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‘Where shall we go this afternoon?’, is SWMBO’s regular midweek question. Last week we ventured to ChenTian Garden (TA reviewed), a couple of weeks before that it was the 1911 Revolution Museum (TA reviewed). The weather was still unsettled so somewhere with plenty of shelter was a priority, new would be nice but somewhere we hadn’t been for some time would be acceptable, and not too far. The Ten Fragrances Garden (ShiXiangYuan in Ping Ying) would do nicely was our choice. SWMBO packed her rucksack with the necessary tea, melon chunks, crisps, umbrellas, etc. which she considers necessary for any trip. I just put my mobile phone which doubles as a reasonable camera, selfie-stick and passport in my man bag. Note, a smart phone is essential in China. Having a WeChat account is also essential with Yuan in a WeChat pay account as cash has almost disappeared. WeChat scans the QR codes that are now a part of life here. We strolled around the corner and settled down on a No. 190 bus for 50-minute journey through the city, across the Pearl River, and into the HaiZhu district to alight at the HuaHai bus stop. The ¥2 bus ride was a great way to see the city, I’m amazed how the driver remembers all the twists and turns. Wedding Dress street was a revelation. We arrived at the HuaHai bus stop and the walked about 100 metres back and turned left into Geshan New Street, then walked until we reached the bridge, but didn’t cross it, turned left and followed the canal for a 100 metres to reach the garden’s entrance. There’s an English language information board near the entrance. After that, only the signs have English. At the entrance we showed the two nice girls on the door our SuiKang (Health check) QR codes on out mobiles, there’s no entrance fee but SWMBO picked up a nice information leaflet, and in we went. Well, at least we got a couple of metres before the heavens opened and it poured down for ten minutes and we returned quickly to the entrance gate. When the downpour eased to just rain, we scurried under umbrellas to get a seat in the pavilion. There we sat for 15 minutes munching melon and crisps while slurping tea. Then between downpours, rain, showers, and drizzle we traipsed around the sodden garden. Since our last visit in May 2018, not much has changed. I think I could safely say nothing has changed, except the fish and the cats. Of course, I fed the fish, but the cats were more interested in keeping dry than my biscuits. The garden is wheel-chair friendly, and most steps have non-slip ramps. There’s a clean toilet but no café or refreshments of any kind. Anyway, we had a stroll around and visited the art gallery, and various exhibition rooms. I’d say about one to two hours to see everything, but more if you sit in the quiet gardens and contemplate the meaning of life on a sunny day. Coming back was nearly the same s going but we caught the No. 273 from across the road. There’s a pedestrian bridge about 200 metres down the road from Geshan New Street. By then the pavement had become a small stream and squelching towards the bus stop was no fun. Luckily, we got seats on the No. 273 bus. The No. 273 took us back in the city’s rush hour traffic to our local bus terminal but took a very different way to the No. 190 bus. All in all, a rather sodden day! It’s the rainy season, so not unexpected. We’ll certainly go back, there’s just something about the garden that I like.…
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Date of experience: September 2020
2 Helpful votes
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+1
The second trip of the week and to another place recommend by SWMBO’s clothes shop friend who knows all the ‘local’ places. We took the local bus to FeiXiang Park and then Line 2 south to ChangGang station. We took the C2 exit and walked straight on. SWMBO asked a couple of locals the way to the garden, they pointed vaguely ‘up the road’. We ambled past many clothes shops with SWMBO making mental notes of the ones to visit on the way back. Plenty of snack bars as well. No wonder this place has few visitors, it’s well hidden. Look for the HuaHai Hotel bus stop, it’s a couple of hundred metres along the road. Turn left down the road just before the bus stop and then walk another couple of hundred metres. Just before you come to a bridge over a small river turn left again and it’s about a 100 metres alongside the river to the garden. Look for the wooden sign of the left before the entrance for an English description of the garden and its history. Enjoy! The only English after this is on the signs in the garden. Entrance is free and there’s a nice leaflet about similar attractions but it’s all in Chinese but they’re all on a very handy map. Handy for future trips. Basically, the garden is in two parts, the old and the new. You have to look closely to spot the differences. There’s a signposted ‘trail’ for you to follow, or like us, you can just wander around. There’s a few air-conditioned interesting exhibition rooms, which provided a blessed relief from the 30+C sweltering weather. There are also many places to sit and relax, just what the garden’s original artist builder intended. Enjoy the fish stream that runs through the garden. I wondered if the fish have names and do they recognise the staff? Look for the timid cats slumbering in the shade of the potted plants. Plenty of statues of famous and not so famous artists which are great for selfies. Yes, a nice place to sit and relax for a couple of hours away from the bustle of GuangZhou. No food or drinks on sale. It was a relief to find nice clean sit-down toilets at the back of the garden. We walked back to ChangGang metro station via a few clothes shops. Too expensive compared with TaoBao (China’s eBay) was SWMBO’s summation.…
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Date of experience: May 2018
1 Helpful vote
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