Ian Gordon: The Adventures of our Free Day in Guangzhou

 

Today was our fourth and final full day in Guangzhou and at the Poly Hotel. Breakfast was again provided by the Poly Hotel but a large portion of the group preferred to find breakfast around from the local vendors and shops. The day before, myself and Cleo had proposed a number of ideas for things to do on our semi-free day and the group had voted to visit some Buddhist temples. We left the hotel around 10 am and started heading toward the first Buddhist temple called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. Unfortunately Google maps lead us astray and we ending up in the largest and busiest shopping area in Guangzhou which caused mass distraction for the group. By the time we figured out where the temple was and got there it was getting close to noon, so we made the decision not to go to the other temple.

 

The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees was extremely peaceful and majestic as well as a still functioning Buddhist temple. After the temple, everyone was free to do whatever they wanted and we broke up into a bunch of smaller groups, so I can only speak for a portion of the group after the temple. The group I was with stopped and had some quick lunch and then headed off to a local traditional medicine market. The medicine market was very interesting and had dried everything you might want and more. The most unusual thing we found was bull’s penis or sheep’s afterbirth which I have not the faintest idea to do with. We continued on and walked through a very rural street market and butcher which were really interesting as well. Head back to the hotel after all this sightseeing to figure out some dinner plays.

 

Some of the group members were starting to want some good old fashion Western food. We had been recommended a bar that served Western food and decided to go there for dinner. The place was perfect for us because it was just like a normal pub in Vancouver. After the great meal we headed over to the IFC building, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world. They have a lounge on the top floor, which was the 100^th floor of the building which had an amazing view. The drinks were really expensive but it didn’t matter because the view made up for everything. We hung around the lounge until close at 1 am and headed back to the hotel ready to head to a new city the next day.

Ian is a third year Bachelor of Busines Administration student with a focus in accounting.