Guangzhou night fever

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Xiaozhou Village

 Modern art meets tradition

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

In this village located in the outskirts of Guangzhou city dirty streets, derelict buildings, street art and crowded markets collide with cozy tea houses, traditional temples and beautiful gardens.Compared to the city centre this place makes you the feel like being in a totally different world, back in the old China. Dating back to the Yuan Dynasty, Xiaozhou Village boasts a history of some 1,000 years. The temple is quite small and not as pompous as others might be, but its a  nice place to take some pictures because there are almost no tourists. Despite all the construction work in the village that requires lots of wheelbarrows of cement being pushed through the narrow alleys the atmosphere is really relaxed and almost surreal.The art supplies shops outside the old part of the village are fantastic, cheap and good quality. You can get any art stuff you want there. In the narrow streets of the old part of the town you can see lots of art students working on drawings of the traditional houses. There is a lot to discover and if you take a closer look you can find picturesque graffities or beautifully written poems on some of the walls.
A lot of chinese people visit Xiaozhou early in the morning to have breakfast and drink tea. In most of the cantonese restuarants there you will find a huge variety of typical chinese food and it is definetely worth breaking our european breakfast habits and giving the local specialties a try.(sitting at a big round table with 5 chinese old ladies that are constantly looking at you and trying to guess where these 外国人 come from is an experience that you shouldn't miss when going to china)

 

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Redtory Art District

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Offially called "The Red Brick Factory"(红砖厂), Redtory is an old soviet-style factory that was transformed into an artsy district. The former industrial compound is now a place for public art, creative studios and art galleries. There are temporary exhibitions from chinese as well as international artists such as Picasso.If you want to relax and enjoy the silence far from all the crowded and noisy streets in the center of Guangzhou you can sip a cup of tea in one of the fancy Cafés in Redtory. Having our afternoon tea at LP coffee I was amazed by their handmade menues with different designs on each of them. 

Although there are still a lot of empty buildings in the district, Redtory is definetly worth going for a walk since the contrast between old factory architecture and modern art creates a very interesting atmosphere. Besides it can be fun watching a lot of (sometimes more sometimes less professional) chinese models and photographers trying to get some edgy fashion shots there. 

Photo by Maria Hochleitner

Photo by Maria Hochleitner