Guangzhou (Canton) And Shenzhen

GUANGZHOU (CANTON)

The city that was formerly known in the west as Canton is near Hong Kong and Macau, and is the great city of southern coastal China. Sun-Yat-Sen, who could be considered as the creator of modern China, was from Canton. I know that the correct Chinese name is Guangzhou, although I remember it from school as Canton.

Canton is, of course, the source of the name of Cantonese. One reason that the Cantonese part of China, the coastal south, is so important to us is that it's representation in the west is well out of proportion to it's actual share of the population in China. The Cantonese-speakers around Canton, Macau and, Hong Kong are actually very much a minority in China.

But when we hear Chinese people speaking in the west, there is a very good chance that they are speaking Cantonese. When we have Chinese food, there is a very good chance that it is of Cantonese origin.

The following scenes begin outside Sacred Heart Church. This is a near-copy of Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@23.1175575,113.2542343,3a,75y,113.16h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOjXt77vgqkyCMsTc_9m7CABWQI7V49gPo2OHuf!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOjXt77vgqkyCMsTc_9m7CABWQI7V49gPo2OHuf%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya24.945526-ro-0-fo100!7i9728!8i4864

This is more of the central city area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@23.1165989,113.2621648,3a,75y,70.77h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPjmriopgbYr86oqKVr32AZFwODyLYFh3aLeL6t!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPjmriopgbYr86oqKVr32AZFwODyLYFh3aLeL6t%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya302.22964-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

This area is around the Canton Tower.

https://www.google.com/maps/@23.1064073,113.3244874,3a,75y,112.25h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMtrvrEdz3I5AtVLLb9H5GxvcQ2cl9PN_f6DxB-!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMtrvrEdz3I5AtVLLb9H5GxvcQ2cl9PN_f6DxB-%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya258.97943-ro0-fo100!7i4616!8i1688

Here is the Grandview Mall, in the Tianhe area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@23.132885,113.327029,3a,75y,85.42h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNRgxZ3eb0biJwm4kuQnl4MUaz-fMGWnHE-Fx0!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNRgxZ3eb0biJwm4kuQnl4MUaz-fMGWnHE-Fx0%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya248.018-ro-0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

This is Foshan, to the southwest of Canton.

https://www.google.com/maps/@23.0563709,113.1482363,3a,75y,169h,76t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNvbi6VqpoGDP0bivoPIU21RrSRLGlXHUjY_YgI!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNvbi6VqpoGDP0bivoPIU21RrSRLGlXHUjY_YgI%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.999992-ya335.51282-ro0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254

It is more rural, and with traditional Chinese architecture, to the south of Canton.

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.8275633,113.2723283,3a,75y,14.46h,99.01t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNGERdlLGauyANAORqUTYEktUy2tL2Z2iWvDpDq!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNGERdlLGauyANAORqUTYEktUy2tL2Z2iWvDpDq%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-30.000002-ya117.1875-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

SHENZHEN

Shenzhen is the southern Chinese city in Guangdong province, adjacent to Hong Kong. What is so important about Shenzhen is that it is the creation of a Special Economic Zone, that was declared there by the Chinese Government in 1979. Nearly all of the city has been built since then. Probably never has the world seen a city grow at such a pace.

Shenzhen rapidly became one of the most prosperous cities in the country, and is widely seen as being the model not only for the building of modern China, but also for the development of it's economic system that is referred to as "Socialism With Chinese Characteristics".

There were a number of villages where Shenzhen is now located, and some of these villages actually still exist, surrounded by the city.

Here are some views of the central part of Shenzhen.

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.5437698,114.1045837,3a,75y,303h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-lwfJQ_zqnFU%2FVCaGjpUH3tI%2FAAAAAAAAoBM%2F_6FbsXUmBvsSvK7uMAwX72E0RRgxbXLSwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-lwfJQ_zqnFU%2FVCaGjpUH3tI%2FAAAAAAAAoBM%2F_6FbsXUmBvsSvK7uMAwX72E0RRgxbXLSwCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i5656!8i2828

Here is further north, the area in and around Shenzhen North Train Station:

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.6118908,114.0237579,3a,75y,320h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-JFsPdR7m0_4%2FVEd58uYDczI%2FAAAAAAAAA9Y%2F7MYwls4tmsIGEISF2TBi5JTlAS605scmg!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-JFsPdR7m0_4%2FVEd58uYDczI%2FAAAAAAAAA9Y%2F7MYwls4tmsIGEISF2TBi5JTlAS605scmg%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i3584!8i1792

There is a theme park in central Shenzhen, called "Window of the World", where there are models of important sites around the world. There is a model of the Eiffel Tower, the pyramids, the Statue of Liberty, a scale model of Manhattan, Buckingham Palace, the U.S. Congress Building, buildings that look like medieval buildings in Germany or the Netherlands, the Arc de Triomphe, the glass pyramid at the Louvre, the Parthenon, and much more. The first of the following scenes is a model of the Taj Mahal, in Window of the World:

https://www.google.com/maps/@22.5335763,113.9768096,3a,75y,17h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-r1C4zlWZuzo%2FV5dv3Zw45WI%2FAAAAAAAABPI%2FG4MwxWuULHETqFQywR-42EGFnGL5M8DnQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-r1C4zlWZuzo%2FV5dv3Zw45WI%2FAAAAAAAABPI%2FG4MwxWuULHETqFQywR-42EGFnGL5M8DnQCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i9728!8i4864