Showing posts with label River. Show all posts

[PLACE] 20141222 Zhujiang Night River Cruise 珠江夜游 @ Haizhu, Guangzhou


Zhujiang or commonly known as the Pearl River or Canton River among the locals, is the most extensive river system in Southern China. Guangzhou being one of the largest city at this region, is located directly on the Zhujiang Delta.

The Pearl River is also the third longest river in China, spanning across 2,400 km from the highlands of Xi Jiang. The river gets its name for the pearl shells that are found at the bottom of the river across Guangzhou.

Just like the early civilisations, the river banks of Zhujiang is well developed with famous landmarks especially at the Haizhu area where the Guangzhou IFC and Guangzhou Tower is located.

Some boat operators seize the opportunity to offer river cruises along the Zhujiang River especially during the night time. There are many piers located along the river which provides the night cruise services. Typical ticket prices ranges from RMB48 (RM28) until RMB108 (RM60). Some luxury cruises with dining or clubbing is also available.

I went to the one nearest to my hotel, which is the Xiti Pier 西提, nearby the Guangzhou Cultural Park (Wenhua Park) at Liwan district.

广州荔湾区沿江西路西堤码头
Nearest Metro Stations: Wenhua Park, Exit A
Telephone: +65 020-81215117
Opening Hours: First cruise sail at 07:30pm and last cruise at 10:30pm

TO GO


Disclaimer: Google services are barred in China. You need to either bypass the "Great Wall" or use a VPN. Alternatively, you may use their domestic sites such as Baidu Map.

The pier is accessible by taking the Metro Line 6 (Red) and exit at Wenhua Park Station, Exit A. Alternatively you may also opt to take public bus or electric tram (bus) to stop at nearby stations like Bus 102, 108, 7, 38 etc.


ATTRACTION


Just take a cab or public bus and drop off the bus stop once you see the river bank. It will be better if you know how to read Chinese or understand Mandarin. After that, walk some distance towers the river and you will be able to see a few ticketing counters. Just remember to buy from the official counter. There will be some girls standing nearby to give out flyers.


The cruises travel at hourly basis, with total cruise time of about 1 hour, even thou the sign board states 80 minutes (I think they cut short the cruise distance). It starts from Xiti Pier, along a few bridges and landmarks such as Guangzhou Bridge, IFC and the Guangzhou Tower. 


Ticket price is graded according to type of boat and the level of your viewing deck. Most cruise boats have three levels with the bottom deck being the cheapest and with the most crowd. My ticket is the cheapest at RMB48 (RM26). A bottle of mineral water and a packet of biscuits are included. Well, better than nothing.


While waiting for my boat, I saw many types of boats passing by the pier. Some of which are well decorated with LED lights and looked like a dragon boat.


There's also a map displayed on the travel routes if you are interested to know your whereabouts later.


Finally my boat arrives. The highest deck is the open air deck where you get to enjoy a very good 360° view of your surroundings. Unfortunately for the medium and the lower deck is covered by windows and worst still, the lower deck's view is blocked by the steel railings around the boat.

The mineral water and pack of biscuits are served once you are on board and present the ticket.


Off we go! It will be very stupid to stay inside of the deck as you don't get to feel the wind and don't get to see anything even thou a narrative recording was played to introduce the interesting scenes at both sides. Hence, I left my seat and went to the rear of the boat, which is an open air area. Unfortunately, you will be only able to enjoy the view, from the back with all the other people who is trying to fit into the small area. Just pray that the boat is not full when your visit otherwise you might end up fighting for a space to stand instead of enjoying the view. That's why I always like to travel off-peak.


The cruise will pass by several bridges like the Guangzhou Bridge, Haiyin Bridge and Jiangwan Bridge.


The cruise will travel through the famous landmark, i.e. the Guangzhou Tower. I managed to snap a view of the tower from the side of the boat at very high ISO and acceptable shutter speed.


Along the way you will get to see other cruise ships, some are sponsored by corporations just like the one above which was sponsored by IC*C, which was decorated very nicely with the theme of musical.

My cruise ended after reaching the Guangzhou Tower where the boat takes a u turn and travels back to the Xiti Pier where I initially boarded. The whole journey took about an hour and it's about 10pm. I carefully check the bus routes and headed back to hotel after a long tiring day around Baiyun area, visiting the Yuntai Garden, Baiyun Mountain and climbing up Moxingling.

SUMMARY


Taking the Zhujiang Night River Cruise is definitely one of the main thing that you must do as a visitor of Guangzhou. Even though the cruise was a bit bored, it is more to a symbolize of marking your footsteps in Guangzhou. Overall, given the ticket price of RMB48, it was a fair ride with pleasant experience. 

Attraction
☆☆☆☆☆
A must try when visiting Guangzhou
Cleanliness
☆☆☆
Acceptable
Entrance Fee
Min RMB48 (RM26)
Cheaper if book via online portal
Opening Hours
First boat starts 7:30pm and ends 10:30pm.
One boat every hour
Wifi
N/A
Parking
N/A
Website
http://prol.handtrip.com/

GPS: 23.106982, 113.251407
Read More

[PLACE] 20141222 Yuntai Garden 云台花园 @ Baiyun, Guangzhou


Yuntai Garden is actually a botanical park located at the north of Guangzhou city, bottom of Baiyun Mountain, next to Lihu Park. Although with the name "garden", Yuntai Garden is actually a huge park, covering land area of 120,000m² with 14 main attractions which includes river, lakes, stone carvings (artificial), tropical green house etc.

Despite the size, the Yuntai Garden is actually very well maintained with beautiful flowers to be seen everywhere, which is the main attraction for this garden. The other artificial sculptures and carvings are just add-ons which is nothing unique.

The entrance fee is at a humble RMB10 (RM5.70) which is well worth the ticket price given the scale of the park. The upkeep and maintenance are tip top. You are required to have some stamina to fully explore the park given the hilly landscape. Recommended to reserve at least 3 hours if you would want to explore every inch of this park.

801 Guangyuan Middle Rd, Baiyun, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
广州市白云区广园中路
Nearest Metro Stations: Nil
Telephone: +86 20 3722 2222
Opening Hours: 08:00am until 05:00pm (Daily)

TO GO


Disclaimer: Google services are barred in China. You need to either bypass the "Great Wall" or use a VPN. Alternatively, you may use their domestic sites such as Baidu Map.

Unfortunately, there's no direct Metro station for Baiyun area. Alternative transportation includes public buses and cabs. There are many buses travelling through this route including bus number 175, 179, 199, 218, 223 or the tourist bus No. 1 from Zhongshanba Terminal. Typical cost of an air-conditioned bus cost about RMB2 to RMB3.



ATTRACTION



Yuntai Garden was not in my original itinerary as I only planned to visit Baiyun Mountain. The entrance of the garden is just next to the cable car terminal to Baiyun Mountain, so I thought might as well just pay a short visit since the entrance fee is not too expensive.


My my I was wrong. The garden (or park) is freaking huge. Given the tight schedule, I'm not able to visit all the sections within the park but was able to cover about 70% of it within one and a half hours time. 


The sun light in the winter is very harsh with warm colours even thou it is early in the morning. During my visit, the park is having this lantern festival exhibition with various lanterns (made with cloth) based on themes are exhibited along the pathways. Lights will be turned on during night time.


I started off from the right pathway up the hill where I eventually reach a tropical green house, housing various tropical plantations as well as cactuses, sheltered from the four seasons under the green house.


The plants are labelled with their common names and scientific names, as well as their origins. (Yes, I post this on purpose)


There's this beautiful wall of orchids at the exit of the green house.


Right after the exit from the green house, there's this junction that will lead you to the Biodiversity Valley, which is another huge area with rivers and lake, decorated with Chinese-architectural huts. I skipped this area due to lack of time.


Next I arrived at this Rose Garden where different roses are found here. Unlike our lame Rose Valley in Cameron Highlands, the plants here are well kept and the roses blossom with vibrant colours.


Red rose, white red, blue red, purple rose, big rose, small rose, real rose, fake rose. You name it, they have it here.


Besides roses, they also have other beautiful flowers around.


At the left side of the park there's this uphill track, which presumably will lead you to a hill top. My advice is to just ignore it because I got conned to climb up the whole stairway to reach the top with no view or scenery. Just, ignore it.


The long long way up..


To this con-man hut. Nothing to see but some trees. 15 minutes uphill stamina wasted.


Last but not least, a replica of the London Eye made with lantern cloths in the middle of the lake near the entrance.

OK, time to move on to Baiyun Mountain after 1.5 hours spent here.

SUMMARY


Yuntai Garden is worth a visit if you like parks and plantations. Although there's no unique plants special to China like the Peony Flower, it is still worth a visit, thanks to its well maintained facilities and plants.

Attraction
☆☆☆☆☆

Cleanliness
 ☆☆☆☆☆

Entrance Fee
RMB10
Opening Hours
08:00am until 05:00pm (Daily)
Wifi
N/A
Parking
Yes
Website
Baiyun Mountain Website

GPS: 23.157012, 113.293786
Read More
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)