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.

The cleaning (luckily) has already been done but the holiday preparation has just begun. We’re actually planning a real big one this summer: Pakistan, India, Indonesia and China … or maybe Africa? As you can see, our tickets are not yet booked and we haven’t decided anything. All we know, it that it’s going to be another great adventure.

So for this trip (wherever it may take us), I was thinking of buying myself a couple of new things. And since I love online shopping, zalando.at is a platform to spoil myself … for example with a new pair of nice trekking boots :)

So anyway, zalando is hereby allowing me to give away two AWESOME vouchers. One 100 € voucher and one 50 € voucher! Not bad huh? Be a part of our raffle and have a chance in winning.

How to participate in the “50 € voucher” raffle:

We all have some things that we can’t live without – especially when travelling … We want to know three items that you can’t live without while travelling. Tell us either by …

• … commenting below …
• … commenting on our facebook page …
• … or by twittering your answer (but don’t forget to also post the article link and @cookiesound – otherwise we unfortunately can’t include you). This could look like this for example: “I’m packing my suitcase and I’m bringing: Camera, notebook and a water kettle. http://bit.ly/Hj7Iiz via @cookiesound“

How to participate in the “100 € voucher” raffle :

If you want to have a chance in winning the 100 € voucher from zalando, fill us in on why you need these three item so badly when travelling. Tell us either by …

• … commenting below …
• … or commenting on our facebook page.
• Please no twitter because we want to read more than just 140 characters :D

Both winners will be announced on Friday, 11th of May 2012.

Good luck!