. The milk tea I had wasn't mixed properly so all the syrup had remained at the very bottom. The one interesting thing that they served every customer was a pitcher of monkfruit water.
After eating, I strolled down the streets buying my final souvenirs. I remember carrying a rather large Miniso bag as I walked to Liwan Plaza. Following the map on my phone with limited data, I was sure I was walking in the correct direction. At the time, the entire area was under heavy construction and many roads were sealed off. I was terribly lost and the map couldn't help me that much. I knew I had to cross a very huge main road in order to reach Liwan Plaza, but I couldn't even navigate through the labyrinth that I ended up in. I saw another foreigner like me traveling alone and I highly suspected he was lost just like me.
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| Possibly how I got lost in the area |
The miraculous find of the day wasn't Jade City, but Hualin Buddhist Temple. I eventually found out from my dad that he used to walk around there and knew about the temple. When I moved away from Hualin Jade Street, I wanted to walk further to see what other shops or scenic spots would be available in the area. As it turns out, there were no shops nor notable tourist attractions. Usually I would turn back, but one thing had caught my interest, the smell of incense.
My gut instinct tells me that the smell of incense usually indicates that a temple is near by. I haven't been to a single temple during my entire stay and I had been itching to find one. So I keep walking hoping that the smell of incense would lead me somewhere. As I walk further, I see another interesting thing, a fortune teller. He was dressed in Daoist garb with a simple sign on the ground reading "fortune telling". I knew that a temple must be nearby so I continue to walk. Lo and behold, I am greeted by a beggar at the doorsteps at none other than the Hualin Temple.
The temple itself is not as big as Liurong Temple (The Temple of the Six Banyans). It's very small and also quite dark. It still houses some impressive statues. I walked into what looked like a hall of Buddhas. The golden statues were all seated and all of them were different from each other. They would be holding different gestures, seated in different poses, or holding something in their hands. It was eerie at first being terribly dark inside and one of the lights was constantly flickering.
I prayed to a couple of the statues and left some donations. I prayed to Guan Yu, worshiped by many Cantonese people as a protector. I don't know how many temples house Guan Yu, but this was the first I encountered. I also prayed to Guanyin and the smiling Buddha at the entrance. I think they may have enshrined Shakyamuni, but I may be wrong. Most of the time when I go up to these statues I blank out. I either forget what to ask for or don't know what to do.
After visiting the temple, it was time to go back home. I will trace back my steps to Hengbao Plaza where I will take the metro. I thought I knew the Pedestrian Mall well, but no matter where I walked no place looked familiar. Plus it was getting dark and I knew I needed to get back home as soon as possible. Somehow I ended up in Huangsha and I remembered getting lost around here the first time here. As long as the metro was around here, it didn't matter anymore. I followed the signs and somehow made it home by 5:30pm.
Looking back on this trip overall, traveling is certainly fun, but it can be terribly lonely when you are alone. Despite the age of technology where you can text and video chat, it's not the same as traveling with a companion. Having sufficient research is another thing or you can end up with very strong legs like me. I had no choice with a crappy phone, but if I travel again, I'm not suffering through that again. I've learned to let go of frustration when you can't find places you planned to go because if you hold on to it, you'll only get upset and ruin your entire trip. (Going with the wrong companion can also ruin your trip.) I returned to Guangzhou in 2017 so I hope readers will stick around to read about that trip.
Places Visited
Hualin Jadeware Street 华林玉器街荔湾区 Liwan District 510245
This is not a specific store as it encompasses a whole area. The best way to get here would be via Changshou Road (长寿路). Either way you're coming from, you have to walk and the closest metro station is Changshou Road Station which you can take Line 1 to.
Hualin Buddhist Temple 华林禅寺
荔湾区 Liwan District 510245
This is the same with Hualin Jadeware Street. I'm not too sure about a specific address, but you have to walk there. I would suggest walking along Changshou Road and making a right. If you plan to explore the Pedestrian Mall like I did, it's much easier to get lost because streets are not in a grid format.
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