A Chinese named Jimmy

My cousin Alex from Dallas, Texas, introduced me to a Chinese dude named Jimmy that lived in Shenzhen and I took a 2hr bus drive to meet him in Shenzhen for a talk. Jimmy lived in a suburb of Shenzhen, I didn’t know Shenzhen very well, and he made the move to meet me. Shenzhen is the portal city to Hong Kong which I remembered seeing high-rise building from the bus. The town on the other hand has nothing to compare to Guangzhou. Is the cleanest city to date that I’ve ever seen. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Gosh! It looks like a futuristic city, just like in a sci-fi movie.

Shégué

Enfant de la rue (homeless) as we call them in Kinshasa. In Guangzhou, these kids are sent by their own mother to beg for money. Sometimes they can be brutal as far as to hold your leg until you give up some money. I didn’t like it, but life is so cheap in that city that I can compensate!

Subway Station

The Pearl River

Just right in the middle of the city is the Pearl River with a night scene so enchanting that must have a look, and the best way is by boat. For ¥35~$5, I took a 2hr boat tour served with a free hot tea, and for ¥15~$2 more I could have got a buffet meal! The experience is thrilling!!!

Shunde

This district near Foshan sells materiel for house construction at unbelievable price.
Tiles, for example, are being sold there for $1.80 a square foot versus $14.00 in Kinshasa!

Dining room set for $180!

Lecong International Furniture Exhibition Center, located in Foshan, an hr-drive from Guangzhou, is an impressive five stories building complex selling only furniture, catering for foreign and rich Chinese market. An upscale living room set is sold for ¥9600 ~ $1200. I didn’t get any. I went just beside Lecong Furniture, where I found another mega complex selling the same living room for ¥1440 ~ $180. Not real leather! You want real leather you pay double. A dining room set is sold for ¥800~$100 including the chairs. The very same furniture is sold in Kinshasa for $5000!!! You have to get up early to go Foshan; it takes the whole day to visit this area.

Food

The food cost almost nothing. I was getting up earlier just to be at McDonald before 10 :00 am for my "Big Breakfast meal ". At noon, I ate McDonald again, or Pizza Hut, or again KFC. Around 3 :00pm with the sun warming up, a nice ice great from a 7 eleven store. And in the evening, my favorite spot " The Latin Grill House ", a Brazilian all-you-can-eat-meat-buffet with a Latin orchestra playing live music, and all that for only ¥35~ $5 (Monday-Thursday) at noon time or ¥50~$7 evening. Some night, I was at the Subway sandwich shop. One of my friends thanked me for showing Subway; he just loved their sandwich.

Beijing Lu

One of the oldest streets of the city, great for walk, shopping, and the scenery is out of the ordinary especially during evening.

TianXiu

The Matonge (popular neighborhood in Kinshasa) of Guangzhou.You find foreigners (mostly African), $20/night hotel room or less (during off Fair season) and they’re clean too, hookers, Chinese and African marketers, crooks, African restaurant, and much more…. This is the place to start when coming to Guangzhou. You’ll get a lot of information, and most of the stuff sold there are fake. But make sure to visit the market in the Tian Xiu building first.

Second-Hand Electronics Market

I got my first and current digital camera, a Samsung Digimax A40 (4.0. mega pixels), for ¥1600 (¥ = Yuan: Chinese currency) about $200 American dollar (1$ = 8¥). I thought I had made a bargain, the camera look new to me, but it was actually a used one. Dashatu is very popular area in Guangzhou for used electronic stuff and copycat (from cell phone to I-pod). You’ll also find in this same area Chinese brand name that are much better than copy. Anyhow always check what you get before giving cash. Chinese will take your money with a smile, but they hate refund!

Why China?

We heard a lot about China rapid growth and business opportunities. I venture to get a closer look at this particular country, in a part of the world that I have never been.On June the 4th 2006, I boarded a Kenyan airways flight to Guangzhou for a month prospect.