Planner’s Travel Series 

About the series: Welcome to our ongoing travel series. These are all posts written by planning students and professionals about what to do in a given city when looking for Brunch, a Brew, or a good idea on a Budget. To cap it all off, we include a fun planning fact!   

By Yue Zhang

About the visit: When people ask me where my hometown is, I would usually describe it as a city located near Hong Kong. One stereotype is that China only has three major cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. However, Guangzhou is the largest city in Southern China and has a history of more than 2,200 years! During the summertime, I went home and had a really lovely time. Through the 36 Hours series, I hope you all can have an immersive experience of this beautiful modern city. Here are some of my favorite spots:

Brunch  

Har Gow (Chinese shrimp dumplings) at Tao Tao Ju.   

Yum cha is the traditional brunch including dim sum and Chinese tea in the Canton area. Small portions of steamed or pan-fried dim sum served in bamboo steamers and hot Chinese tea are a perfect match to start your day. One of my must-eat dim sum is har gow. Chopped or entire shrimp, pork fat and bamboo shoots are wrapped by translucent and chewy skin. It has a very rich, umami taste. Each plate costs about 30 RMB which is around 5 dollars. I would also recommend cheung fun (steamed rice noodle rolls) and egg tarts. All of them are very affordable and you could always share them with your friends and family.

Brew  

Shuang Pi Nai (the two at the bottom of the picture) at Meigui Desserts

Shuang Pi Nai (double skin milk) is a Cantonese dessert made of milk, egg whites, and sugar. The dessert has two skins:  the first skin forms during the cooling of the boiled milk and the second forms when the prepared custard cools. I would prefer to add red beans on it, but you could also add other toppings like mango chunks, sago, etc. It tastes velvety and sweet and only costs 10 RMB which is about 2 dollars!

Budget 

The Statue of Five Goats in Yuexiu Park

Guangzhou is also called “City of Five Goats” because of an ancient Chinese mythology. It is said that there were five gods who appeared to give wheat to the people and left five goats to prevent famine and drought. Therefore ancient Guangzhou was able to rebuild. Yuexiu Park is a perfect place to go if you want to explore the history of Guangzhou and explore nature a little bit. You could also find the site of the Ming Dynasty City Wall, Zhenhai Tower, and other cool places to see in the park (it’s free admission)!

Fun Planning Fact 

Urban villages in Guangzhou

Guangzhou has nearly 138 urban villages. They are products of the dual-land tenure system which divides the residential areas into household registration agricultural and non-agricultural. The dual-land tenure system was intended to preserve rural areas from being encroached upon but it led to rural-urban migration which increased pressure on urban cities to expand. There are a lot of urban problems like substandard health and building quality as well as higher crime rate in urban villages. The government has decided to regenerate those villages but there is still some controversy..

Featured Image: Canton Tower in Guangzhou. Photo Credit: Yue Zhang 

Yue is a first year Master’s student in the Department of City and Regional Planning whose specialization is Land Use and Environmental Policy. She earned her B.E. in Civil Engineering back in China. She enjoys hiking, watching movies and drinking boba in her free time.