China-Macau-Hong Kong Trip 2008 - Day Four (10th Oct 2008)

Today's another day around the region. After having breakfast with Ms Poon again, we went to the nearest attraction, Qing Hui Gardens (清晖园), which is just across the road... Yes, literally across the road.

This is a garden complex that was bought and maintained by 4 top scholars (状元) that came from Shunde. It was revamped and decorated as a very beautiful Chinese garden, which, I also understand, is used as a filming set very frequently.

The main signboard to the gardens

The entrance to the gardens

This is something that looks like a grotto, looks like they also have some interest in rocks and water

You can see how this makes a good filming location :D Very typical of the period dramas that we watch

After this, we met up with Ms Poon's husband, Ah-Feng, who brought us to the neighbouring Chen Village (陈村) which is famous for its flowers, but turned out that this is not the season and we ended up looking at precious "weird stones", which I can't say was very interesting. Moving on, we went for lunch at a nearby restaurant, getting my taste of the incredibly-delicious 陈村粉, which is something like a mix between kway teow and chee cheong fun, but when cooked in the proper manner, is really good!

(L to R): Ms Poon, Ah-Feng, Dad, Me, Ah-Mok

After lunch, Ms Poon and Ah-Feng went home to prepare for the evening, where they have graciously invited us to their home for dinner. We then proceeded to Foshan (佛山) to visit the Ancestral Temple (祖庙), which is a group of old ancestral temples with very intricate statues on the roofs.

This is a very typical wishing tree that we always see in shows
It has a beautiful pond too, the rest of the garden was a little... messy?

No, Confucius is not a local, I'm also as confused as you why there's a statue of him here

And of course, old folks indulging in their past time (mahjong and cards in the background), entry is free for senior citizens aged 70 and above

You can get a glimpse of the roofs now

Definitely a lot of effort was put into carving these individual figures up there, there's so many of them!

We actually found a surprise: The actual Wong Fei Hong memorial (黄飞鸿纪念馆). All along, Dad thought the one at Xiqiao Mountain (西樵山) was the memorial, but here at Foshan, which is what all of us from the Once Upon A Time in China movies (starring Jet Li and Chiu Mun Cheok) remember.

This was what told us that we struck gold!

Yup, can't be wrong this time!

Sorry to disappoint, but this is not the actual medical hall, as fans of you may recall. It was actually burnt down and this is just a recreation of how it would have looked like.

And what do you know? I was so engrossed walking around that I forgot to take photos!!! Even of the statue sitting directly at the door!

After a refreshing drink, we embarked on the hour-long drive back to Shunde, where we went to visit the City Hall (nicknamed "The White House" by our hosts) and Government District. I think this is easily a sign of how rich the Chinese government is.

You can't blame me for looking tired, it's been a long day (as you can see by the photos)!!! Hands Up anyone who thought that's a hotel in my background!

Making a short stop back at the hotel to wash up, we then proceeded to Ms Poon's place for dinner. She was kind enough to prepare a steamboat for us, comprising of shrimp, fish and turtle meat (yes... turtle meat). Leave it to Chinese hospitality to always keep you eating. Our plates were seldom empty and the food prepared was definitely much more than what we could consume. It was a really casual dinner and I really enjoyed chatting with them, although the excessive hospitality did make me feel a little uncomfortable at some points.

The shrimp. Ms Poon thought I liked to eat shrimp, so she bought a bagful from the market

This was the fish. You might want to note that they think the head is the best part and is always served to guests!

And yes, this is the turtle meat

After dinner, we went to a nearby monument for a walk, the Shun Feng Gate Park (顺风山):

This is actually taken from quite a distance away

A closer view, you can see how big it is compared to the people in the picture

The carvings are really intricate! And you ought to note that I had to keep my hand very steady to get these clear pictures at night without flash! (Let me hao lian a bit lah... :p)

Well, of course hands to get tired too...

And that's just the base...

Of course, they only light up the gate from 1 side. Here's the view on the other side, the lake-side

I must say that it is definitely impressive! It's simply HUGE! But here's an interesting piece of trivia for you: it's new. Yes, it's NEW! Built only 5-6 years ago by the local government! Of course, it caused a minor uproar since it was funded using tax dollars, but you have to admit that this is indeed a monument that people can be proud of. I initially thought that it was commissioned by some emperor in some dynasty... Haha!

We then went back to Ms Poon's place for the desset, Double-Skinned Milk Pudding (双皮奶). We got back to the hotel close to midnight, and I needed the energy for the last phase of the trip, the one that actually left a stronger impression on me than the past few places I've been to.

Photobucket: Qing Hui Gardens (清晖园)

Photobucket: Foshan (佛山)