Macau and China.

Next day we ate breakfast downstairs then thought about where to go. There were two things I was interested in: Shunfengshan Park and OCT Harbour Plus.

Shunfengshan Park is supposed to be beautiful. It has a huge gateway and a large lake, but I had been to quite a lot of parks and gardens already, so I decided to try the other one.

OCT Harbour Plus is a sort of free entry theme park with shops, restaurants and rides and it's located on a river. Neither of us are particularly into theme parks, but it's supposed to be nice, so we booked a DiDi and set off.

All holiday we had had problems with the weather: torrential rain, thunder and lightning. This time it was the heat. The actual temperature was around 33degrees, but it was described as feeling like 43 degrees. What can I say? It was absolutely roasting 🔥 🔥 🔥 to the point of unbearable.

We got out of the DiDi near a large model of a Chinese woman and a dragon. We stopped to take some photos here.

Model.

And with Peter.

The first area we went into mainly consisted of shopping malls and restaurants. Some of these had been made to look like traditional old Chinese buildings.

Traditional looking building.

Me.

Restaurant.

Peter with one of the buildings.

Peter with the harbour.

Peter with one of the buildings.

Peter with one of the buildings.

There were various things to take photos with such as a large archway and a golden horse surrounded by flowers.

Horse and arch.

Peter.

Down by the waterfront we could see the big wheel known as the Shunde Eye.

The Shunde Eye.

The Shunde Eye.

Wandering around.

Star Trek Museum.

Selfie.

Peter with the Shunde Eye.

I was intending to take Peter across the water, but the bridge was really steep. He told me to check the area out by myself first, then take him later. I said I would put him somewhere cool, but he claimed he was fine.

There were boats on the water and what I assume was a viewing tower next to it. One of the bridges had a statue made out of Lego.

Viewing tower.

Looking over the water.

Boat on the water.

Lego bench.

The amusement park on the other side of the bridge was quite extensive, but I couldn't look at it all. It was just way too hot and I couldn't leave Peter for too long.

Archway.

Merry-go-round.

Train.

Snack stall.

Amusement park.

Fairyland.

Some of the buildings in the amusement park were very nicely painted.

Painted building.

Painted building.

Painted building.

Painted building.

There was a lot to explore, but the heat was really getting to me and I received a notification on my phone saying: 'Your device is overheating and will close down.' This is very serious in China. My phone wasn't just for taking photos. It was my only means of buying stuff and my only means of getting a DiDi home. I put my phone off and returned to Peter. He had said he'd be fine, but he looked as if he was melting. I took both of us at speed towards the shopping mall.

Warrior tribe.

Statues.

Statues.

Band.

Shop.

This was where I realised that coming to OCT Harbour Plus was a better idea than going to the park, because at least there were air-conned places to go inside. Peter stayed in his chair and I literally collapsed onto a seat.

Me.

When I had cooled down enough to move, I took Peter around the mall and we found a statue of Bruce Lee. Shunde is actually Bruce Lee's ancestral home and there's a place here known as Bruce Lee Paradise, which is dedicated to him.

Bruce Lee statue.

Peter with Bruce Lee.

I found an ice-cream shop and bought us each a cone. We were beginning to recover, but not enough to start wandering around outside again, though. Probably OCT Harbour Plus is more of a nighttime place when it's all lit up anyway.

As we were once again sitting down and trying to cool down, two people dressed as Labubu and a mascot appeared. They stopped right next to us and children came running to them from everywhere. I joined in in the photo taking using my non-overheated phone.

Labubu and mascot.

Labubu.

Peter managed to get into this shot.

The kids loved them.

Later I realised my normal phone had recovered, so I called for a DiDi. I noticed another statue outside the mall.

Outside the mall.

Back in the hotel we had a much needed rest and then headed to dinner in the lounge. We are very boring people. I ordered chicken fillet and french fries again and Peter ordered french fries and salad. The waiter brought our drinks. Then - disaster struck. The waiter returned again and said: "We don't have any french fries." We were shocked. I changed my order to a spaghetti dish, as there would be nothing to accompany the chicken and Peter said he would just have salad.

Then once the waiter had left, I thought about it. I said to Peter: "Half the dishes on this menu come with french fries. What do they give people who order them? Just nothing?" Peter said he didn't know, but I decided to investigate further and ask the waiter.

Our waiter was the same one every night. He was very pleasant, calm and polite, yet also very intense. I think that was because he had to concentrate really hard to understand what I was saying. I pointed out to him that almost everything on the menu came with french fries. I said: "Are you just serving them with nothing?" He stared at me for a moment then brought out his translation app. He typed something in, then showed it to me. It was displaying the words: 'potato wedges'. I said through gritted teeth: "Well, give us potato wedges then. I'll have chicken fillet with potato wedges and my husband will have potato wedges and salad. Cancel the spaghetti." He nodded and I went and sat back down.

Our food came and I pointed out to Peter that the potato wedges weren't all that big, so we'd never even have noticed that they weren't french fries if the waiter hadn't told us. We were just finishing off our food and extremely full when a huge plate of spaghetti arrived for me. I said: "But I cancelled that." The waiter said: "No, no please. You can have it." I refused to take it. All of our food and drink was free, but even so we try not to waste it. However, in this place, with communication issues, waste most definitely happened.

Selfie in the lounge.

The band had sung in Chinese every night, but for some reason this time they sang in English. We even joined in. It turned out to be a very fun night.

Next day we had to head to a new destination. Our friend Yang had pointed out that it was possible to take a boat from Shunde to Hong Kong and we had considered doing this, but there were only two sailings a day. In the end we decided to travel back to Zhuhai by Didi. It took one and a half hours and cost £41. We felt it was well worth it. It was a public holiday and we did not fancy braving the bridge. We booked a hotel.

We spent one night in The Pullman, Zhuhai. This time they gave us a suite. It was lovely and very spacious.

Our room.

Our room.

View from the room.

View from the room.

View from the room.

I went for a swim to check out the pool. The other people in there were having swimming lessons. Maybe Peter could get in this one, though he didn't want to try.

At the pool.

We could have looked around Zhuhai next day, but it was roasting hot and we were really tired. Our two night holiday in Macau with one small rucksack had morphed into a fourteen night stay and a mini tour of Guangdong Province. We had enjoyed it, but were glad to be going home.

Friendly robot, much nicer than the one in Shunde. Willing to share the lift with me.

Evening in the lounge.

Welcome drink before leaving.

Old building in Shunde.

As I have said before, our plans for this trip were flexible in terms of both duration and destinations. After Foshan we were meant to go to Shenzhen, but we decided to cancel Shenzhen and head to Shunde instead.

Shunde was originally part of Foshan, but now it's expanding so much it's largely a city in its own right. The name Shunde means following the path of virtue. This city was once an industrial hub and it is famous for Cantonese cuisine.

There were reasons for getting rid of Shenzhen and they were nothing to do with the place. According to our original plan, we would have been staying there during a long weekend with a public holiday on the Monday. This would mean it would be extremely crowded trying to travel back to Hong Kong, so we made our holiday a bit longer in order to avoid travelling back when everyone else was.

At the beginning of our travels neither of us had ever heard of Shunde, but we had got talking to an elderly Australian man in Macau. He and his Chinese wife had just spent a month travelling around China and one of his favourite places to stay had been The Pullman Hotel in Shunde. He kept recommending it, so we thought we would give it a go.

We started the day with breakfast in The Swissotel, Foshan. It was quite a sunny day, but I was feeling a bit achy. I think getting soaked repeatedly was beginning to take its toll on me. I didn't feel like traipsing around, so we just finished packing, then went for our free welcome drinks. I had a mocktail called Swiss sunrise as I really didn't feel like alcohol.

Welcome drinks.

Then we booked a DiDi to take us to Shunde. The journey was around thirty minutes.

The staff on reception at The Pullman were very pleasant, but for the first time we noticed we had a few communication problems. This was to become a bit of a feature of our stay here.

We were given a free upgrade to an executive room on the eighteenth floor. We had lounge access and a late checkout. Our room was lovely, very comfortable and very spacious.

Our room.

View from the window.

We went to have a look at the hotel's pools. There were two: one outdoor and one indoor. Both of them involved walking up several stone steps making them difficult for Peter to access. We weren't finding China very good for swimming. It wasn't that there weren't swimming facilities, it was just they were all hard for Peter to manage. In the end neither of us swam here, which would once have been unthinkable.

Outdoor pool.

Indoor pool.

That evening we headed to Happy Hour in the lounge. We waited a long time for a lift and when it came there was a robot in the centre of it. I had experienced this in Zhuhai and tried to drive it back into a corner with Peter's wheelchair, but this one wasn't moving for love nor money. I did not bond with this robot. We had to give up and wait for the next lift. When we finally got to the ground floor, I noticed a rather unusual lamp on the way to the lounge. In the lounge we were able to order a cooked meal from quite a large menu. I ordered chicken fillet with french fries and Peter ordered chicken burger with french fries. We also had two salads. Peter had a Greek salad which was huge and I had a Caesar salad.

Unfriendly robot. Where's its smile?

Horse lamp.

Peter with his Greek salad.

My food was very good, but Peter's chicken burger was really cold. We decided to ask the waiter to warm it up. This was where the fun started. The waiter didn't know what I was saying, so I spoke into his translation app. I said: "Can you heat up this burger?" Somehow this translated as: "Can you take our photograph?" The waiter nodded and tried to take my phone. I said: "No, I didn't say that." I spoke into the app again. This time it came out as: "Please take a picture of us." Again the bewildered waiter tried to take my phone and couldn't understand why I was getting really quite annoyed. I decided to ask in a different way. I pointed at the burger and said: "Make this hotter." This came out as: "make this hotter" and both me and the waiter looked relieved, but he still hadn't understood what I meant. He hurried away. I said to Peter: "He understood, but he didn't take your food with him." Suddenly the waiter returned carrying a big bowl of chilli sauce to go with my chicken fillet and "make it hotter". Fortunately by this time Peter said he was completely full from the salad and french fries. We just left the burger, but neither of us like to waste food, so we weren't too happy about it.

Next day we weren't sure what to do. We didn't know much about Shunde. We considered getting a DiDi somewhere, but Peter had a bit of an upset stomach and wanted to have a rest, so I said I would just go out for a short walk near the hotel and find out what there was around this area. I had looked at A-maps and knew there was a park about ten minutes walk away from the hotel, so I headed there.

This park was called Beijiao Park and was located next to an underground station with the same name. The walk there from the hotel was very straightforward, as it was largely just following a straight line. However, when I reached the park, it was surrounded by a high fence and it was clear that some renovation work was going on. It was like my experience with the park in Da Nang all over again. For some reason though, instead of giving up, I followed the fence to the end of the park, then turned right. To my surprise I found I could access part of the park, so I went in. This park had a large lake with a few boats and a large Communist style statue. It wasn't overly exciting, but it was quite nice and at least I got in.

Lake in Beijiao Park.

Bamboo in Beijiao Park.

Statue in the park.

Statue in park.

Then, I noticed that on the other side of a busy road there was an elaborate gateway. I thought it would lead to a temple, so I decided to investigate. In order to cross the road at a crossing, I had to walk quite a long way away from the gateway and by the time I did cross, I had found another elaborate gateway. This one just stood by itself in the middle of a large grassy area. Some people were riding around in go karts here.

Large gateway.

Near large arch

Go karts.

There were some interesting looking buildings across a side road. I think some of these would once have been industrial. There was an exhibition hall, a library, a public activity centre and The Museum of Natural Science. I looked up The Museum of Natural Science on trip.com and discovered it was free to enter but currently closed for lunch. I decided that I would continue on to the building I thought was a temple and return to the museum later. On the way I passed another statue.

Exhibition hall.

Library.

Public Activity Centre.

Statue.

When I reached the fancy gateway I had seen from across the road, I discovered it didn't lead to a temple. It led to some gardens. These were called Lingnan Heyuan Gardens. I had never heard of them. There was an entry fee of 30CNY, around £3.30, which was more expensive than the last gardens I had gone to, but still very reasonable. I decided to go in.

Gateway.

Just inside the entrance to the gardens there was a huge stone carving and a long dragon boat.

Dragon boat.

Dragon head.

Dragon head.

A little further in on the right hand side after the entrance there was a large open stage. Apparently Chinese opera is performed here at weekends.

Stage.

In the centre of the gardens there was a large lake. This was surrounded by many paths and there were several wooden pavilions and old stone buildings next to it.

A view of the lake.

A seat by the lake.

Children by the lake.

Fish and rock formations.

Watermill by the lake.

Boat on the lake.

Wooden building on the lake.

Buildings by the lake.

Pavilion by the lake.

Public activity centre near the lake.

Here and there the lake was crossed by several arched stone bridges.

Bridge.

Bridge.

I noticed a very impressive old pink and white brick building and discovered that it was The Ceramics Museum, so I went inside to take a look.

The Ceramics Museum.

And viewed through a fountain.

View from the Ceramics Museum.

View from the Ceramics Museum.

Doorway.

The exhibitions in this museum occupied two floors and contained lots of beautiful vases, plates and bowls. I really liked the inside of the building with its stairways, wide open balconies and arched windows.

Inside the building.

Balcony.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

Exhibit.

After looking around the Ceramics Museum, I headed towards the pagoda that I had seen from the terrace of the museum. There were several people resting on the bottom floor of the pagoda in an attempt to escape the heat. I climbed up the stairs to the top to get a view over the gardens.

Pagoda by the lake.

Pagoda and reflection.

Inside the pagoda.

Looking down on the lake.

Looking back at the Ceramics Museum.

From the pagoda I could see that there were many more buildings arranged around courtyards. I headed towards these and on the way I came across a cave.

Entrance to the cave.

Inside the cave.

Looking out of the cave.

Looking out of the cave.

Looking out of the cave.

There were lots of beautiful wooden pavilions all around the gardens. I passed a hardworking gardener, several ponds and some small waterfalls.

Pavilion.

Pavilions.

Pavilion.

Pavilion.

Pond and waterfall.

Waterfall.

Hardworking gardener.

There were bananas growing on trees and pretty flowers.

Bananas.

Flower.

I had to cross another bridge to reach the cluster of buildings I had seen.

Bridge.

Selfie in the gardens.

Here in amongst the lovely old stone buildings I found some shady courtyards with seating, several moon gates, some bamboo and lots of bonsai.

Old stone buildings.

Old stone buildings.

Through a moongate.

Through a moongate.

Bamboo.

Doorway.

Doorway.

Shady spot.

Shady spot.

Displays.

Through a doorway.

The buildings here housed several exhibitions, including one on the art of Chinese paper cutting.

Inside the paper cutting exhibition.

Inside the paper cutting exhibition

Inside another part of the paper cutting exhibition.

Paper cutting exhibit

Other exhibits.

Other exhibits.

Other exhibits.

I kept seeing a little mascot. I think it was a cat with a lion dance costume. I wonder if it was the emblem of the gardens.

This character was in several places in the gardens.

Here on the walls.

Fishing by the water.

It was an incredibly hot day, so I decided to leave the gardens and look for shade. The exit took me to lots of former village houses that had been converted into restaurants and shops. It was possible to look onto the stage where operas take place from here without entering the gardens.

Shop.

Shops and restaurants.

Shops and restaurants.

I decided I would have a quick look in The Museum of Natural Science. There was a dinosaur model outside the building, so I could well imagine what might be inside. There was also a kung fu panda and a little mascot.

Outside the museum.

Panda.

Mascot.

The first place I saw inside was actually a temporary exhibition of work done by children at a nearby local school. I chatted to the coordinator of this exhibition. He was an American who taught on the I.B. programme at the school. He told me he had lived in Shunde for nine years and loved it.

School exhibition.

School exhibition.

School exhibition.

School exhibition.

Inside the permanent exhibition halls there were displays about the solar system and dinosaurs. There were lots of very excited children running around all over the place here.

Parasaurolophus.

Pachycephalosaurus.

Triceratops.

Clash of the titans.

After looking around the museum, I decided to head back towards the hotel. I noticed there were two shopping malls on the way and outside one there was a sort of fairground with lots of rides for children, as well as several models of children's characters and mascots.

Mascot.

Mascot.

Mascot.

Train.

Fairground.

Fair ground.

Fair ground.

Fair ground.

Fair ground.

Merry-go-round.

Merry-go-round.

I did a little bit of shopping, then headed home. Fortunately, Peter's stomach has settled and he was feeling much better. My 'short walk' had lasted four hours. I had definitely had too much sun.

That evening we had dinner in the lounge again. I had chicken and Peter had salad and french fries. There was a live band and we listened to them for a while.

Next day we got up reasonably early and had breakfast. I had decided I wanted to go to Liang Yuan Gardens which were about thirty minutes walk away. I offered to take Peter, which would have meant we would go in a DiDi, but he wasn't keen on coming due to the weather, so I went on foot.

Breakfast.

I used A-maps to find my way. A-maps is China's equivalent of Google maps and it works very well within China. However, it doesn't work well outside China, so isn't very useful for planning things to do in advance.

It was extremely hot and sweaty on the walk. The sky was getting ever darker and there was obviously a thunderstorm on the way, but I kept going nonetheless. At one point I passed a Hospital of Chinese Medicine and there were some medically related statues outside it.

Statue outside Hospital of Chinese Medicine.

A.I. tells me this is related to ear cleaning. Personally I thought it was to do with eye checking. Who knows?

I also passed some very attractive old village houses which had been beautifully restored. There were displays, cafes and shops selling lanterns and lucky red charms in this area. Central Foshan really is a very nice place.

Lanterns.

Shop selling lanterns.

Lanterns and lions.

Lucky charms.

Lucky charms.

Display.

Display.

It cost me 10 CNY (about £1.10) to go into the Liang Yuan Gardens. I was able to buy my ticket from an office by the entrance.

The Liang Yuan Gardens are one of the "Four Famous Gardens of Guangdong" and date back to the Qing Dynasty.

These gardens were once the private property of the Liang family. They were started by Liang Airu, a wealthy salt merchant, who had succeeded in passing the imperial examination. He had two nephews, Liang Jiuhua and Liang Jiutu, who were renowned scholars in poetry, calligraphy and painting. They often used the gardens as the inspiration for their poetry and painting.

At the peak of their success, the Liang family gardens covered more than two hundred acres, but times change. There were periods of warfare and turmoil and the fortunes of the Liang family began to decline. The gardens were neglected; parts of them were sold off and parts fell into disrepair.

Then many years later in around 1982 the Foshan Municipal Government decided to take over the gardens and restore them to their former glory.

I have visited several Chinese gardens before, though I am certainly not an expert on them. These ones were very beautiful.

There were several old stone buildings, some of which I assume would once have been homes.

Buildings housing exhibitions.

Buildings.

Buildings near a pond.

Buildings.

Building in the park.

Some of the buildings contained exhibitions, others a small amount of furniture, others were empty. I liked the buildings with the brightly coloured windows best.

Building with beautiful windows.

Upstairs in that building.

Inside another colourful building.

Inside another colourful building.

Window.

This one looks like a classroom.

Chairs and exhibition.

Portrait. I wonder if this is one of the Liang family.

The gardens were divided into different sections separated by walls and connected by doorways. Some of these had lion guards.

Colourful wall.

Doorway.

Lion.

Path.

There was a lake filled with lots of golden carp. It was interesting to look at the reflections in the water here. These included the reflections of lots of modern buildings which surrounded the gardens.

Reflections in a lake.

Reflections in a lake.

Reflections in a lake.

At one point this lake was crossed by an impressive looking bridge. There were paths all around it and several interesting rock formations in it or next to it.

Bridge and rock formations.

Rock formation.

Rock formation.

Bridge.

Bridge and rocks.

Bridge and boat.

Boat

Stream.

There were fountains in the lake and several pavilions to sit down in.

Fountains and pavilions.

Fountain.

A smaller pond was filled with lots of beautiful waterlilies. It was possible to go up inside a sort of mini pagoda here for a view over the pond.

Lily pond.

Lily pond.

Mini-pagoda.

Pavilion on the pond.

Looking down from the mini-pagoda.

Looking down from the mini-pagoda.

Naturally there were lots of colourful flowers everywhere.

Flowers.

Flowers.

Flowers.

One couple was dressed up and posing for their wedding photos.

Wedding photo.

Bride.

I had made it about half way round the gardens when the heavens opened up and it began to pour. Fortunately, I had a large umbrella which I had borrowed from the hotel, so I continued exploring for a while.

Park buildings in the rain.

Buildings in the rain.

Buildings in the rain.

Crossing a small bridge in the rain.

Then I realised I couldn't really photograph anything anymore as the rain was too heavy and I was wading through puddles on the paths around the lake. I had pretty much been everywhere by this time anyway, so I left and began to walk home.

I took a slightly different route and passed another beautiful temple. This one was called Renshou Temple. It was only about ten minutes walk from the temple I had visited the day before. In better weather I'd have gone inside, but it had started thunder and lightning, so I just concentrated on getting home.

Renshou Temple.

Everywhere was extremely slippy. Someone had an accident and fell off their e-motorbike, but fortunately some people went to help them.

Back in the hotel, I returned to our room. The weather stayed stormy all day. We didn't go out and, of course, the outdoor pool was closed. There's lots more to do in this area of Foshan. For example, I also hoped to go to an ancient pottery kiln, but the weather was constantly against us. I think we need to come back at a better time of year.

In the evening we went for dinner in the lounge. It was back to the way it had been on the first night. We ordered from a menu and helped ourselves to soups, salads, desserts and drinks.

In the lounge.

Fortunately, there were some other people around on this occasion. We got talking to the two men next to us. One was Chinese and lived in Hong Kong, the other was a white South African from Johannesburg. We told him we had been to Johannesburg and shocked him by telling him, we had stayed in the city centre. Everyone who knows Johannesburg is always shocked by this. I guess we were lucky to have survived that trip. He did say he thought Johannesburg was improving, though.

Next day we should have been heading to Shenzhen, but our plans for this trip had always been extremely fluid. We decided to cancel our hotel there and book a hotel in Foshan Shunde instead. This was much nearer and we had been assured by an elderly Australian man in Macau that the hotel there was fantastic. Would it live up to the hype? We'd have to wait and see.

So we booked a Didi to take us from rainy Guangzhou to the rainy Swissotel in Foshan. The journey went smoothly. When we arrived at the Swissotel, we were checked in by the deputy manager, Rose. She was really kind and helpful and spoke excellent English. This is a very tall hotel with fifty-one floors. Our room was on the fortieth floor and it was lovely, but the safe didn't work. I phoned Rose and she rapidly sent someone to fix it.

Our room.

View from our room.

View from our room.

View from our room.

View from our room.

View from our room.

That evening we went to eat in the lounge on the fiftieth floor of the hotel. This turned out to not really be a lounge. Instead of there being snacks and drinks set out, we got to order our dinner from a menu. I had sirloin steak and Peter had chicken, all free. The strange thing was we were the only people there. There was soup, salad, bread, dessert, wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks all set out and we were the only people having it.

Peter's chicken.

My steak.

It was possible to go outside on the fiftieth floor. I could see a rainy sunset and lots of fresh herbs that the hotel grew to add to their food.

Herbs growing on the roof.

Herbs growing on the roof.

Sunset from the roof.

Nighttime views.

Nighttime views.

Nighttime views.

Next day we had breakfast again on the fiftieth floor and were relieved to see other guests there, too. After breakfast I went out without Peter to Foshan's number one sight - Foshan Zumiao Ancestral Temple. This was only about ten minutes walk from the hotel. I was able to buy a ticket near the entrance. It cost 10CNY to go in.

There were some statues outside the temple building.

Statue outside the temple.

Statue outside the temple.

Zumiao Ancestral Temple is a huge Taoist temple that was first built during the Song Dynasty. It is dedicated to Beidi, the northern god, who is also known as the dark warrior. Nowadays this temple acts as a museum as well as a temple.

The temple complex is divided into several courtyards that are separated by gateways.

The outer gateway.

Gateway.

Gateway.

One of the courtyards had a colourful mural depicting two dragons.

Dragons.

Another contained scenic gardens with bonsai trees, statues and several old cannons.

Gardens and cannons.

Gardens.

In the gardens.

Cannons.

Statue.

Statue.

There were many statues of lions inside the courtyards. Some were the usual lion guards, but one consisted of a large group of lions. I had not seen a statue like this in a temple before.

Lion.

Lion.

Two lions.

Lots of lions.

There are lots of different parts to this temple. I had a look inside the main temple complex, which was filled with statues.

Main temple building.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Inside the temple.

Just outside it there was a courtyard with a pond and in the pond there was a stone turtle with a snake on its back.

Main temple building and courtyard.

Temple courtyard.

Turtle and snake.

There were many more temple buildings. Some of these housed various exhibitions.

Temple building.

Temple building.

Temple building.

Temple building.

Inside a temple building.

Some of the exhibitions centred around martial arts. One had information about restoring the temple. One had exhibits related to Chinese history.

Exhibition on restoring the temple.

Exhibition on restoring the temple.

Exhibition on restoring the temple.

Historical exhibit.

Exhibit about fire crackers.

Huge model of a procession.

Other exhibits.

Other exhibits.

Other exhibits.

Lion dance head.

Dragon.

I was surprised to see that there was even a section devoted to an exhibition on Syria.

Syria.

Syria.

Syria.

Syria.

The temple had lots of moon gates, pathways and other shaped gateways.

Through the moon gate.

Through the moon gate.

Through the moon gate.

Gateway.

Gateway.

There was an area of the temple with pretty gardens, a fish pond and lots of wishing trees. Some people were throwing their wishes into the trees. Others had tied their wishes onto wooden frames.

Bridge across a fish pond.

Lots of brightly coloured carp.

Pavilion near the fish pond.

Throwing a wish into a tree.

Wishing tree.

Wishes.

This temple has daily lion dances. I thought I had missed this, but because of the terrible rainy weather it took place later than usual, so I got to see it. Everyone wanted to stroke the lions for good luck.

Lion dance.

Lion dance.

Lion dance.

Lion dance.

Lion dance.

Lion dance.

There were several stalls selling souvenirs inside the temple complex.

Shop.

Shop.

Lion head.

I spent a long time looking around the temple then I exited from the rear entrance, because I wanted to visit an area known as Foshan Lingnan. This used to be a village, but all the villagers moved out. I'm not sure if this was willingly or compulsory. The whole place has been done up and is now home to restaurants, cafes and shops.

There are lots of gorgeous old stone buildings, which have been beautifully preserved. Some of these would once have been houses, others were temples. There was even an old preserved bell tower.

Old building converted into a restaurant.

Old buildings.

Was this once a temple?.

Old buildings.

Old buildings and lady dressed up in costume.

Old building.

Old building.

Bell tower.

The old village has many narrow winding lanes.

Lanes.

Lane.

Some of these were lined with lanterns. Some of these lanterns were regular in shape and others were shaped like golden swimming fish.

Lantern lined lane.

Lantern lined lane.

Fish lantern.

Foshan is or at least was famous for pottery and there were some pottery shops, pottery decorations and a pottery fountain.

Pottery outside restaurant.

Pottery fountain.

I had a quick wander around one of the pottery shops.

Pottery shop.

Pottery shop.

Pottery shop.

Some of the shops were extremely beautiful. I especially liked a very colourful clothes shop.

Shop entrance.

Clothes shop.

There were several different fountains and some wide open squares.

Fountain.

Fountain.

Fountains.

Fountain and old building.

Fountain.

There was also an open-air market with some large lanterns.

Market.

I found a large courtyard surrounded by large impressive looking buildings. It was good that all these old buildings had been preserved.

Courtyard entrance.

Courtyard.

Old building.

Old buildings.

Old buildings.

There was a food street with food models and lots and lots of restaurants and cafes.

Food street.

Restaurant

Restaurant.

Restaurant.

Restaurant.

Cafe.

I found a giraffes statue and a large bear, too.

Giraffe.

Bear.

Back in the hotel, I went to investigate the pool. It was an outdoor one and quite cold to swim in, but I had a short swim anyway.

The pool.

The pool.

In the evening we had dinner in the lounge, but were upgraded to a free buffet. That meant there were actually some other people around, too.

Lounge.

Lounge.

After dinner, I walked back to Foshan Lingnan to see it lit up at night. It was beautiful, but it started pouring down and I got soaked yet again.

Market.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Lanes.

Fountain.

Fountain.

Pottery fountain.

Dragons.

Square.

Restaurant.

Display outside a restaurant.

Fountain.

Bell tower.

Lane.

Lane.

Lane.

Next day was our last full day in Guangzhou. We had breakfast in the lounge. Peter had his normal plain omelette and I had the wonton noodle soup, which was very good.

Breakfast in the lounge.

Wonton soup for me.

Then we went down to the lobby, where I noticed there was a vintage motorcycle, as well as all those vintage cars. The cars were outside, but the motorcycle was inside.

Vintage motorcycle in the lobby.

We took a DiDi to Yuexiu Pak, which is the largest park in Guangzhou. This park has seven hills and three lakes. The reason I wanted to go here was to see the five rams sculpture which is the symbol of Guangzhou.

I saw a sign for the sculpture shortly after we entered the park, but it indicated that I had to go up lots of stairs to get to it, so I left Peter by a lake and climbed up. I must have misunderstood the sign though, as I ended up coming back down and climbing up another hill to reach the statue. It was nowhere near where I had started out. Still, I got there in the end.

Peter at the lake.

Me in the park.

Gateway to the first hill I climbed.

Deer statue on the hill.

There's a legend associated with the five rams statue. Hundreds of years ago Guangzhou was afflicted by a terrible famine. The population was starving to death. Just when it seemed there was no hope, five immortals rode into the city on the backs of five rams. Each ram held sheaves of rice in its mouth. The immortals blessed the city and the five sheaves of rice miraculously produced enough rice to feed all of the city's people. When the immortals left, the five rams turned into stone and they remain in the city inside Yuexiu Park to the present day.

Statue.

Statue.

Statue.

On the walk up to the statue, I noticed many mascots for the Greater Bay Area Games. I've seen similar ones in Hong Kong and Macau.

Greater Bay Area Games.

Greater Bay Area Games.

I noticed a water tower on top of yet another hill. I would have climbed up to it, but I felt I had better get back to Peter.

Water tower.

I passed some historical graves on my way back. One grave belonged to an emperor and the other belonged to a general.

Historical graves.

Eventually I got back to where I had left Peter. He had wheeled himself quite a way along the side of the lake. I took him along the edge of some other lakes. There were several places to hire boats and go for a sail on the lakes.

Peter at the side of the lake.

Boats.

Boats.

Boats.

Boats

This park is very large and it is possible to pay a driver to take you around in a buggy. The buggies are designed to look like animals.

Buggies.

Buggies.

I found a sort of sheltered arena at the bottom of another hill. There was a wall depicting many historical scenes near it and a row of identical statues. As I climbed up the hill, I found lots of other statues. Some of these depicted characters from Chinese mythology, like the hero archer who shot down several suns. I didn't go all the way to the top of the hill. There are so many different walks to follow here. It would be possible to spend hours in this park.

Historical wall.

Historical wall.

Historical wall.

Historical wall.

Historical wall.

Rows of identical statues.

Closer look.

Closer look.

Arena.

The way up the hill.

Statue half way up the hill.

More statues.

Archer shooting down the suns.

At one point we passed a little waterfall surrounded by lush green vegetation. There was a fancy staircase next to it.

Waterfall.

Peter by the waterfall.

Stairway next to the waterfall..

We found a colourful model of a horse, maybe representing The Year of the Horse, I don't know.

Horse.

Me with the horse

I noticed a marker stating that Guangzhou is paired with Los Angeles.

Guangzhou paired with Los Angeles.

Although it had been pouring when we arrived at the park, the rain had stopped and the day had become really hot. We bought some ice-cream and enjoyed it while sitting by the water. There was plenty more of the park to see, but we didn't try and do it all. We stuck to the flat places where I could push Peter along fairly easily.

We sat near this lovely lake.

Peter by the lake.

Peter by the lake.

Peter with his ice-cream.

We took several photos of each other and some selfies.

Selfie.

Peter in the park.

Peter at the lake.

Peter in the park.

I liked some of the signs that I noticed dotted around the park such as: 'behave civilized, no crossing' and 'dear, don't trample me.' I also liked the decorated electricity boxes, especially the one with a squirrel.

Behave civilised, no crossing.

Dear, don't trample me.

Squirrel.

During our stroll around the park, we encountered several friendly cats

Passing cat.

Cat.

After a while, we decided to take another DiDi to Guangzhou Cathedral. The traffic was quite bad so this took quite a bit of time. Guanzhou's cathedral is called The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a beautiful building and it's made entirely of granite. Unfortunately, it wasn't open, so we couldn't go inside. There were several cafes and restaurants near the cathedral.

The cathedral.

Me at the cathedral.

Peter at the cathedral.

Buildings near the cathedral.

Shops near the cathedral.

Shops near the cathedral.

Then, as we were feeling a bit tired, we took another DiDi home and this time I even had my own TV screen to watch during the journey.

My own TV screen in the DiDi home.

We had also considered going to the Canton Tower and having a walk along the waterfront, but we were too hot and sweaty, so we left that for the next day. Unfortunately, as the next day was raining torrentially and thunder and lightning, we ended up not doing this at all. Never mind, it gives us a reason to return.

Back in the hotel, we just relaxed for a while until it was time to go to the lounge for dinner. The night time view was a bit clearer than before. It must have stopped raining for a while.

Peter in the lounge.

View from the lounge.

After the lounge I went for a quick swim. Peter didn't want to join me, but I felt I better get some mileage out of my very expensive swim cap.

Next day it was pelting down with rain. We had breakfast, packed, then relaxed in our room. After that we went for our free welcome drink in the Mar Tea Ni Lobby Bar. I liked that this bar had a teddy bear pianist at his grand piano.

In the bar.

Peter with his welcome drink.

Both of us.

Teddy bear pianist.

Teddies everywhere.

Finally we checked out and took a DiDi to our next hotel in Foshan. It took around an hour to get there.