Chaozhou City, China (Part 3) UPDATED

Updated 24th February 2005


A majestic pagoda in the middle of a public park


Hanjiang Bridge


Tien Hou Temple


Entrance of Tien Hou temple


Walkway of a public park


Roadside stall selling cigarettes


A typical narrow street in the old part of Chaozhou


One morning beside the lake


Serene condition


Old colonial building (The English were here back in Chaozhou glorious days)


Full of lush trees


Trees that grows on wall


Brief history


Fotress protecting the Langxilou building


Light beacon


Another view of the Hanjiang River from Langxilou building


The Langxilou building (ancient well on the left)


The well, now dry and full of notes and coins..a dry wishing well

Chaozhou City, China (Part 2)

Night scene at Chaozhou Square

Entertainment for the mass public comes in the form of a spectacular water and light display at Chaozhou Square which is free of charge and starts from 8pm everyday. It seems ridiculous that some of us have to pay to watch similar display back home (Mines Theme Park comes to mind). Tourists and Chaozhou residents throngs to the square in numbers without fail every night as the square doubles as a public park with many variety of flora.


Evening at Chaozhou Square


Pretty fountains lined up for your viewing pleasure


A huge square cum park for a city smaller than KL


Clock tower on the left, bank on centre & city's only 4-star hotel on the right


Clever use of water spray which doubles as a huge video screen (not visible through camera lens)


Let the light show begins!


Water display at all four corners of the square

to be continued...

Chaozhou City, China (Part 1)

The city of Chaozhou, 40km from the port city of Shantou in the north east Guangdong province, is a classic tourist city as stated in the brochures and many other references. I had a brief glimpse during my last visit but this trip is rather different as I managed to explore a bit more.”A classic tourist city” not in the sense that it provides a lot of amenities but rather in the historical sense as this city seems to be full of it. Chaozhou is the Mandarin name for Teochew. 2 things springs to mind by the mere mention of Teochew namely the mandarin oranges and porridge. This city is developing (which China’s city isn’t?) judging by the number of new buildings coming up. There’s no shortage of hotels here ranging from 4 stars to budget. Getting around the city is a breeze as it is full of trishaw of the manual and motorized type. RMB3 to 5 is enough to get you to your destination. Don’t expect though to get anywhere if you don’t know at least the Mandarin language. Best if you know the Teochew dialect. Besides the famed Teochew porridge, the city serves the usual Chinese cuisines though special mention must be given to the abundance of Sichuan cuisines here. Other than that, there’s a grand total of 2 KFC and 1 McDonald’s here. Which is a blessing!


Aboard a trishaw on a narrow street of Chaozhou


Chaozhou Square (more of this in the next part)


Hanjiang Wall, dating back from the Ming Dynasty


Tiny entrance across the wall


The wall stretches to about 5km now and used to protect the city of Chaozhou from invaders


View from the top part of the wall


Hanjiang River, much of it dry now due to the declining rainfall


The ancient Hanjiang bridge, now under restoration


Drawing of Chaozhou during the Ming Dynasty


The new Hanjiang bridge, another ultra modern one is going to be constructed soon.

to be continued...