On November 19th, we partake in our first Chinese high speed rail experience. We took the train C7005 from Guangzhou (广州) to Pinghu (平湖). I purchased the tickets on trip.com. The purchasing experiencing was quite easy, but we had a little issue when passing through the ticket gate. Our e-tickets were tied to our passports and the agent was not able to find our tickets on their system. Based on our Japan experience, we arrived with ample time to resolve the issue. I had to show my invoice and the ticket number for her to let us pass. However, on the train when the conductor came to check our tickets, our passports and our e-tickets were validated correctly.
Types of trains we took on C7005
The train was a C class express intercity train with a travelling speed of around 150km/h. It took us about an hour from Guangzhou to Pinghu and another 40 minutes of DiDi ride (Uber like service) to get back to Fenggang.
The next day (November 20th), we stayed at Fenggang to do some banking business and to visit Carol’s ancestral village and her father’s empty flat. At night, Carol’s cousin treated us to another excellent Cantonese dinner. Before we finished our dinner an old acquaintance dropped by. We knew them when they visited us in Canada. They ended up footing the bill. This world is such a small place.
Banking in China is … interesting. I will not go into details but make sure you have all your documents in place, and be prepare to wait a very long time to create accounts. Also be sure to inform the banking personnel that you are not a tax payer in China. If you don’t, things will not work out well for you. Another ironic thing is that in a world of smart phone payments, the bank only accept ¥20 cash for the cost of the debit / bank card, so make sure you have that handy. Be sure to remember how your name is spelt and make sure it matches with your WeChat account.
Make sure you choose a reputable bank that has the ability to transfer cash to and from other countries in the denomination of your choice. The first bank, DRC Bank (东莞农村商业银行股份有限公司), will only accept US dollars as the form of wire transfer, and a physical signature is required for the receipt of the transfer, so it is kind of pointless for a wire transfer. The second bank ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – 中国工商银行) took a lot more effort to create the account, but is ultimately more flexible, and they have more branches through out the country. My conclusion is that there is not much trust between the head office of the banks and their retail branches. Everything has to be post-approved by head office and the people at the branches are simply data collectors and do not have much say or agility.
Below are the videos representing the two days.
Transiting from Guangzhou to FenggangIn Fenggang and visiting Carol’s village
On November 18th, we started out with another local breakfast. It was a delicious breakfast with super friendly service and a super cheap price. Checkout our breakfast below:
So you can see from the above, we had breakfast for two people for less than $7.50 CAD. In China, there is no tips culture. This is the way I like it. What they advertise is exactly what you pay. With WeChat Pay, the transaction is completed in seconds, and you have an electronic record.
Expensive prices for the Guangzhou Tower
Afterwards we headed out to the Guangzhou Tower. You cannot get more touristy than this. We did not go up the tower, since I did not feel like spending ¥150 for the elevator ride up. Check out the prices from the previous picture. Click on it to enlarge it so you can make out all the pricing options.
We did however walk around the area and cross the 海心橋 (Haixin Bridge). We figured out how to rent a bike with our WeChat and 美团 (Meituan) apps, and rode along 二沙岛 (Ersha Island).
After our ride, we took a DiDi ride to a famous wonton noodle place that is frequented by locals called 吴财记面家. However, the line up was way too long. We waited for 30 minutes and still no seats or food. Even for take out, we still have to wait. We decided to give up on this place and just ate some place at a local mall near by. No noodles can be that good. Could it?
The area where we spent most of our afternoon and evening.
We took a stroll around 沙面岛. This place contains many of the old European style buildings just before World War II. The area is now taken over by the government and serves as a huge park and tourist district consisting of many shops. We also notice that there may still be some residents on the island. The area is huge as you can see on the above map, and it is a very picturesque place. We spotted many photographers and amateur models there taking the opportunity of the excellent lighting conditions of a very clear dusk.
We spent the remaining evening picking our seafood of choice at a nearby fish market called 黄沙水产交易市场. We took the live catches to a neighbouring restaurant where we had another scrumptious, finger licking good seafood dinner.
We then rode the subway hotel bound. However, not return trip will be complete without a detour for desserts! We found a place close to our hotel. I am so glad that we found this place. It turned out to be the best dessert place on our Guangzhou tour.
Once again, checkout out Carol’s video of our day.
On this day, November 17th, we spent a full day here at Guangzhou (广州). The greatest new experimentation of our Asia adventure is the ability to take the local bus. Another commuting option enabled by another WeChat Mini Program, so convenient here in China. Of course with WeChat Pay picking up snacks and meals is literally seconds away.
Therefore, it is not a huge surprise where we spent the majority of our time doing. After a quick local breakfast (really on the cheap), we set out to Lychee Bay (荔枝湾). We toured the old town surrounding the park, and then walk around the park. We then had dim sum at 泮溪酒家(荔枝湾店) opened since 1947. The dim sum here is about the same as in Toronto, BUT its rice pot was way better!
At night, we checked out the night scene at 北京路步行街. The place was lively and active and simply had street food there for dinner. We also did some light shopping in the malls surrounding place. When the shop starts to close, we stopped by at a soup place where Carol had a chicken soup in a coconut shell. The soup was too sweet for me, but she really liked it.
Of course on our way to the subway stop, we spotted a dessert place called, 明记甜品, that we cannot simply let it past, so we stopped there and had a “little” dessert.
I have come to the conclusion that Guangzhou is my version of heaven! Check out Carol’s video of the day below:
On November 15th, we went to 东仓里, 江门市 (Jiangmen), 广东省 (Guangdong). We liked to thank Carol’s cousin’s sister-in-law who drove us to Jiangmen. It was about 2.5 hours from Fenggang with the traffic and all.
Click above to goto Baidu map
My paternal grandparents’ tombstone
The idea is to checkout what the birth place of my grandfather’s ancestral village looks like today.
We based our search on the information from the tombstone on the left, and the remaining memories of my father and my aunt.
The ancestral village is called 东仓里 (sorry no English translation here). We also have my great-grandfather’s name, 呂贊泉, and my grandfather’s names (more than one), 呂華富, 呂俊, and 呂仲平. In the past, people went with many aliases. One is given at birth by your parents (名) and is used to address you by your parents or your family members. The second name (字) is given to you when you come of age (20 years old for male and 15 for female). Your school mates, friends, or people of the same generation will use this name to address you. The final name (号) is used by others to address you with respect typically by people of younger generation than you.
My father has the following names: 呂厚積 (名) and 呂栢钊 (字).
We arrive at the village and went to the local government office who was extremely helpful. They gave us a tour of the neighbourhood and introduced us to the people who have been there for ages. We met a lady who claimed to know a member of the Lu (吕) family who passed away at 103 years old about 3 years ago. His name is 呂厚巨 (名). Since both my father and this deceased member share the same 厚 middle name, there is a very high likelihood that they are of the same generation from the same family. She then told us that 呂厚巨 told her that a long time ago a part of the Lu (吕) family emigrated to Vietnam and never came back. This could be my grandfather at the time.
The ancestral home has since been knocked down, and she showed us where the house would have been. Everyone was very patient with our ignorance and received lots of help from people of the village. I use the word village very loosely, since it is now integrated into the Jiangmen city, and it looks and feels more of a neighbourhood surrounded by more modern buildings.
After our in search of our roots exercise we went to Shunde District (順德區) of Foshan City (佛山市), which also resides in the Guangdong Province (广东省). There, we had some good eats. Shunde is known for its Cantonese cuisine. You cannot get more Cantonese than Shunde. Checkout the attached video by Carol to get a taste of what we had.
Our trip to ShundeNovember 16th: Transiting from Shunde to Guangzhou
On Monday, November 13th, we register our place of residence at the local Police Station. If you are not staying in a hotel and you are visiting a family or friend, you must report your arrival and present your proof of residence to a local police station within 24 hours of arrival. Since Carol’s cousin knows everyone, including someone working at the police station, and we were advised by her that we don’t really need to do it, because our stay is too short. We thought it best to do this any ways, just in case.
The locals no longer use cash for day to day activities. It is all on their cell phones. People no longer need to carry their wallets. All of their identifications, and monetary funds can be accessed using their phone and the WeChat app. You pay for everything using WeChat Pay. You can get food using WeChat, and you can arrange transportation using WeChat.
The past weekend, we felt totally handicapped. We had to depend on Carol’s cousin on everything! Of course we want to be independent during our remaining stay here in China, so I will describe here what we had to go through in order for us to enjoy the same level of liberty and convenience that locals do.
The very first thing is to make sure you have a cell phone that has a local Chinese number and has data within China. The way we did this is to simply purchased two Nihao Mobile SIM cards. China does not support eSIM’s. I purchased Airalo China just so that we have data access when we were traveling from Hong Kong to China, but the Airalo solution is not sufficient because it does not provision you with a local phone number. Activation with the Nihao SIM was pretty straight forward. I did have an issue with my wife’s SIM card, but it was quickly resolved with Nihao’s WeChat support.
Once you have a local Chinese phone number, you will need to open a domestic bank account so that it can be tied to your local phone number. You will need a local resident perhaps a family member or friend to help you out in this matter. I opened an account with the DRC Bank. However, my wife had an issue because her passport name was simply too long for their systems. She had to goto ICBC to open an account. The difference is that DRC Bank was able to activate my account in less than an hour, but ICBC requires a seven day hold on the account creation application. The difference in service is astounding.
Once I had WeChat pay tied to my bank card, I can pay for things with my iPhone! This is simply a joy. We used the Meituan (美团) app to order food delivery, and we used the DiDi app for local ride services similar to Uber. If you want an extended stay in China and want to travel on your own, then you MUST have the above setup. Without a local number and WeChat pay, it will simply be hell for you in China.
Below are the videos from the past two days showing the above process and how we enjoyed this convenience.
Getting registered and getting our WeChat Pay to work!Using our WeChat Pay for food!
On the morning of November 10th, we had a quick Hong Kong Cafe Style breakfast next to the hotel lobby, and proceeded to pack and awaited for our pre-arranged ride into China.
Shenzhen Skyline in sight after crossing into China from Hong Kong
If you are going to spend about 2 hours in the car, and have lots of luggage, then the best thing to do is to arrange this super comfortable van that was outfitted with business class style seating. Of all the transits up to this point, this was by far the best transit we have had. The driver is experienced in taking people like us across the border from Hong Kong into China. He provided us with the necessary forms and guided us through the custom and immigration process.
This is the very, very first time when I enter into China without being taken aside and await for some verdict. I was really, and pleasantly surprised!
Our final destination in China is Carol’s cousin’s home in 凤岗镇东莞市广东省 (Fenggang Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province). She has a condo unit in Fenggang Town, which a small town with a population of about 50,000. But don’t let the small size fool you. The town is bordered with other towns that together make up the Dongguan City (东莞市), and that city is connected to Guangzhou City (广州市), a tier one city in China. The whole area is like the Bay Area in Northern California. They even have similar names. The Chinese call this area the Greater Bay Area (大湾区), which encompasses all the major cities surrounding the Pearl River Delta. This includes the city of Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. This area contains a total population around 86 million people (more than 2 times the population of Canada).
Our first morning stroll in Fenggang
Our remaining time of our Asia Trip will be exploring the Greater Bay Area. However, before we start our exploration there is some financial preparation we must do. In China, we are financially crippled until our iPhones and in particular our WeChat App is connected to a Chinese bank card. Without this, we will not be able to buy anything or pay for anything. “Everyone” uses WeChat Pay!
Where we are staying
Our first weekend in Fenggang heavily relied on Carol’s cousin to eat and shop. Since we arrive on a Friday, and banks are closed over the weekend, we have to wait for Monday to embark on getting a Chinese bank account and connect it to WeChat on our phones.
The weekend was spent with family, which really means lots of eating. We are so grateful to have family in Fenggang, and one member who actually offered an entire condo unit for us during our stay here. We are living very comfortably as we explore the various restaurants here.
Below are Carol’s videos that we’ve recorded to so far, spanning three days.
November 10th, when we drove from Hong Kong to ChinaOur first full day in Fenggang on November 11thA restful Sunday spent chatting and running about on November 12th
Our flight landed in Hong Kong late in the evening on November 8th and we took the Airport Express train and then a tax directly to the Royal Plaza Hotel in Kowloon. Very nice hotel for Hong Kong and I would come back here again.
We do not plan to stay in Hong Kong long, just enough time to sample some Hong Kong unique eateries, and renew Carol’s Hong Kong ID card. We will return to visit relatives once we have our China’s itinerary straightened out.
Even with such an uneventful stay, Carol still manages to muster up a video per day during our two day stay. The attached videos are below. They are far more descriptive than any words that I can use to describe our stay. We will be transiting to Fenggang, Dongguan (凤岗镇 东莞市 广东省) today to visit Carol’s cousin.
Carol’s videos:
From Tokyo to Hong Kong Transit (November 8th)Our one full day in Hong Kong (November 9th)
We spent two wonderful days in Tokyo. The first day (November 6th), was mostly spent in transit from the second Ryokan to Tokyo via Matsumata, and Nagano. The transit itself was an adventure.
I knew the bus experience was somewhat slow and infrequent, so to prepare for our journey to Tokyo, I spent the time to reserve a Taxi from Alpico. I have nothing but good things to say about Alpico Taxi services. They were punctual; as a matter of fact, the driver came 15 minutes early to the hotel. We experienced a very scenic drive from the Takayama region to Matsumata train station. The landscape was surrounded by picturesque mountains with autumn colours with rivers and streams carving through them.
Our transit from our last Ryokan Inn to Tokyo
Once we were at the train station, I picked up pre-reserved online tickets from the JR East ticket counters (or rather their kiosk machines) using the QR code that I received when I reserved them. We then found a nice spot to sit and relax, and Carol bought some sandwiches for lunch which I downed pretty swiftly. I am not sure what is in the Japanese bread for the sandwiches, but they are like candy!
Approximately 15 minutes before the departure time, we went to the gates. AND THEN our adventure started!
Apparently the ticket reservations that I purchased online just consisted of the “Limited Express” tickets, which by itself does not suffice for travel. In addition to the tickets that I have, we have to buy the “Base Fare” tickets. I did not learn of this until our train has left and negotiated with the customer service representative at the tourist ticket center. The other tourists were very kind and let us cut through the line, so that we can attempt to catch our train. This of course was to no avail. We simply did not have enough time to resolve the ticket situation before the train left. Luckily we were able to rebook on the next train leaving an hour after our original train, and obtained our Base Fare. This whole process took something like 30 minutes.
In hindsight, I now learned that on the screen which I booked the tickets, there was a check box which I should not have checked. It is one of those check box which I mistook for an “Do You Agree” style check box, but upon further review, it is to agree to purchase just the “additional element” to the ticket, and SKIP the base fare purchase. Lesson learned! I still find this two ticket system to represent a single fare super bazaar. Any ways, when in Rome… Always read the fine print in a foreign land! This adventure is chalked up to user error.
We got to Tokyo to meet up with a very close family friend, Miado, who you can say literally knew me since when I was a toddler. Her daughter took some time out of her busy work schedule to meet us at the station and guided us to Miado’s home. We were very grateful for her navigating the super busy pathways of the Tokyo train routes.
After our greetings, and catch up, we had a delicious and wonderful Japanese BBQ. The beef was really delicious! I especially liked the esophagus, and the tongue. They are of course rare cuts in the West. For a person who is not known to eat lots of vegetables, I even took a liking to the cabbage salad which I found super crispy, like eating chips.
The Tokyo Skytree (click to enlarge)
The next day (November 7th), we visited the next generation Tokyo Tower which is called the Skytree, and then we went on the Tokyo Sky Bus tour. This was an open roof double decker bus tour around the central area of Tokyo. I was expecting a mediocre ride around the various skyscrapers of Tokyo, but to my surprise I really enjoyed the ride and learned a bunch about the various structures in central Tokyo. I am glad that I went on the tour, and apologize for any hesitations that I may have displayed for not wanting to go in the first place! Again another lesson learned. Just like you should not prejudge people, you should also not prejudge tourist attractions!
Below are some of the pictures that I took during the bus tour and our walk around the Tokyo Train Station (please click to enlarge).
After the tour, we were famished and wanted to have some sushi. The restaurant that we chose was originally from and well known in Hokkaido. In Japan everywhere requires a reservation. This restaurant is no exception. We had to reserve and wait for about 30 minutes, which we used productively by touring the historic Tokyo Train Station. The station was designed and built in the late 19th and early 20th century, and is one of the first modern architecture in Japan.
Once we were seated at the sushi restaurant, you can order the dishes or pickup the dishes which are made readily available on the conveyor belt. All the dishes were really delicious. We tasted different fishes and cuts that we will not find back in Canada. Checkout our stack of dishes when we’re done with the attached photos below. Once again, you can click to enlarge them.
Carol went to do some shopping with Ikue, and I went to relax with Ikue’s father and sister at a coffee lounge at Daimaru Tokyo, a department store complex near the Tokyo Station. The atmosphere was nice and quiet and it gave us an opportunity to chit chat. I really enjoy this time to catch up with Miado’s family members.
After coffee, we went to a floor filled with Japanese confectionaries. Ikue’s dad and I picked some really nice sweets. He was really affectionate in choosing the sweets for us, and took the time to purchase the N.Y.C.Sand delicacy, which is widely popular in Tokyo sometimes forming lines which you have to wait for hours. Our timing was perfect. We only waited around 20 minutes for the cherished items.
A walk around the sweets!
I really want to thank Miado’s husband and his daughters for taking care of us on this day. Everything that I have mentioned was planned meticulously by them. It was extremely thoughtful of them. Last but not least Miado herself spent time and effort to cook for us that evening, and we had a really delicious meal. I really love the sea cucumber, the scallops, and of course the beef!
Both Carol and I really enjoyed our stay in Tokyo. Although the time was short, but the most important thing was spend time with friends. I look forward to reciprocating their super friendly hospitality when they visit Canada!
Unfortunately all good things come to an end. Yesterday we have to say our goodbyes to Tokyo and transit to Hong Kong.
We spent the last two days at two different Ryokan’s in the Takayama, Gifu Prefecture. The first one was Kakurean Hidaji, and the second one was closer to the Shinhotaka Ropeway called Yarimikan.
Both represented the traditional Japanese folk homes with a service themed on onsen and delicious dinner and breakfast. The location of these two Ryokan was a bit far from Nagoya, and took us about 3 hours to get here by Nohi Bus with a single transit at Takayama.
For me the experience was a little too retro for my taste, but I did enjoy the outdoor onsen quite a bit. The tatami was also too much to get use to, so thank god for the soft beddings that they have available for sleeping. At Yarimikan, there wasn’t even a shower in our room. We have to goto the indoor baths to take showers. For the adventurous ones out there this may be an excellent experience, but for me I prefer more creature comforts.
The next time we do a Ryokan we are going to strictly limit our bookings to private baths within the rooms! However, no matter how retro these places get, the comfort of a warm toilet seat is always something to look forward to in a Japanese washroom! Carol’s video will show more of our relaxing times at the ryokan’s.
We also took the opportunity to take the cable car at the Shinhotaka Ropeway. Unfortunately, we were not able to make it to the top, because the second leg of the journey was under maintenance. We did meet a local who was visiting from Kyoto and strike up a good conversation in English. He suggested that we should also visit the Kamikochi area. We will not have time on this trip, but perhaps next time.
Below are the two videos from Carol, representing each day of our stay at the two different ryokan’s.
We said good bye to Hotel CLAD and took a taxi from the hotel to Mishima station, where we boarded the Shinkansen to Nagoya. I reserved the Shinkansen tickets early so that we can have reserve seating in the Green class (more comfortable class). The reservation also allowed for the oversize luggage that we had, which we stored in the allocated area behind our seats. This was super convenient.
To reserve our seats, we used the iOS app from the Central Japan Railway Company. Before I booked any tickets, I had to create an account first and for some reasons my TD Visa failed on the verification. However my AMEX card was fine with the registration. It looks like anything related to transportation, such as Pasmo and train reservation I have more success with AMEX.
During our stay at Nagoya, the Pasmo IC card in our Apple Wallet was super handy to take the local subways, buy stuff from local Seven Eleven and FamilyMart, which are literally on almost every other corner. In these convenience store we found a new love for Japanese sandwiches. They were simply delicious.
The JapanTravel iOS app was also very useful in navigating the subway lines and local transit.
Aside from snacks and finger food from the convenience stores, we also had a few meals from the local restaurants here. In one sushi restaurant, the food was a bit underwhelming to be honest. I could not tell the difference between this restaurant and a very good sushi restaurant from Toronto. Also the sushi chef did not really rolled out the red carpet for us, and we felt like we had finish our meal and leave in a hurry. It did not help that no one there speak any English. Perhaps, I am simply not a sushi connoisseur. The ramen and BBQ beef place was very good and I really enjoyed both meals especially for the price. We had the Hida Beef lunch at 飛驒牛一頭家 馬喰一代 名古屋WEST, and the ramen at 麺屋 やま昇.
We also took time to visit the Nagoya Castle. Since we are staying right next door to it, we had to visit the signature tourist location of the city. I will let Carol’s videos speak volumes of our visit. The AirBnB place that we got was on the penthouse of the Howa BLDG. The place is really nice and I would not mind recommending this place to anyone else who is planning to visit Nagoya.
Transiting from Hotel Clad to NagoyaFull day in Nagoya
