Shopping & eating
Cantonese culture is close to my heart. Just out of high school I moved to Hong Kong and spent one and a half years there. Over the years I have traveled to Hong Kong and Guangzhou on several occasions. In fact, I learned Cantonese before I ever learned Mandarin. Students often ask me which language I like better. My response is, “It depends on where I am.” I much prefer Cantonese when I am in Hong Kong or the Cantonese speaking areas of Southern China. In fact, it seems that it is still a bit of a novelty for a foreigner to speak Cantonese. It reminded me of what it was like for a foreigner to speak Mandarin back in the 1980’s. Now it seems foreigners speaking Mandarin is not such a big deal.
Though I have been to Guangzhou on several occasions, before this year, my last trip there was in 1998. In late February of this year I spent a couple weeks in Guangzhou and the surrounding area on a research trip. Needless to say, much has changed and I hardly recognized the place. It took me a couple days to get into the swing of things with my Cantonese as I don’t have much opportunity to use it these days and I was definitely rusty. But after a few days I was feeling fairly comfortable. I was very fortunate in that one of my colleagues at BYU is from Guangzhou and I was able to meet her parents and spend some time with them. They showed me the city and introduced me to some excellent Cantonese restaurants. Guangzhou, along with Beijing and Shanghai, is one of China’s most important economic centers. It is also a major metropolitan city in China with major universities, a sophisticated subway system, and significant foreign investment.
The Cantonese are passionate about two things—eating and shopping, and it is evident everywhere in Guangzhou. If they are not eating, they are talking about eating, at the market shopping for ingredients, or at the least thinking about food. Cantonese cuisine is one of the four major cuisines in China with a long and rich history. Restaurants, meat and produce markets, and street vendors are everywhere and it seems the Cantonese are eating at all times of the day and late into the night.
Streetside dimsum
Shop workers taking a lunch break.
Roasted meats are an important part of Cantonese cuisine.
Steamed bread
Spicy soup
Sleeping sugar cane juice vendor.
Street-side Chinese style fast food restaurant.
Street food.
Though there are now large grocery stores all over China, the Cantonese still do a fair amount of shopping in outdoor meat, poultry, and produce markets. They are similar to farmer’s markets here in the U.S. Just a couple decades ago all Chinese shopped this way. At that time most Chinese did not own refrigerators and shopped every day for produce. This habit is still practiced by many Chinese who insist on the freshest ingredients. In the past, it was not uncommon for someone to buy a live chicken, take it home, and let it strut around in the kitchen until time to prepare the meal. Live fish are also bought and either taken home alive, or prepared by the vendor on the spot. These kinds of markets are still around in China though they are a bit harder to find and the Chinese are shopping more and more in grocery stores.
Ginger
Dry beans
Grapes
Fishmonger
Fresh chicken
Butcher
Dried mushroom shop
Huge dried mushrooms
Preparing dried chrysanthemum flowers for tea
Selecting dried fungus
Tomato vender
With Guangzhou’s proximity to Hong Kong, the Cantonese have been exposed to the West and Western goods for quite a bit longer than the rest of China. Even back in the eighties Guangzhou received some TV and radio stations from Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s fanatic attitude toward shopping rubbed off on Guangzhou. They is everything from European designer boutiques to tiny shops selling Chinese brands.
Shoppers
Adidas man
Maybelline girls
Night market
Tama Yaki
Ornamental plant street vendor
McDonald’s coupons anyone
Women’s shoe shop
Colorful shoes
Boring men’s shoes
Finally, here are a few random shots from Guangzhou.
Guangzhou street just after Chinese New Year
Incense
Worshippers
Learning to ride
Smile for grandpa
Into the Middle Kingdom 
What a vibrant city! Your photos are gorgeous – I could almost smell the food.
And those mushrooms!! I’ve never seen mushrooms that big.
THOSE SHOES! Get out of here. Eating and shopping.
Chrysanthemum tea became my favourite drink when visiting Shanghai.
Love these photos! The large mushrooms look like bracket fungi. Are they eaten in China? The European variety is woody and inedible, but the white undersides could be used to sketch or draw on.
Hi this is meron from Ethiopia Africa I want to import same food like
Cantonese people love 2 things: Eating and shopping. Street vendors are all over.
The fresh food looks great! In modernity foods appear to be approaching more and more commercially stored and frozen. It’s nice to see that there are still places making things fresh, for great taste!
There is something(s) wonderful about street markets and buying fresh food everyday like that. It’s sad we don’t have more of that in the States. Something about those steamed breads make my imagine run. I know of all things in Chinese cuisine steamed bread! But it does, I couldn’t say why. Also, those mushrooms though! I had no idea mushrooms could get to that size.
I like the statement saying even though there are many convenient indoor stores, there are sill many outdoor meat stores in the street!
What makes China one of the great travel countries is that its street market. They are so many new and interesting stuff being sold in the street!
It’s so interesting to see how shopping and food have come together in open air markets with food vendors and shops selling goods other than food. Based off the pictures, it seems as though both must be present in Guangzhou for it to be a proper shopping area as food goes hand in hand with shopping. Also it’s amazing to hear there are still traditional markets that serve the freshest ingredients even though Guangzhou is so close to Hong Kong and the influence of Western Countries is great!
This city seems really intriguing and vibrant! It would be amazing to visit. I think it is interesting how we (Westerns) would like to see these small farmers markets stay for our tourist benefit and culture preservation even though there is a benefit to being more productive and not having to shop every day.
Those people are hustling for live up in those big cities motivates me, They work really hard even in frozen winter to blazing summer without missing a day.
Everything here was pretty much the impression I got last summer I visited China. Although some of these sights are rare now because the city has undergone reconstruction in its infrastructure. The marketplaces are still the same. You have fresh meat on display, live fish, and all kinds of exotic fruits and the vendors are always open for barter. I didn’t see shoes in display like that, but I did see knockoff Yeezys on sale for 400 RMB
Everything here was pretty much the impression I got last summer I visited China. Although some of these sights are rare now because the city has undergone reconstruction in its infrastructure. The marketplaces are still the same. You have fresh meat on display, live fish, and all kinds of exotic fruits and the vendors are always open for barter. I didn’t see shoes in display like that, but I did see knockoff Yeezys on sale for 400 RMB
The transition from street markets to larger shopping malls shows the effect that the Western world has on the rest of the world, China included. I think that while this surely benefits their economy and helps manage the large crowds and growing population, it takes away from the quaint history of Chinese street markets. Personally, I enjoy the street markets as I think they show a lot about the local culture to that specific area.
I loved how you touched on the Western influence within China. It was interesting to read about transition of valuing fresh food from the markets to commercial large grocery stores. The fact that people would have live chickens running around their homes in order for the chicken to be extremely fresh is fascinating!
Guangzhou is one of the places in China I really want to visit and it is exciting to hear your stories around the city! I think it is funny that you made the point that the Cantonese are only passionate about eating and shopping! They have good reason to be like that, I love Chinese culture and food, and if I lived there that is all that I would be talking about. It is amazing to see all of the pictures of the unique storefronts and vendors with all the different food and other items! It is also interesting to see that there are western influences in China when it comes to certain fashion or TV shows.
It really surprised me that some people in China do not have a fridge. But having fresh ingredients every day would be so cool. That is so interesting to think that some people don’t have a refrigerator. The outdoor markets around China look so exciting. Where do mushrooms that big(as shown on an image above) even grow? The guy handing out coupons in that silly McDonalds was so funny, I also really liked her thirst.
I love seeing all of these photographs. I am very glad you take so many pictures, and post them for us to see! The diversity of people, foods, storefronts, and streets is really fascinating to me. If there is one thing I want to do with my life, it is travel and experience all these different kinds of places. I get really excited seeing photos like this, and get a strong urge to travel and see it for myself!
I found the photos of the market place to be bright and invigorating. It is so fascinating to see that the culture of preparing one’s meal fresh everyday is being recognized and preserved. The access to fresh and healthy foods straight from the land and sea is so rare in industrial and “well developed” areas in the other developed countries. I believe that it is a beautiful sight to see that the market is still a crucial part of life in China.
I love all the pictures on this post. My boyfriend grew up in Guang Zhou and it is nice to hear more about it and see pictures of the region. I also really like all the street food and shops it has. I’m from Mexico, and we have a lot of street food as well, which is a practice I wish the United States would pick up on. It’s really cheap and convenient food! I love to see similarities like these between my culture and Chinese culture.