Zhongshan

At the end to my New Year vacation, Jun and I decided for one last quick trip around the Pearl River Delta. We chose to visit Zhongshan, a small city southwest of Guangzhou.

The first thing we did in Zhongshan was to walk along Sunwen West Road. It’s a pedestrian street with a lot of buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sheer number of them in one area was staggering when compared with the small pockets in Guangzhou and other cities. Here they seem to go on for blocks.

Afterwards we walked to Shi Qi Lao, a restaurant known for roasted pigeon. I ate pigeon once before in Egypt, but I wasn’t impressed with it then. Surprisingly the way the chef prepared the pigeons here was pretty good; the roasted nature of the pigeon gave it a nice taste. The other dishes, like the fish dumpling soup and pineapple buns, were quite tasty as well.

Afterwards we went to see  Fufeng Wen Tower at Zhongshan Park. The park had great views of the immediate area. The tower itself was nicely preserved as well. It was a nice to walk around the park and see the different style of buildings from centuries past to the present. It puts into perspective the contradictory nature of modern China: the tension between tradition and modernity.

The last thing we did in Zhongshan was to visit Zimaling Park. It’s a big park with some nice vistas, but it’s a typical park in China. Jun and I were tired by then and decided to head back to Guangzhou.

One thing I have learned about Zhongshan is that I may be allergic to something in it. The moment I stepped off the train I started to develop a terrible headache. It stayed with me during my entire stay in Zhongshan, but the moment I left on the train back to Guangzhou it went away quickly.