Inspired by my reader Jason and my friend Linda, today I will be summing up my favourite places in Guangzhou. Over the three years I’ve spent here, I’ve grown to love this city and can’t imagine living anywhere else. I get easily attached to places and don’t enjoy moving from city to city.

In Finland I was born in Vantaa, near our capital Helsinki, but moved to small city called Heinola when I was two years old. I grew up there, but moved to Orivesi, even smaller city, for high school. After high school graduation I moved to Tampere, which is the third biggest city in Finland. I worked and studied there until I moved to China. All in all I haven’t been living in that many places.

But what are my favorites after three years of living in Guangzhou?

1. Xiaozhou Village

My number one favourite since I first visited it back in 2010 is still Xiaozhou Village. I recommend anyone and everyone living or traveling in Guangzhou to visit this art village. It’s perfect for reading books in unique coffee shops, taking photographs and learning art.

2. Xiguan

For Cantonese Lingnan style architecture I head to Xiguan, which is part of Liwan district now. During festivals and holidays area around Liwan lake gets a bit crowded but it’s also a good place for enjoying the atmosphere and taste some local delicacies.

3. University Island

A great place for biking is the University Island. It’s a home for ten university campuses and three villages. There are bike rentals in the metro stations and every weekend you can see quite a many locals biking and enjoying the fresh air. If you bike around the outer ring road, it’s about 20km and takes one hour. But for a nice day out I recommend you to eat in one of the villages, Beigang, Beiting or Nanting.

4. Sun Yat-Sen University Campus

I have to admit I really love our campus! It’s full of old red brick architecture and big trees transforming the campus to a park. The central grass area is great for a picnic during the day, but when the sky starts to get darker you should head to the North Gate where all kinds of people from kids to grandparents hang out and practice dancing.

5. Tianhe Book Center

If you want to buy books in Guangzhou you should absolutely head to Tianhe’s Book Center. They have an English book store on the fourth floor which is a bit pricy, but it has a nice selection of foreign books. The book center also has a good stock of Chinese learning material. So no matter if you are enrolled in a university, self studying or preparing for the HSK, check out this book center.

+ Top 3 restaurants

1. For the best curry in town, take a taxi to Beijing Lu where you can find an amazing Viatnamese restaurant called the Tiger Prawn. Try curry chicken soup with French bread.
2. If you want pizza, then I recommend Oggi near the Taojin metro station. They also have a restaurant in Tianhe, but the prices there are much higher than in Taojin.
3. And because we are in Guangzhou, everyone should try the traditional dim sum. There are numerous places for dim sum all over the city. One really nice is Weiguo Kitchen on Binjiang East Road in Haizhu district.

+ Tourist tips

• For some background information to the history of Guangdong province, take your passport and enter the free Guangdong Museum in Zhujiang New Town.
• If you want to cruise along the Pearl River, go when it’s dark and only take the cheapest 38RMB ticket. The food buffet isn’t worth it.
• For gifts go to Onelink Plaza in Haizhu Square.
• For expat news read That’s PRD magazine.

Now it’s your turn! What’s your favourite place in Guangzhou? Or if you were to visit Guangzhou, what kind of areas or places would you like to visit?

It’s time to have the very first Guangzhou Meet-Up! Everyone living or traveling in Guangzhou at the moment can participate in this trip to the Xiaozhou Village. We will have a nice afternoon by relaxing and chatting in a coffee shop, we also have a great chance to walk around the ancient village and take photos.

Time: Sunday 24th March 2pm

Place: Xiaozhou Village main gate (click the map below to see it bigger)

How to get there: Take a bus 45, 252 or 468 to 小洲村 xiao zhou cun bus stop. Easiest way is to hop on to 252 or 468 at Kecun metro station (same side of the road as exit C). The ride will take about 40 minutes. (Click the map below)

If you live on the University Island (also known as University City, HEMC and 大学城) let me know and we can bike there together. The bridge between the University Island and Xiaozhou Village is being renovated so busses or taxis can’t cross it, but bikes can.

Confirmation via email: If you are coming, please send me an email with your name and phone number to sara(a)sarajaaksola.com (change (a) to @ before sending!) I will then send a message back to you so you can contact me if you get lost or are late.

See you on Sunday!

Flower Fairs are a big tradition in Guangzhou before the Chinese New Year. Firework show being cancelled from now onwards the best way to celebrate the holidays is to visit different flower fair available all around the city. Tomorrow will be the last day of the flower fairs in Guangzhou.

I visited the Haizhu District Flower Fair at Binjiang West Road (滨江西路). You will need at least one hour, but better to prepare even more time. Besides flowers there is so much else to buy too. Anything you need to have a beautiful and tasty Spring Festival.

Do you think Guangzhou is all about the bustling city life and high rises in Tianhe and Zhujiang New Town? Well, guess again! You can find many relaxed countryside destinations inside Guangzhou too! Following photos are from the Changzhou Island (长洲岛), right next to the University Island （大学城）.

To get to Changzhou first take the metro to the Higher Educational Mega Center North on line 4. Then get exit D and a bus 332 to Changzhou. You can get off at the last stop for example.