Catshanghai

As temperatures were set to plummet in Shanghai we decided to head south where the weather is much milder at this time of year.

The trip was the first time we have been away since Jake was born. We went away as a family so it was also Jake's first holiday and adventure on a plane. He loved it. 

We stayed at an appartment in a green suburb between Foshan and Guangzhou. Jenny's friend lives there so she she helped Jenny find the flat ahead of time. The compound we stayed at is only half an hour from downtown Guangzhou, but it is very relaxed and has lots of gardens we took Jake around everyday. 

I enjoyed the fact that old women smile at you and give you complements about your baby rather than admonish you for not wrapping your child up properly. Shanghai needs to learn from Guangzhou's example. When the sun comes out you see women carry their children on their backs and gather in the gardens to chat as their children play. They were always delighted to see Jake. He was greeted like a movie star wherever he went, although Jake didn't seem to be very bothered about all this attention one way or the other.

 

Guangzhou has great food. It is usually inexpensive and has a clean, fresh taste. Most things are cheap in this city: baby stuff, clothes, taxis, Christmas trees, knick knacks, houses. We like to stock up, but most of our baggage allowance was taken up with Jake's extensive luggage and a taxi is too heavy to check in as luggage!

We spent time lots of time with Jake, but the great thing about taking the nanny on holiday with you is being able to sneak out when the baby is asleep. We got to hang out with Jenny's friend Jaing Fan who happens to be a Buddhist cantopop star. We caught up with an old friend from Bristol who is working in Guangzhou and has just got married to a Chinese girl. Downtown Guangzhou is bustling with people, restaurants and shops, just like Shanghai. Commuters rudely push their way on the metro in this city too and it is meant to be less safe than Shanghai according to Jiang Fan's policeman husband.

 

It was quite cold and wet when I first arrived with Jake and the nanny. Jenny said it had been much warmer in the few days before, but temperatures crept up to the mid twenties around Christmas eve before dropping down to the teens in our final week. Guangzhou's weather is very comfortable in the winter, but it is funny to see locals wearing scarves when the daily temperature is 18 C.

We enjoyed Guangzhou and would even consider coming back to live here for a longer spell at some time in the future.