Dr. Mark Nan Tu

BaiShuiZai Water Fall

Lush green

Bamboo

Situated in HuiZhou, Guangdong province, NanKun Mountain is only 100 km from GuangZhou. The highest peak is called

NanAo IslandGoogle Map

YangMei Wan in the evening

DongChong beach and the surround mountains

The vacation cabines in DongChong

The beach is a popular wedding photo spots

The romantic XiChong beach

There are more than 10 beaches close to ShenZhen. All of them are located in the NanAo Island. With more than 10 million residents in ShenZhen, one can predict that the beaches are more than likely jammed with people. That, however, it not the case when I visited the island during the weekend.

Starting from ShenZhen, I drove to NanAo with my friend. We followed the direction of a GPS system. My friend has been in ShenZhen for over 15 years and is familiar with quite a few places close by. Even that, he has not been to all the beaches in NanAo. NanAo is connected with ShenZhen via expressway. We arrived in the center of the NanAo Island around lunch time. From there, we found a seafood market. We had a delicious seafood lunch there. We first ordered the seafood from the seafood sellers and then send the seafood to the restaurant to be cooked to our requirement. We were very impressed by a steamed sea fish.

After lunch, we followed the GPS and arrived in the DaPenShuoChen which is an ancient garrison. The GPS direction was perfect. When it told us to stop, we were at the south entrance of the DaPenShuoChen south gate. The entrance ticket was 20RMB/person. The city was built in Qing Dynasty. The purpose for this city is a garrison which housed solders to protect the China south sea. There were still ancient city walls and old canons. There were also remains of the grain storage rooms and the open air theater. Because of the city

The quite beach is the training ground for the Chinese National Sailing Team

Red Sea Bay is located in ShanWei, some 3 hour north of ShenZhen. It is the training ground for the Chinese National Sailing team. I have read good reviews of the sea beach online and decided to go there for a weekend getaway.

Today is the Dec. 31st, the last day of 2007. I took the GuangZhou -> ShenZhen express train and arrived at ShenZhen one hour later. I then took a subway and arrived HuaQiao city exit. I met my friend with his Mazda 6. We have been driving with a Hyundai Van for the past few weeks and the Mazda 6 sedan is a lot smaller. It is less comfortable riding in the sedan than in a van. The upside is of cause, sedan is more gas economic.

We followed the guidance of the GPS and took on the GuangShan express way. We arrived at the BiLang Peninsula. The tip of the Peninsula is a narrow half round sand beach that stretches into the sea. On one side of the beach, the water is very calm and perfect for the Chinese National Sailing team training. Ton the other side of the beach, the wave can reach as high as 5 meters. The water smashed on the rocks with such as force. The thunders can be heard miles away.

We arrive at the calm beach around 5pm, just before the Sunset. We walked on the beach and took the pictures of the quite beach and the sunset. It was a magnificent scene. We set on a rock on the high ground and watched the sun sets in from the horizon.

We checked in a hotel slightly after dark. We then unload our luggage. We then went out for a seafood dinner. We came back to our room and started watching TV. My friend brought a DuKang wine to celebrate the New Year. When we opened the box, we found a USD$1 bill inside. To most of the Chinese, finding a bill is considered good luck. We are very pleased with the find and appreciate the thoughtfulness from the wine manufacturer.

We had a light breakfast the second day. We then visited the beach with high waves. There was hardly any body on the beach. We only saw a few photographers. We walked alone the beach until the very end. We found a GuangYin temple. It was newly build, a sure tourist attraction.

We headed for the ShanWei County after the beach. We arrived there just in time for lunch. We ordered some fresh seafood. It was very tasty and we enjoyed it very much. We then headed for the Lotus Mountain which is about 60km east of ShanWei County. We droved all the way to the Cloud and Lotus Temple. We hiked to the top of the temple and can see the magnificent view of the whole Lotus Mountain and the Valleys.

We headed back to ShenZhen later in the afternoon. We arrived at ShenZhen just before 5pm and I took 5pm express train back to GuangZhou. There, in GuangZhou, I had my rice noodle in Fujian style for dinner, one my favorite dinner dishes. What a wonderful weekend!

Transportation:
I recommend driving there. There are scheduled buses run to ShanWei County from GuangZhou or ShenZhen. From ShanWei, there are local buses that run all the way to the Peninsula.

Food:
Most of the local food is seafood depending or food court style. It was reasonably priced. All the seafood is fresh.

Lodging:
The Peninsula is well developed and filled with the hotels and guest house. The price for a standard room in a three start hotel runs about 200RMB/night. Very good deal considers it is rather close to ShenZhen and GuangZhou.

Geographic Location:

BiLang Peninsula

Sun Set

DeShen hotel or guesthouse, one of the many on the Peninsula


$1 USD cash rebate?

The high wave on the other side of the Peninsula

Lotus Mountain and the temple

Pacific Epoch interviewed me about a month ago and they posted the transcription on their website: http://www.pacificepoch.com/pecontent/111731_0_3_0_M/

Here is a copy of the interview just in case that you do not have a password and username.

PE Interviews 1bib Advisor Mark Tu

1bib, 273.cn, 51auto, CarCV, Daimler Chrysler, IDGVC, Marc van der Chijs, Mark Tu, Mobile.de, iautos, tudou

Posted by: Li Jun on Dec 05

Executive Summary

Despite the inconveniences of driving in China’s big cities, one of the major steps along the road to affluence for China rising middle class is buying a car. With owning a private car becoming increasingly attainable for more and more people in China since 2000, these first waves of newly purchased cars are now hitting the used car market. With seven million new cars expected to be sold this year and the industry growing at 30 percent annually, China’s used car market is set to boom as well. However, the used car buying experience in China is much different from that of the West

Location

The Island

A bar on the beach

The beach from my balcony

Local Fishermen and their boat

Chinese Waikiki beach?

FishingLady Sculpture

XiaChuan Island is located 14 km from the mainland China in GuangDong province. The island stretches 23km on the north and south, 12km from the east and west. The area size is 98.685 square km. The subtropical island is covered with dense forest and enjoys a year round heavy rain falls and mild weather.

I searched the internet for the route on Friday night. I discovered that it is actually rather simple. The tour guide on the internet calls it

The rice noddle that costs only 10RMB

GuangZhou at night from the BaiYun mountain

The viewing platform on the BaiYun Mountain

It is very easy to get into a healthy life style in GuangZhou for the following reasons:
1: The weather in GuangZhou is very warm. One can enjoy outdoor sports even in winter
2: Local people are very much into workout.

I had worked out three times this week. I went hiking in BaiYun mountain at night, played basketball and swam in TianHe stadium. The basketball courts are surprisingly affordable for 5RMB at night or 3RMB during the day time. The swimming pool is an international standard pool. The entrance cost is 30RMB. The pool was heated but very crowded. There were 5-6 people in each lane.

I had one of the best rice noodle soap in the

Ru

Our company management went for a strategic meeting out of office today. We did not want to be interfered by the daily operational routines that are common in the office. So we opt for a quite place outside the office. We choose a tea house close to GrandBuy department store.

The team house is located in a residential compound. It is rather difficult to find. After we finally located it, we found a very quite place. We went there in early afternoon and we were the only clients. We sat in a corner and enjoyed our tea. The tea was rather expensive. It was 60 RMB/pot. The snacks are equally expansive and there is a minimum charge of 30RMB/person. We had very serious discussion about the company

Mother Buddha Statue

From the top of the hill, one can see the FoShan city line

The temple at the XiQiao Mountain

Located at the east side of GuangZhou, FoShan is very continent for GuangZhou visitors. I visited FoShan during the weekend. I enjoyed the two of the most famous attractions: XiQiao Mountain and The Temple of the Ancestors (ZuMiao) Temple. I also had fantastic the local cuisines.

XiQiao Mountain:
With its graceful peaks, caves, waterfalls, and springs, XiQiao Mountain is one of the four famous mountains in Guangdong Province. The major attractions include the giant Mother Buddha (GuanYin) statue. The Mother Buddha Statue is positioned at the peak of Daxian Hill at 290 meters above sea level. The statue, which is in a sitting posture, measures a 61.9-meter-high. It is made from copper. Beneath the Buddha is a lotus seat, which is 36-meters wide, 14.9-meters high and features 66 petals in three layers. From the top of the hill, one can see the FoShan city line in the horizon. However, the city is covered with a layer of haze, possibly polluted by the traffics and the industry smokes.

ZuMiao:
The Temple of the Ancestors (Foshan ZuMiao) is located inside the city. It dates originally from the second half of the 11th C, and was restored in 1372 following a fire. It is dedicated to the God of the North, Ruler of the Waters. Although the Chinese name ”ZuMiao” means ”Temple of the Ancestors”, this simply indicates that it is the oldest temple in town, “the ancestor of temples”. The rich ceiling decoration with many figures is its most interesting feature.

Local cuisines
Guangdong cuisine is well known in China and around the world. The food is mostly steamed which local people believe to preserve the nutrition most. I had the steamed chicken soap, some dim sum and steamed rise noodle with beef. Because of the proximity of Hunan and Guangdong province, there are many Hunan restaurants in Guangdong province. I also had a Hunan style dinner. It was one of the best prepared Hunan dinners that I have ever had for many years. I lived in Changsha, Hunan province during all my childhood. These dishes brought back my found memories.

Getting to FoShan is surprisingly easy. #1 subway connects to Kenkou which is on the suburb of both GuangZhou and FoShan. From Kenkou exit, there are many

Ever since I came to GuangZhou, I have been eating out every day. Among the many restaurants that I have visited, Mao Chinese Restaurant is top on my list. The best part is that it is next to our office building. I frequently have dinner in this restaurant. I recommend it to everyone who wants a serviced work dinner with friends and business clients.

The Mao Chinese Restaurant has nothing to do with the Chairman Mao. The name is used because the cuisine if Hunan where Chairman Mao was born. The dishes are reasonably priced with good potion. The service is excellent and the service staffs are well trained and courteous. The environment is nicely decorated and very clean.

The restaurant gets very crowded during the dinner time and usually lasts about 800pm. I frequently go there to enjoy a quite dinner on a window seat.

My review for this restaurant is: (out of 5)
Food: 4 stars
Decoration: 3 stars
Service: 4 stars
Price: 4 stars

Summary: An excellent place for social dinning with friends and business associates. Very busy during the dinner time, reservation is recommended. Average 50 RMB/ person