Life in Guangzhou

It has been more than six months that i have been living here in Guangzhou, I actually come here to study  mandarin therefore I decided to go by the agent since i thought it is easier because all you have to do is pay them and they will take care all of the rest like university registration, dormitory registration, visa requirement, the plane ticket, etc. 

I remember the first time i got here it was already 9 or 10PM the university provided us a bus to pick us from the airport to the dorm, i was very tire because before we arrived in Guangzhou we had already spent 7 hours at Hongkong airport waiting for our flight, so as soon as we arrived, I took my room key from the reception desk and go straight to my room. The room is not big but has a bathroom inside it also has TV, cupboard, water dispenser, and of course bed. 

Dorm corridor

SCNU foreign expert building

The first week here was quite exciting, the agent was helpful that they even took us everywhere around the city, but after the class started my life was rather boring (it is still boring today). I have nothing to do all day long because the class finishes at 12 PM and after that i go back to my room and playing video games on my computer, and sometimes watch TV although i dont understand what it is saying.

I think Guangzhou is not a city of excitement neither a city for traveling although there are many places to see here because Guangzhou basically is a trading city and was among the first one to open when the country started opening up to the rest of the world, everybody comes here to do business first , including many of my friends here are studying mandarin to do business afterward. In Guangzhou the wholesale markets are everywhere you can buy anything here ship it back to your country and sell it there, I think this is how the city (as well as the country) works. I also think that because of the proximity with Hongkong and Macau the city has a great advantage as a trading port, you can just make a business visa and go out once a month (Chinese business vise requires the holder to exit and reenter china once a month, and since Guangzhou is so close to Hongkong and Macau it is easier and cheaper to do).

Although the people of Guangzhou do not speak to many English i think they can communicate in basic English, most of the street directions have english or at least the pinyin (romanized chinese character), the metro line also have the name in english, but the bus directions are all in chinese and the taxi drivers can only speak and read in chinese so it is better to have your direction written in chinese. Almost of the general services like banks, hospital, ticketing service at the station have staffs who are able to speak english, and if you are looking forward to do business here but being unable to speak chinese dont be worry most of the wholesaler can speak basic english so you can easily bargain with them .

the last one, if I might suggest I dont recommend people to choose Guangzhou if you are looking for fun or enjoying life, but if your are going to do business then this is definitely a city you are looking for.