Guangzhou, A City on The Move

Guangzhou to me is a city that seems to be constantly reinventing itself. From the first time I came here, over three years ago till now, the city has been constantly on the move. New bridges span the river, the inner ring road snakes around the city and the subway races along out of sight, underground. This dynamic city is a city of change. It is as diverse as modern shopping malls and department stores springing up between back-street markets and hawker-lined shopping streets. Skyscrapers are popping up like the proverbial mushroom, and new roads are bulldozed through the red brick dwellings of old China.
 

Guangzhou's Haiyin Bridge towers over the Pearl River as night approaches. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

From someone brought up on the pristine prairie country of central Canada, the crystal-clear coastline of Australia and the evergreen forests of little New Zealand, this vast sprawling metropolis is the exact opposite of life as we knew it. Here the city is in perpetual motion--albeit in slow motion when stuck in traffic-from the crowds jostling each other down Shang Xia Jiu and Beijing Road on the weekends, to the city in complete chaos every rush hour when everybody converges onto the already bulging buses. Some people are in such a hurry to get home that a crowded bus is no obstacle. I still can't understand the mad scramble to get onto a crowded bus, when all you have to do is wait for the next one, and hopefully that one will not be so crowded, but as we say "this is Guangzhou."

After watching this city transform itself in a very short time, the future seems to be getting better. Since the ring road opened about a year ago the traffic is flowing more smoothly and traffic jams, where everything stops and it's time to get out and walk, are hopefully a thing of the past. Also the numbers of buses have increased, but rush hour is still a bit of a problem, and this makes getting around the city a lot easier. New bus lines just appear, one day there is a new bus number hanging on the bus stop and a new bus line is in operation.

Pollution is still the number one problem but even that is slowly being brought under control. The air is cleaner now than when I first arrived and hopefully the river will follow suit.

All in all, this sprawling modern metropolis now and into the future will be a city that the local people and visiting foreigners will be proud to call home. I've watched it change for a few years and have been amazed at the speed at how this city has grown to what it is today.

(By Peter Lee in 2006; by the courtesy of Guangzhou Morning Post and the Guangzhou Publishing House)

Source: From the Book "Guangzhou's 30 Years Of Reform And Opening-up Through The Eyes Of Foreigners"

Editor: Chen Minjie