Guangzhou
 Guangzhou,
known in the West as Canton, is the capital
city of the huge province of Guangdong.
Guangdong and its residents are regarded
with a mixture of suspicion and fascination
by their northern counterparts. This intrigue
is partly due to Guangdong's fame as a dirty,
noisy and dangerous city. Although the area
has a fairly buoyant economy, the crime
rate here is high and there are multitudes
of migrant workers from out of town who
hang about Guangzhou on the look out for
money. Guangdong people are also famously
aggressive and noisy. Many visitors to the
city however, find this kind of enthusiasm
refreshing and passionate as opposed to
threatening and it is this attitude which
laid the foundations for the revolutionary
beliefs that the city has harboured in the
past. Indeed, the revolutionary sights are
among the more interesting aspects of Guangdong
and the Communist Party Academy is a fascinating
insight into the foundations of the PRC's
political party.
 There
is also a colonial side to Guangzhou that
has a relaxed and laid back feeling to it.
Many of the buildings and churches on Shamian
Island are well maintained and rather pretty,
especially compared to the high rises and
granite buildings on the other side of the
river.
Perhaps the best thing
about Guangzhou however is eating. The Chinese
saying 'Born in Suzhou, eat in Guangzhou
and die in Liuzhou' is a fitting way to
describe the wealth of great food available
here. (Apparently if you are born in Suzhou
you have a beautiful mother, and if you
die in Liuzhou you will be buried in the
finest coffins!) Eating is certainly the
main pleasure for the local residents here
and there are literally hundreds of good
restaurants serving up authentic Cantonese
cuisine. The atmosphere in many of these
places is great and not unlike the city
itself-lively, friendly and very very noisy!
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