Essential Guangzhou Experiences

Essential Guangzhou Experiences

Chinese Medicine Market

Guangzhou's Qingping Market has undergone a radical rebirth over the past few years. Once notorious as a filthy wet market from which weak-stomached travelers were advised to steer clear, this sprawling maze of shops and stalls has been transformed into a traditional Chinese-medicine market. On the grounds where caged cats, chickens, and turtles once awaited doom, a new mall has risen, one with wide aisles and escalators, and 100 or so stalls of varying sizes filled with merchants dealing in everything from acupuncture needles to zebra testicles.

Whether you chose to shop in the new mall or in the surrounding alleyways (still filled with shops of a less gentrified nature, offering both Chinese medicine and livestock), you're in for a serious only in China experience. How much are a pair of dried lizards on sticks really worth? How many ounces of dried sea horse are needed to make broth for a family of four? And how will you explain that sack full of dried geckos to the customs officer at home?

Cabaret, Chinese-style

If you only go to one multimedia cabaret dinner-theater in Guangzhou, it has to be The Magic Phantom at Guangzhou's Mo Li Fang Theater. We mean this both as a recommendation and a literal statement, as this original, quirky, and very well-executed production is the only example of multimedia cabaret dinner-theater we've yet to come across in Guangzhou (or anywhere else in China).

The performance is in Chinese, but the combination of elements from traditional Beijing Opera, Hong Kong Cinema, puppetry, karaoke, acrobatics, dancing, and computer animation makes it a feast for the senses regardless of linguistic skill. And then there's the meal fit for a king, featuring eight separate courses served in crystal dishes. As the audience eats each dish, their ingredients, health benefits, and historical significance are explained by a Beijing-trained opera singer (who happens to speak a little English as well). Tickets can be booked at the front desk of better hotels, and performances are held nightly, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday.