May 12

May 12, 2017

12 May 2017

This morning we visited the Huangsha Aquatic Products Market which is open 24 hours a day and has a daily capacity of 500 tons. They had almost every variety of fish, clam, oyster, crab, lobster, eel and turtle you could imagine. This market sold the fish and seafood wholesale to local restaurants and customers. Any "expired" products were tossed onto the street. It seemed that everyone had the same products, so you had to know what you were looking for if you were going to buy something.

After the Seafood Market we visited Shamian Island which is home to the famous White Swan Hotel where foreigners stay while filing adoption papers. The hotel was built in the 1960s and was China's first 5 star hotel. The whole island has British architecture and it sits in the Pearl River. There were various people dancing, playing hacky sack, swimming in the river and singing. We joined in the dancing and games and had some good laughs and fun with the locals. There was even a group that sung a Chinese version of the "The Grand Old Flag".

From the island we walked through the ingredients and herbs market where they were selling a wide variety of dried mushrooms, seahorses, fish bladders, and other ingredients. One of the most expensive "medicines" sold was called the "Worm by Winter Grass by Summer" and was a worm that dies and grass sprouts from its leftover shell in the summer months. It can be found in high elevations in Tibet and sells for around $24,000 US dollars/2.2 lbs! Attached to this market was a pet market where puppies, kittens, fish, turtles, lizards and even chipmunks were being sold for pets. The practice of keeping pets is increasing in popularity in China in recent years as owning a pet has become a status symbol.

A short bus ride later and we were at lunch which turned out to be one of the best meals yet. Roasted duck, catfish, hot mushroom and beans, chicken, and deep fried pork were all on the menu.

We then headed to the largest fruit and vegetable market in all of China. Its capacity is 1500 tons per day. We split into two groups to see everything. Fruits and veggies that we had never seen or even heard of were everywhere and hundreds of semi trucks parked inches apart from each other abounded. However, about halfway through our explorations, a police officer approached one our groups and led us to the station near the fruit section. Of course, we can't speak Chinese, and he didn't speak English, so we sat in an air conditioned meeting room full of suspense of what was going to happen. Dr. Thaler had gone to this market many times before and this had never happened. As we were detained for about 40 minutes the second group joined us including our translator Joslyn. It ended up being a misunderstanding. The head manager of the market was extremely embarrassed that the police had detained us and gave us an escort of three giant gulf carts to see the rest of the market. We even got a tour of the international section of the market, which is off limits to everyone but buyers. So it all turned out hunky dory. We then tried some Durian fruit, which smells like rotten diapers but tastes fine.

After a short bus ride we arrived at the Canton Tower which is the largest radio tower in China and second largest in the world. At over 600 meters tall the nearest sky scrapers of 108 and 110 stories were dwarfed in comparison. The tower also lights up at night with different colors and advertisements. We got to see this display of colors ourselves as we went on a river boat cruise after supper. The riverboat cruise on the Pearl River was full of bright lights and beautiful views. The boat traveled all the way down to the tower which is situated near the river. Skyscrapers and boats alike were lit in neon lights, almost giving the city a "Vegas" like feel.

This day was a great day for exploring one of the less touristy places in China. Tomorrow morning we leave Guangzhou and head to Xi'An.