Our daily routine started with an early swim in the rooftop pool of our hotel on Shamian Island. This part of Guangzhou is a relaxing area within this vast city, where traffic is limited and you can walk under old trees along very nice old colonial buildings. For your western comfort you will also find a Starbucks cafe around the corner –  not that we love such world spanning chains but in some places they just come in handy for a luxury treat :)

Around ten o’clock the shopping temples open their gates for the brand cautious shopper. Guangzhou truly is a shoppers delight. After a few hours of choosing, comparing and haggling, we definitely had enough. So we stepped outside, and found this little Muslim restaurant where you get the best noodle soup in the entire city! By now we’ve eaten our way through many other places in Guangzhou but absolutely nothing compares to this semi outdoor food stall.

So, after returning for a quick offload of the purchased stuff, we were ready to hit the hidden sights of the city in the afternoon. We set out South with the subway. There was one station that caught our interest: It’s on an island on the Pearl River. After some 40 minutes we finally got there and walked up the stairs to realize that we were in a complete different world; birds were chirping, chicken ran around, you could find typical old Chinese houses and women who had their marketplace right near the subway station Eggs, herbs, fruits … simply all things that are produced on this island were sold there. The locals were truly astonished that two Western women visited their island … A chit chat starts immediately (of course) but unfortunately we didn’t understand a word…

There are maybe around 50 houses on this island with small alleys, and entrance doors opened. Not many strangers find their way down there, so you can peek into ones living rooms :) It’s like a typical Chinese village life. Fish was being dried along the way and some women were doing embroidery on the village square.

A gentle breeze from the river and the sound of some doves made this afternoon a very relaxing one – in an otherwise so busy city. We topped off the day with a visit to a hairdresser for a wash and blow dry including a sensational head massage. The pool back at the hotel made this day in Guangzhou a perfect one.

Different filled Wontons, eggs and rice is all you need for a yummy breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Mannequin’s in China often look really interesting – especially their hair style is extravagant.

A game of Mahjong being played in the streets of Guangzhou.

A typical street scene in Guangzhou: A street vendor sleeping at Huayuan market.

All sorts of herbs can be found at Qingping market in Guangzhou.

The old part of Guangzhou makes you feel like you’re in a small viallage out in the country.

Woman selling small snacks at the Guangzhou North railway station.

Dried fish at Qingping market in Guangzhou.

China is the place where noodles were produced first. Marco Polo brought them back to Europe from his travels through Asia. Yet, the difference comes with the noodle production, which makes a real noodle restaurant in China so unique. The base is the same all over the globe: flour, salt and water.

First step for the perfect noodles.

Second step for the perfect noodles.

As you will see in the video below, it’s important to get the right softness, otherwise the noodles will not turn out “the right way”. It really needs a lot of practise to become a real noodle chef. After waiting a while he takes a piece of dow and gently folds it into noodles just with his hands, folding and folding, as the dow gets thinner and thinner. It looks so easy, but for somebody who is not used to do it,  it’s nearly impossible because the dow cracks after the first or second folding.

The soup base (made from beef)  is boiled freshly every day. Then it’s your choice what you ad; some people love a lot of greenies, like Pak Choi or Coriander, others like to add a fried egg and some prefer the rather local version with chopped cartilage from the soup.

The chef knows how it’s done.

This dish and the knowledge of making these noodles originally comes from western China & most of the places are run by muslims. You can’t go wrong with this dish in China. It’s always freshly cooked and these restaurants all have a high turnover because locals love the noodle soup. It’s also one of the few dishes (that we) found in China which has a bit of a “western taste”. So there you have it! “Manmanchi” (I hope that’s the right translation for “bon appetit”!).