Happy Easter! Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi (more or less).

20/04/2014 - Today's Easter Day. Even if I'm not such a good Catholic (I'm not a Catholic at all, actually), today was the perfect occasion to stay with my friends and feel like at home. Alessandro's dad sent us a caciotta (an italian cheese), so in the evening we met up with some mantou (Chinese steam-cooked bread), tomatoes and cheese and we spent a very nice time together. I miss so much Italian food. Ah, and we had a Kinder Joy instead of the chocolate egg.

(I WILL ADD SOME PHOTOS LATER ON AS FABIOLA TOOK THEM, BUT NOW SHE IS ON HOLIDAY)

Guangzhou, on my own. Day 5. Coming back "home".

08/04/2014 - Today I woke up at 8:00 a.m., because I had to pack my backpack. I thought that the check out was at 10:00, but no one was at the reception desk. I waited till 11:00, then I woke her up. I forced myself to go to Shamian Island (the weather was not the best and I was quite tired). This small island is really nice, but I think that, as always, in a sunny day it's better. There were a lot of western-style houses, as it was the island of the embassies, and there was one of the most beautiful Starbucks I've ever seen, so I stopped for a chocolate muffin (healty food again). 

When I came back to the hostel, I had to wait for 20 minutes for someone to show up as I didn't have the keys for the lift. So, at that point I was late. Loosing a train in China it's not so simple, especially with the fast trains. I run through the city, I run in the metro, I run in the train station trying to find the trains. I cought the train for few minutes. On the way back I sat next to a student of Jimei University, but I didn't feel like talking, I was to tired. Once in Xiamen, I had to take a bus to Xiang'An. It tooks an hour and a half to come back. And that was not all. I had to bike back to my dorms, up on the hill, with 8.5 kilos of backpack and 7.5 kilos of bags. Happiness.

Guangzhou, on my own. Day 4. Drawing kittens (me) and knives (an uncommon Danish guy).

07/04/2014 - Last real day here. last night was awful. People arrived in my dorm at 1:00 a.m., and the problem was that they had to make their beds. Anyway, this morning I went to the Chen Clan Academy (10 RMB full price, reduced ticket 5 RMB): it's an amazing building, with some souvenir shops and some art exhibitions inside. The building is really beautiful, built in the Lignan Style of the Southern culture. Then, i went to the Lychee Bay, looking for the Xiguan market (that I wasn't able to find, shit). It's a kind of park with small streets and canals, and this morning there were a lot of people playing a strange game: they kicked a kind of flywheel and they had a really good time. So, I bought one, we will see if it is so funny. I walked around for a bit (probably it's bettere to come here in the evening because of the light around and in the canals, but in the morning I could see people's real life) and then I headed towards 上下九路 for the Jade Market. Once there, I realised that at present I can't waste money on jewelery (没有钱!!), so I came back to the hostel for a siesta. 
In the late afternoon I went to the Xinhua bookstore for a calligraphy book, a chinese painting book and some postcards (postcards in China are hard to find, but if you go in a bookshop they have them for sure), and I don't know how, I found myself buying some clothes at Uniqlo (noooo!). At last, i took a bus back home (even for just two stops, but I was very tired) and, when I reached my room, I found out that the old woman was already sleeping. at 8:00 p.m. So, I took my stuff and I went in the common room to study a little. few minutes later, a Danish guy called Christian decided to draw something (it was an "art" hostel, so we had crayons), I could not resist. We ended up talking about the differences between our governments (guess which is better?). It was a nice evening, even if we realised that we are not artists. At all.

Guangzhou, on my own. Day 3. Not even a strom can stop me.

06/04/2014 - Today there's a storm outside, but I decided to do everything I planned anyway. So, I went to the Temple of Bright Filial Piety. It's a quite big temple (5 RMB) and today it was very crowded (first, it's Sunday, but I think that it's also for the tomp sweeping day, but I'm not sure of this). Then I went to another temple, the Temple of Six Banyan Trees (5 RMB). Again, very crowded. 
Inside this temple there is a pagoda, not so big, but I don't think you can go up. After this temple, I looked for a mosque, the oldest in Guangzhou, and the original one was built by Maometto's uncle. Unfortunately, it's opened only to muslim, or so it's said on the internet, better not to try. Then, last temple of the day: Temple of the Five Immortals (free admission). So peaceful! You can go up on a gate and have a look around. There is a hole which is supposed to be the footprint left behind from one of the beings. It was one of the 8 Scenic Spots of Guangzhou (in ancient times people who went to visit a city knew that there were 8 scenic spots to see, like a travel guide). 

Last but not least, I've been in a Church! Yes, I do not actually know what kind of church is (if protestant or catholic or something else) because it was really crowded inside, as it was raining cats and dogs. Last point on the "to see" list: Tianhe Sport Centre. Why? Because I have an Italian boyfriend. So, I went to the stadium to buy a very EXPENSIVE Nike t-shirt of the Guangzhou Evergrande Football Team (not so expensive actually, the Inter F.C. one in Italy is 80 €, this one "just" 429 RMB). #23, Diamanti. Ok, now let's come back to the hostel. In the evening I just went to a Pizza Hut to eat a Pepperoni Pizza (65 RMB), even if it is not pizza. I know, I'm Italian. After dinner, nice walk back home.

Guangzhou, on my own. Day 2. Every temple has its own cat.

05/04/2014 - This morning I woke up at 8:00, as it was supposed to be a sunny day. And so it was (I knew because two of my rommates woke up at 6:00, damn chinese). I decided to go to the Mausoleum of Nanyue King. It very big, there is the tomb (very smelly), three exhibitions and a museum. The ticket was 12 RMB, but as I'm a student (a chinese student) I paid just 5 RMB. Then I went to the Orchid Garden and again, as I'm a student, I paid 4 RMB instead of 10 RMB (I'm not sure of this). The garden is really nice, there are a lot of "zen" places to relax and a hall with so many orchids! The only disappointing thing are the frogs, really too noisy. Then I went to Yuexiu Park, and I didn't pay the ticket (I read somewhere that it was 5 RMB, but I didn't see any ticket office). 
The park is nice, with the Civic Museum on the top. Nothing special anyway. As I am not interested in the history of Guangzhou (I think it would have been very boring), I went down the hill in Xiaobei Road, lokking for the arab street. Sadly, I wasn't able to find it, so I ate a 巧克力新地 (Chocolate Sundae, yes for lunch, I acn eat whatever I want as long as my parents can't see me) and I went down a street, heading towards the oldest Taoist temple of the city. I think that this temple is special. First, it's Taoist and not Buddhist. Second: it's hidden among new buildings (usually temples are in open spaces with trees). Third: it's really used by common people to pray. It's not the most beautiful I've ever seen, but it's the most particular and authentic. Then, I just shot a photo at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall and I came back to the hostel to rest a while. Two hours and a half later (yes, just "a while") I went to 上下九路 ShangxiaJiu Road, even if on Saturady afternoon was something crazy. I stopped in a Japanese shop called MINISO (a bad copy of MUJI) where everything was 10 RMB, and I bought some mats and some clothes hangers. As I wanted to go on a cruise on the river to see the skyline, I got a bus to Tianzi Port. I paid 60 RMB for a cruise at 20:15 on the first floor (lower deck, inside). I had some time to eat (an ice-cream is good and cheap, but it's not real food, I know), so I stopped in an Hong Kong "restaurant" along the river, and I chose the simplest dish they had on teh menu (I was very hungry, I wanted to be sure that I would have eaten everything). 
It was 20 RMB for two fried eggs with two slices of "ham", vegetables and rice. Not bad, you pay for the place, not for the food, but I didn't have time to look for cheapest places. I bought a bottle of Coke at 7Eleven (a small shop with drinks and some food open 24/24, 7/7) to digest the Chinese ham and then I run on the boat. The name of the boat was Tianzi 3 Hao, and after the first five minutes on the lower deck, we all moved upstairs (you can go upstairs but you cannot sit, I mean, who cares!). The cruise was really nice and I took a lot of pictures. After the cruise I met up with some guys from my same university and we came back to the hostel together (my hostel and their were really closed). At the hostel I wished "good night" to the girl at the reception and she replied: "don't you go upstairs? There are a lot of people on the rooftop". So, I went upstairs, but I didn't feel like talking too much as I was too tired (and they were all from Great Britain or Australia, so I couldn't understand a lot). Tonight I will sleep for sure.

Guangzhou, on my own. Day 1. Discovery Channel led me here.

04/04/2014 - My train leaves at 7:35 a.m. from XiamenBei, too early, shit (no busses from Xiang'an, the first is at 6:00 but it takes an hour and a half...). I thought about booking an hotel near the train station, but as I'm alone it would have been too expensive (150 RMB for a double room). So, I thought about booking an hostel in the city and then take the BRT, less expensive (50 RMB for the hostel + BRT ticket), but the first BRT bus is at 6:00, too late. So, the only choice was the taxi. Il ya un petit problème: no taxis at Xiang'an, at any time. But luckly I have a language partner, and I found out that there is an app (can't remember the name now) in which you insert where you wanna leave and where you want to go, when you want to travel and your phone number. Soon after, a taxi driver calls you back. It's really cool, except for the fact that you have to speak a very good chinese to use it (p.s.: you can also see if there are taxis around, very useful if you live in Xiang'an). So, this morning at 4:30 I woke up, I finished to pack my backpack and I went with my bike to the 中门, the Middle Gate. The taxi driver called me twice, he was just a little bit late, but then he drove at 120 km/h, so I reached the station that it was still closed, as it opens at 6:30. The taxi ride was 107 RMB, and I think that he chose the longest way, so maybe it could be something less. You can't have breakfast in the station because it's too early, and everything opens at 7:00/7:30. Luckly, I brought with me some buiscuits and a bottle of water, so as soon as I got on the train I ate everything. Soon after, I slept for two hours. I really wanted to study, but they gave me the seat next to the window, so I couldn't resit looking out of the window the whole time, especially because there were a lot of tombs and "cemetery". Tomorrow is the 清明节,  the Tomb Sweeping Day, so a lot of families were decorating the tombs (in a very chinese way, with shiny colorful confetti). I arrived at Shenzhen Bei at 10:30, then I had to wait till 1:00 p.m.. So, what should I do? Eating at McDonald's, of course (a McChicken menu is only 27 RMB). The train from Shenzhen Bei to Guangzhou Nan was a REAL fast train: 304 km/h (it was a G train, while the one from Xiamen to Shenzhen is "just" a D train, 200 km/h). The ticket to Shenzhen was 150.5 RMB, and from Shenzhen to Guangzhou 74.5 RMB. I booked an hostel on Hostelworld.com, the name is Dream House Art Hostel, and it was 55 RMB per night for a bed in six-beds dorm. It's really close to Ximenkou metro stop (there is also a kind of small tourist information office near there), but it took me half an hour to find it. My fault, I didn't read the directions on Hostelworld. The girls there are really nice, but they don't know anything about the city (I had to get the map from that tourist office). They are also quite disorganized, and today was something crazy because it was full (I had to make the bed by myself). I'm quite worried about the bathroom because they are only three.

So, I had already downloaded some information form the internet and I had some from my Lonely Planet (I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think that the Lonely Planet is enough for Guangzhou), so I checked on my new map where they were. I decided to go to the Canton Tower, because it was a nice evening. The ticket for the 108th floor (and I think it's enough!) was 150, but I got it for 120 because I'm a student. There is a glass lift, so you can see outside as you go up (quite scaring). The view from the "top" was amazing. Now, I'm here in my dorm with five chinese girls who cannot speak chinese (only cantonese). 太好了.

First trip of the year! (except the fact that I'm in China)

01/04/2014 - Ready, steady...go! Going to 广州 Guangzhou (Canton for Westerns) for the Tombs Sweeping Day. Yessss! So happy, even if it is a quite expensive trip...who cares! See ya!

泰国人，泰国人 everywhere.

30/03/2014 - Today I've been again in Gulangyu, this time with three Thai girls. 
They are really nice, and they want to hang out with foreigners! So, we went to Gulangyu, and I showed them some parts of the island. Then, one of them wanted to go shopping in Zhongshanlu. As I've never been there, I was happy to join them, especially because there was a Carrefour supermarket! Yep, stock of beans and lentils! I also found some cinnamon and some rosemary. In the street I just bought a pair of earrings (as my pearl ones broke one week ago, sob) for 10 RMB. For dinner, we found a food street, where they cooked grilled fish and meat. We ate a slice of grilled chicken meat with "italian pasta" and a fried egg, with pepper sauce on top. The taste of the meat was delicious, but there was too much pepper! I cried the whole time.

California Mall, BRT, discovering nice places for chance.

29/03/2014 - Today I went with some friends to this mall, called California mall. 

It was nothing exceptional, but someone needed to go to Walmart. The interesting thing is that I found out the BRT, a kind of causeway just for special busses. These busses are always on time because there are no traffic jams! So cool. You can use your bus card, otherwise you have to know the name of the stop you will get off (prices vary on the distance), so I just asked for an "1RMB ticket", and obviously we had to get off at the next stop. Anyway, then we decided to go to a sushi restaurant that Alessandro found on the internet, in 莲花路, Lianhua Road.

As usual, the restaurant doesn't exist, but luckly there was another sushi restaurant, called "Yisushi". Not bad actually, I spent 70 RMB for 8 California Rolls (they weren't Californian but that was the style), 4 slices of sashimi and a cone. The most important thing is that we found out this district, that is full of nice restaurant, with a nice park to walk in after dinner. I will come back for sure, it's like a village in the town.