Guangzhou Shopping Tips by Guantanamera

Qingping Shichang, called in English the "Peaceful Market" is the product of Deng Xiaoping's infamous capitalist-style economic reforms of the late 1970's, and one of the first private markets to flourish in the People's Republic... This market is well known for the vast array of bizarre (to a westerner) food items which are on sale...



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Theme: Food and Drink
Directions: All along the intersection of Liu'ersan Lu and Qingping Lu, across the water from the north side of Shamian Dao.

Qingping Shichang has many many shops, selling lots of strange foods such as the previously shown dried snakes and starfish, gigantic black mushrooms, dried seahorses, and various insects such as the thousands shown in the photo here, spread out along the ground... I took a close look and they were some kind of black winged insect I could not identify... And often you'll see men carrying heavy loads on their shoulders like the guy in the photo...



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Theme: Food and Drink
Directions: All along the intersection of Liu'ersan Lu and Qingping Lu, across the water from the north side of Shamian Dao.

The north end of Beijing Lu, just below Gongyuan Qian Metro Station, has been transformed into an extensive pedestrian-only shopping arcade... Along the middle of the street, there is a fascinating permanent exhibition showing the excavated archeological layers of how the street looked throughout various dynasties, such as the Ming, the Qing, etc, leading up to modern times... There is a wide range of stores available, from a large modern-style department store to stores selling the latest fashions for young people, to the ultra-cheap shacks hawking t-shirts, jewelry and knick-knacks...



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Theme: Other

Name of Shop: R & Y Wine Shop.

R & Y Wine Shop is the premier outlet in Shamian Dao for all of your oenological needs... They stock mostly various French vintages and when I asked if they had any Italian they showed me the one single bottle of Italian wine they had... They also have a decent selection of other spirits that you would find in Western countries such as Bailey's Irish Cream, and at prices fairly comparable to what you would pay in the West...!



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Theme: Food and Drink
Directions: Don't remember precisely but it's either on 3rd Street or 4th Street in Shamian Dao.

Metro Huangsha.

Tianhe District in East Guangzhou is one of the major shopping areas in Guangzhou, especially when it comes to computers and electronics, although there are many other shops in this area, which is also occupied by the GZ offices of Microsoft and IBM as well as the vast Tianhe Sports Center... Some of the more well known shopping centers currently include Teem Plaza (TeeMall), Tianhe Shopping Center and the brand new Grandview Mall, which opened in 2005... Shown in this pic from the GZ metro map, Ti Yu Zhong Xin station, one of the most convenient to Tianhe District, along with the Tiyu Xilu station...



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Theme: Computers and Electronics

Citic Plaza is the tallest concrete building in the world, and was briefly the tallest building in Asia prior to completion of the Petronas Towers in KL. The lower floors of the tower includes an extensive shopping center which is very modern and fairly upscale, comparable to Western standards...



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Theme: Other
Phone: 8752 0789
Address: 233 Tian He Bei Road.
Directions: Tianhe District, East Guangzhou.

Name of Shop: Grandview Mall

The Grandview Mall is an immense new homage to commerce and capitalism, erected in the heart of Tian He, Guangzhou's thriving business district. The mall is brand new (opened in 2005) and is situated very close to the pre-existing Teem Plaza (TeeMall). Upon its opening, it became the 4th largest shopping mall in the world with total area of 4.5 million square feet. This mall has several levels with a vast multitude of shops and one large somewhat upscale department store attached. It features an excellent Brazilian restaurant, as well as the usual suspects, Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Watson's, etc. Park n' Shop also has a new location here and there is even a full size ice skating rink! The mall includes several full scale reproductions of classic sculptures, such as the "Winged Victory of Samothrace", pictured here...



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Theme: Other
Directions: Tian He

Name of Shop: Park n' Shop

Park n' Shop is China's answer to the American chains of superstores like Walmart and Target... Here, you can find all kinds of everyday household goods, personal grooming products, electronic goods, toys, and even a grocery store... Prices are quite reasonable... Pictured here, the Tian He Bei Lu outlet of Park n' Shop... There are other locations as well, such as the Grandview Mall and Gongyuanqian Metro station...



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Theme: Other
Directions: Multiple locations.

Name of Shop: Blue

Near the Garden Hotel and just behind the Guangzhou World Trade Center, you'll find Taojin Lu, a street that passes through a great shopping area for clothes, especially women's clothes... Shooting off from Taojin Lu, there are many small side streets, each of which has a share of small, independent fashion shops, with funky names, designs and clothes...! Definitely one of the best areas to shop if you're looking for unique items at reasonable prices... In this photo, a shop named "Blue"...



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Theme: Women's Clothes

Name of Shop: Galaxy Computer Plaza

Galaxy Computer Plaza is located in Guangzhou's technology and business district, called Tian He... The Plaza includes three huge floors and a basement level full of every kind of modern electronic goods you may need, especially computers and computer accessories... The facility itself is fairly modern and well staffed... You can find Chinese pirated copy software on the third floor at a mere 10 RMB per program...



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Theme: Computers and Electronics