(written by Cait)
The most we knew about our neighborhood, Zhujang (pr. joo-jong) New Town, before moving into our apartment was that it was a relatively recently developed, many foreigners lived here, and in comparison to the rest of the city, had a pretty low population. The location is equi-distance to both of our jobs and near the subway. We have we really been able to discover our neighborhood in the last couple weeks, but it seems like there’s always something new to find. We couldn’t be happier.
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We live on the 20th floor of a 22-story building. There are three towers in our apartment and there’s an Irish pub in the back of the building. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most expensive bars in the city, so we won’t be dining there much, but it’ll be good place to go for some Western style food when we get really homesick. There are a few other western style bars, too. But we did meet up with some co-workers the other night at this place called, The Brew. We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the cool air, beer, and French fries. It wasn’t until someone said, “Hey, we’re in China!” that we were like, “hmm, yeah, this is pretty awesome.” It can be easy to forget that we’re living on the other side of the world. Most of the trees look the same, the same flowers…we feel quite comfortable here.
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View from our balcony on the 20th floor
There’s everything we could want in walking distance. I can think of four bakeries, five coffee shops, a major grocery store, and an uncountable amount of restaurants, wine bars, and convenient stores. Convenient stores! They are literally everywhere! I love them. And I love how everything is so cheap and it’s fun to see what kind of different drinks they have. We are now major fans of “Apple Vinegar” which tastes like the liquid form of those caramel apple candy suckers once all the caramel is gone. I also enjoy the pomegranate, pear, and aloe juice, and wheat grass, and so on. The condom display near the check out cracks me up every time. There are so many varieties and each display also features a…well, how do I put this since there might be some young readers viewing this…an adult device that requires batteries.
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In addition to all of the food and beverage amenities, we live very close to the Asian Games Park. From what we gather, it was specifically developed when Guangzhou hosted the 2010 Asian Games. It’s quite spacious and has beautiful landscaping. It runs along the Pearl River and is surrounded by amazing architecture. It’s also adjoined to the Opera House and a museum. Surprisingly, it’s not that busy, which is great for us. There is also a very large water fountain that is on some kind of timer because when it’s not shooting up water, you’re able to walk on it. It’s quite a spectacular water show. There’s an additional subway line, APM-Automatic People Mover (made specifically for the Asian Games) that I take to commute to work (it’s like the 280 of Mpls/St. Paul), and often times the water show is going when I come up from the station. Once again, another downfall to not being able to read Chinese, we don’t know when she’s going to blow. I run across it anyway to be on the safe side. The park also has a great view of Guangzhou Tower, the tallest building in the city. It has a rotating viewing room at the very top.
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Guangzhou Tower, the tallest building in the city, in Zhujiang Park
