Now that we’re about to leave Shamian Island, let’s do a quick walking tour of our serene little retreat amidst the hustle and bustle of Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It’s really beautiful here. It’s quite tropical. Unlike Beijing, which gets the usual four seasons that we’re used to in the US, Guangzhou is a two season city: wet and dry. It’s almost as far south as Hawaii.

We took lots of video of strolling around the island as well, which we can regale you with when we’re back in the USA. The island is pretty small: about 4 blocks by 10 blocks, sitting in the Pearl River. You could probably walk around the edge at a leisurely pace in a half hour.

First, here are a few shots of some of the foliage and environs here.

Because it’s so beautiful, you find people taking pictures all over. Not just foreign tourists,  but local tourists too. We lost count of the number of bride-and-groom photo shoots we saw. Likewise with the fashion photo shoots.

There’s also a lot of bronze statuary, including a lot of statues of people taking photographs. It seems this place is well-known for its scenery.

Most of the people around are locals, but there are a few westerners sprinkled in. This used to be where most of the major western consulates were. The main Polish consulate is still here. The residence of the US consulate is here, along with some offices, but no real official business with traveling Americans or locals seeking visas happens at the Shamian consulate anymore. Those functions have moved to a newer US consulate years ago, and are about to move again to a yet-newer US consulate. The German consulate moved about ten years ago.

There is some western food here. I admit, we got takeout from Subway more than once for convenience, but we had to skip the fresh veggies for the sake of our bowels; no lettuce, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. There’s also some more interesting food.

It may look like a pet store, but it’s actually the menu.

Yes, we had pigeon, aka “rock dove.”

It’s a beautiful place, and we’re already excited to bring Alexander back when he’s old enough to appreciate it. For now, it’s time to wake the kid from his nap and get some more packing done. We’ll be touching down at O’Hare in about 40 hours.