A Tale of Two Cities | Guangzhou & Shunde: Feasting for Body and Soul
This year’s pandemic didn’t just mess up work plans, it totally derailed travel plans too.
Flipping through my little travel notebook and staring at all the destinations, I suddenly realised there was a world-class city right on my doorstep that I’d never set foot in.
Shunde. In 2014, UNESCO anointed it a ‘City of Gastronomy’ – and it’s long been known as ‘the Home of Cantonese Chefs’.
For a hardcore foodie like me, there are only two things in this world that can’t be let down: love and good food.
Sizzling clay-pot dishes, classic Cantonese morning tea, double-skin milk, Lunjiao cake, beef offal, shredded fish soup, raw fish slices, roast goose, plain-water hotpot… First blood!
Tick off the Insta-famous Canton Tower and ride the world’s tallest Ferris wheel – double kill!!
Savouring Chimelong’s peace-and-love A-side by day, then rocking its realest, rowdiest B-side by night – triple kill!!!
Even a condemned man gets a final breath. So this working stiff, with the theme music from Cooking Master Boy blaring in my head, headed south. Time to let Guangdong pamper and soothe my stomach and soul.
‘Little Egg Tart’ – an adorable little dude who was celebrating his 3rd birthday during the trip, a hardcore fan of construction vehicles and Peppa Pig.
‘Egg Tart Dad’ – trip planner and chauffeur for this adventure.
‘Egg Tart Mum’ – the trip’s ‘financial backer’.
‘Grandma’ – chief soother of Little Egg Tart.
Originally we thought about driving straight there, but seven hours on the road with a toddler – would Little Egg Tart really behave? In the end we decided to take the high-speed train to Guangzhou and rent a car once we arrived.
〓Practical Car Rental Info〓
【About rental periods】 Go for a full 24-hour rental block. Many agencies count anything less than 24 hours as a full day anyway.
【About insurance】 Grab the ‘basic supplemental protection’ option – it waives the excess on damage under 5,000 yuan (excluding tyres). That way you don’t need to inspect the exterior like a forensic examiner; minor scrapes aren’t an issue.
【One-way rentals】 Picking up and dropping off in different cities means a one-way fee. For a road trip, it’s smarter to do a loop and collect and return in the same city.
【About fuel】 Check the fuel gauge with the staff when you pick up the car, and return it with the same level. Find a petrol station ten to twenty minutes’ drive from the drop-off point to refuel; that distance won’t twitch the needle.
【Other tips】
Phone mount: Bring your own. Rental companies charge per day for them – over several days, the fee adds up to more than buying a new one.
Dashcam: Not really necessary. City streets are covered by cameras, so no big worries.
【Important notes】
1. In central Guangzhou, non-local licence plates are subject to a ‘four days in, four days out’ restriction. Let the rental company know in advance so they can arrange accordingly.
2. Our rental firm didn’t have a pickup/drop-off point inside Guangzhou South Railway Station. We had to go to the P11 public car park about five minutes’ drive away. When picking up, the company sends a car to the station to fetch you; on return, they’ll give you a lift back to the station. Allow extra time for this when you’re catching a train back.
On this trip we ate at twelve restaurants – two in Guangzhou, two in Chimelong and eight in Shunde. Total spend: 2,943 yuan. Here’s the list:
·Wai Si Kai Riverside Mansion: 497 yuan
·Shang Dim Dim Sum: 153 yuan
·Panda Restaurant: 288 yuan
·Hawaii Restaurant: 191 yuan
·Man Sun Lo Pong: 126 yuan
·Jing Hong Restaurant: 160 yuan
·Lung’s Restaurant: 168 yuan
·Jin Jin You Wei: 186 yuan
·Song Ji Restaurant: 250 yuan
·Yan Sun Lo Pong: 58 yuan
·Shun Fung Villa: 550 yuan
·Niu Neng Private Home Cuisine: 316 yuan
The 2020 Guangzhou Michelin Guide lists two two-star restaurants and ten one-star spots. Out of these, only one matched our strict (read: budget) criteria: Wai Si Kai Riverside Mansion (Binjiang Dagongguan).
Wai Si Kai’s signature is the ‘juejue pot’ – ‘jue’ is the onomatopoeic Cantonese word for the bubbling sound sauce makes in a hot clay pot. A Bite of China 2, when exploring wok hei, spotlighted Guangdong’s juejue pots. Michelin-starred heat control? We had to try it.
Even on a weekday and even though we arrived nearly 1:30pm, waiting for a table was standard. At least there were only two groups ahead of us – compared to the mobs of hundreds you get at internet-famous joints, it was fairly merciful.
『Eel sizzling clay pot』
When the lid came off at the table, a ‘jue~ jue~’ sound rose with an intoxicating fragrance, the sauce leaping inside the pot. The server quickly tossed the eel with the aromatics while it was still blazing hot, letting the residual heat finish cooking the ingredients – the legendary ‘pinnacle of heat control’.
First bite: tender, with zero fishiness, and by the end of a chew, a subtle sweetness. The flavour was gentle, not oily or heavy, like ‘unremarkably handsome Louis Koo’ – but it was that simple, restrained taste that kept my chopsticks moving.
『Sizzling oyster omelette』
If the eel was too understated, this oyster omelette was like a grand firework display in the mouth. First came the briny freshness of oysters and octopus – the oysters soft, juicy and tender, the octopus springy with a satisfying chew. Then a ‘ka-zee~ ka-zee~’ sound burst between the teeth: it was the egg pancake, fried golden and crisp. Only at the end did the refreshing scent of spring onion gently emerge.
『Crab roe tofu』
Just looking at its colour, you’d think this was a richly flavoured dish, but it was actually delicate. The tofu was silky smooth, curd-like; the more I chewed, the less raw soybean taste I detected. I’m not sure if the chef hypnotised the tofu or my tongue, but I couldn’t even tell I was eating tofu. Taking it in with the sauce added a note of crab umami. The little bits of crab leg meat scattered through it were fresh and tender – the only pity was that there wasn’t more; the crab flavour vanished before I got my fix.
The rice grains were distinct, on the drier, firmer side, with the rice flavour staying in the background. The star of the whole bowl was the Chinese sausage. A mouthful of rice paired with savoury-sweet sausage instantly became rich and complex, and once swallowed, the scent of the sausage filled my whole nose. And of course you can’t skip the crispy rice crust at the bottom – crunchy without being jaw-aching, but such a shame it arrived so late; our bellies didn’t have room for much more.
『Lobster broth angel hair pasta』
Originally meant for Little Egg Tart, but he wasn’t interested. The noodles slid down smoothly – slurp! – and with each slurp the freshness of lobster entered together. Like the tofu, it leaned light and clean; the lobster flavour could only be found in the broth. The prawn meat was as fresh as the crab meat, but with an extra springy bounce.
『Ginger ice cream』
What a curious flavour. I couldn’t place it at first, then suddenly clicked: this is just ginger candy in ice-cream form! First the sweetness, then the heat slowly building, the gingery scent gradually flooding the nose, and finally the throaty warmth of ginger converging, as if I’d downed a bowl of ginger soup.
To my surprise, Little Egg Tart ate it with relish. It seems that as long as it’s ice cream, he’ll accept any flavour.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】172 Binjiang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong
【Opening hours】11:00–23:00
【Parking】The restaurant doesn’t provide parking. The staff suggested we park at a car park on ‘Fuchang Road’ behind the restaurant. We ended up parking at ‘Haiying Ju Car Park’ while doing a U-turn; it was about a five-minute walk. For an hour and a half we paid 10 yuan.
【Speciality】Sizzling clay-pot dishes (juejue pot)
【Recommended】Eel juejue pot, sizzling oyster omelette, crab roe tofu, cured-meat rice, ginger ice cream
【Per person】124 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Michelin one-star
【Note】We arrived after 1pm on a weekday and still had two groups ahead of us. At normal mealtimes, get there early to queue.
For Cantonese people, ‘one pot, two pieces’ (yum cha) is like rice noodles for Hunan folk. Though it’s ‘morning tea’, most teahouses are open all day – just like Hunan rice noodle shops.
This was meant to be our first Cantonese breakfast of the trip, but plans change. We lingered too long at Canton Tower and until 9pm hadn’t eaten a grain of rice. So we turned morning tea into night tea.
『Aged vinegar chicken feet』
These had bite – firm and chewy, with a pleasant tensile resistance. The vinegar taste was mild, like the early stage of ‘envy, jealousy and hate’, just a whisper of sour, while the heat and acidity were perfectly balanced.
『Traditional ‘beautiful’ youtiao』
Crispy outside, fluffy inside. A bit dry on its own, so better with congee. Nothing extraordinary – just an oversized fried dough stick.
『Golden-sand rice noodle rolls with red rice』
Smooth outside, springy inside. The enclosed shrimp was as tender as Little Egg Tart’s cheeks, with a faint sweet-salty edge. It came with two dips: peanut sauce and seafood soy sauce. I much preferred the seafood soy – it fully unleashed that shy sweet-salty note.
『Lychee Bay boat congee』
Fresh! Smooth! Completely a rice paste, no grains at all. Guangdong congee really lives up to its reputation. The floating pig skin inside was chewy and hadn’t turned to mush.
『Special steamed spare ribs』
The exterior was slippery and tender, the meat fresh and springy. One bite and my teeth struggled to sever the bond of meat and sinew, yet the meat and sinew kept bouncing back against my teeth. That ‘Duang~ Duang~’ texture needed no special effects.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Shop 125, Ground Floor West Zone, Canton Tower, 222 Yuejiang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong
【Opening hours】08:00–22:00
【Parking】You can park in the Canton Tower underground car park.
【Speciality】Cantonese morning tea
【Recommended】Golden-sand red rice rolls, Lychee Bay boat congee, special steamed spare ribs
【Per person】38 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Must-try morning tea list
【Note】Go early. We arrived at 9pm and many dim sum items had already sold out.
At the Panda Restaurant inside Chimelong Safari Park, the name says it all – there really are pandas inside. With such cute company, what you eat hardly matters.
For the whole lunch, our national treasure demonstrated just one skill: lying flat.
『Old mother char siu』
The name was spot on. The meat really was ‘old’ – on the dry, hard side, its flavour mainly coming from the sweet sauce.
『Stir-fried diced beef with black pepper and wild mushrooms』
This one missed the point – no black pepper taste at all. The ‘elderly’ beef was slightly fibrous, and the tendons hard to chew. The highlight was the king oyster mushrooms inside, which were better than the beef: crisp, refreshing and soaked in sauce, with just the right flavour.
『Spring onion-fried pork hock』
The one combo meal deserving praise. The fat and lean mingled just right, the fat offsetting the leanness of the meat, while the spring onions were fragrant and left a faint numbing aftertaste of Sichuan pepper oil.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Behind the ‘Giant Panda Centre’ at Chimelong Safari Park, Guangzhou
【Opening hours】08:00–19:00
【Speciality】Sichuan-style Chinese food
【Recommended】Spring onion-fried pork hock
【Per person】72 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Dining with pandas
【Note】There’s also a ‘Panda Kids’ Restaurant’ at the nearby ‘Meng Shuai Ku Food Plaza’, which has no pandas but does have children’s meals.
After a full day at Chimelong Safari Park, we headed to Chimelong Paradise for their Halloween event in the evening. Going outside the park to eat would eat up too much time, and the hotel restaurant prices were eye-watering. Light of wallet, we decided to grab fast food inside the park.
Standard fast-food quality, a bit on the salty side.
『Magic Blood Bag (blackcurrant flavour)』
Tasted like plain juice, but the themed packaging was spot-on and deserves a thumbs-up.
『Super Beef Cheeseburger』
The flavour was as blurry as this photo. The beef disintegrated as soon as you bit it – a far cry from even a McDonald’s burger, let alone anything good.
Standard fast-food fare, fairly crispy, neither too salty nor too bland, good with ketchup.
『Black truffle chicken pizza』
A thin-crust pizza; I’m a huge fan of this base – thin and crunchy, it crackled as I ate.
The cheese lacked aroma, and as for the black truffle, it was as absent as the ‘wife’ inside a wife cake.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】By the ‘Sky Rocket’ roller coaster in the Scream Zone, Chimelong Paradise, Guangzhou
【Opening hours】11:00–16:00
【Speciality】Italian-style fast food
【Recommended】Black truffle chicken pizza
【Per person】48 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Quiet, and cheap (relatively)
After arriving at our Shunde guesthouse, we hadn’t had a proper lunch. Once inside, we couldn’t wait to order takeaway!
For afternoon tea, our first thought was double-skin milk. Orders placed in a flurry, all that remained was to stare at the door with dopey anticipation.
『Bottled buffalo milk (unsweetened)』
Thicker than regular milk, and with a distinctive buffalo-milk aroma rather than ordinary milkiness. Egg Tart Mum thought it was a bit gamey. Little Egg Tart doesn’t discriminate among milk – if it’s milk, he’ll drink it.
『Double-skin milk (cold)』
First impression: ultra-smooth and tender. The sweetness was just right at first, but after half a bowl I began to find it a tad cloying. Again there was that unique buffalo-milk scent (or gameyness).
『Lunjiao cake (steamed)』
Similar to a steamed rice cake, with a honeycomb centre. It was soft, tender and slightly springy, but way too sweet, almost sickly. Nobody really took to it.
『Peanut butter French toast』
The toast itself didn’t have much flavour and lacked crispy edges, the texture being on the dense side but not too dry. The taste came mostly from the peanut butter – eaten together, it had a rich peanut scent and a subtle saltiness.
『Special roasted chicken wings』
Maybe the chef has a funny understanding of ‘special’. The meat was a bit fibrous, mildly spicy and overly salty – the heaviest dish of the lot. It should have suited our strong-flavour-loving palates, but it just had no ‘special’ character.
『Crystal chicken feet』
The meat was firm and chewy, the tendon-connecting parts crunching audibly. No vinegary tang, just the delicate fragrance of sesame oil.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Shop 125, Ground Floor West Zone, Canton Tower, 222 Yuejiang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong
【Opening hours】08:00–24:00
【Speciality】Desserts made from south-of-the-mountain’s unique buffalo milk
【Recommended】Bottled buffalo milk, double-skin milk
【Per person】32 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Featured in “A Bite of Shunde”
【Note】Man Sun Lo Pong has multiple branches in Shunde. If you can’t visit in person, you can do as we did and order delivery.
Besides double-skin milk, another must-try on the Shunde list is raw fish slices. Shunde’s raw fish is freshwater fish, which locals call ‘wan yu’ – what we usually call grass carp.
Shunde’s ‘lo hei’ raw fish carries the meaning of ‘rising fortune’, which is why it’s an important banquet dish during major celebrations. With that auspicious meaning, even though we weren’t used to raw dishes, we decided to give it a go.
When it reached the table and we saw a whole six plates, our scalps couldn’t help tingling. First we tried the plain version: icy cold and tasteless, crisp and resilient with a chew. No fishiness on entry; only at the very end of the chew did a hint of fish flavour linger between teeth and cheek, and only then did my taste buds register that this was fish.
Add the accompaniments and dipping sauce, and it became much more layered. First came the fragrance of peanut oil, then the salty-sweet soy sauce, and finally the heat of ginger, spring onion and garlic all at once. As the finish trailed off, the refreshing note of lemongrass gradually permeated mouth and nose. Still, we could never quite get used to this style and ended up struggling to finish just one plate. The rest was packed up, taken back to the guesthouse for a second cook.
『Chilled fish skin salad』
Crunchier than the raw fish, ‘ka-chi ka-chi’ as if munching on crunchy cartilage. The flavour was fragrant and mildly spicy – a decent cold dish.
『Salt-and-pepper fish bones』
Crispy outside, tender inside, but the inner meat hadn’t absorbed much flavour, coming across a bit bland.
Plain, watery congee of the ‘rice soup’ variety. Only after looking it up later did I realise that here, congee and rice porridge are two different things. Rice porridge has more rice and is thicker.
Seeing the piping-hot congee, we had a brainwave: drop the raw fish slices into the congee and let the residual heat cook them half-through. Indeed, this made them far more palatable than raw and cold. The fish lost a bit of its raw crispness but gained a soft tenderness, suiting our tastes much better.
『Mulberry leaf in superior broth』
That’s mulberry leaf, the kind silkworms eat. When I heard this, Egg Tart Mum and I were gobsmacked – we had no idea humans could eat mulberry leaves, too. The texture was coarse, like sandpaper, without any particularly strange flavour, a bit like Chinese spinach and overall light and subtle.
After the meal, Egg Tart Mum decided to buy some fruit to comfort our stomachs. Walking along, looking up at the Fengcheng Tower by the roadside, I couldn’t help recalling the saying, ‘Eat in Guangzhou, cook out of Fengcheng.’ Fengcheng refers to the Daliang area of Shunde.
When we got to the fruit shop and saw red dragon fruit going for 10 yuan for five, I’ll admit I felt a bit sour.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】3 Shiluo Road, Shunde District, Foshan
【Opening hours】11:00–14:00 / 17:00–02:00
【Parking】Hard to park on the street; recommend taking a taxi.
【Speciality】Raw fish slices – it’s really a ‘one fish, four eats’, divided into raw fish, fish skin, fish bones and fish congee
【Recommended】Raw fish slices (don’t try if you’re not into this sort of thing)
【Per person】40 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Recommended by “Pin Cheng Ji” and “Lu Jian Bu Ping Lai Wan Fun”
【Note】Shunde raw fish is freshwater fish and may carry parasites, so it’s not something I strongly advise eating.
We turned morning tea into night tea in Guangzhou, but once in Shunde we still decided to savour a real morning tea.
The place we chose was another long-established local restaurant, just a ten-minute walk from our guesthouse.
Even at 10am, morning-tea-goers continued to stream in, though the clientele was mostly elderly. Youngsters like us suddenly appearing felt a bit out of place.
『Beef brisket noodles in superior broth』
The superior broth: the first sip stirred a sense of déjà vu. After a few more sips, it hit me – this was just the flavour of instant beef noodle soup, only sweeter and fresher.
The beef brisket: chewy but not fibrous, each mouthful squeezing out meaty juices.
The noodles: thin wheat strands, more like vermicelli than noodles, and their texture was like vermicelli too – perfect for someone like me who hates noodles turning stodgy.
Both the noodles and brisket had a premium feel, but every sip of the soup broke the spell, yanking me from a holiday resort back to an overtime shift.
『Supreme supreme soy sauce fried noodles』
Compared with the soup noodles, the fried version won on fragrance. The noodles were just right – neither too soft nor too firm – and the flavour was richer and sweeter, while also avoiding the greasiness I dread in fried noodles. For me, the stronger flavour of the fried noodles hit the spot.
『Passion fruit pudding』
Extremely fragrant, tart and appetite-opening. After a heavy meal, one of these and I was immediately revived, ready for another round.
『Fresh milk chilled red bean paste with coconut』
Cool and smooth, bursting with coconut fragrance, and the sweetness was just right without being cloying. However, the red beans were a bit too hard – not the soft, powdery texture I remember – and the beans and jelly existed as independent entities, not particularly harmonious.
『Custard cream fresh milk egg tart』
Rich, creamy and eggy, with the sweetness again well-controlled. But there was no flaky pastry! That’s like a clay-pot rice missing its crispy crust – something felt missing.
『Wild mountain pickled pepper chicken feet』
The name sounded fierce, but the flavour was mild – slightly spicy and slightly salty. The texture inherited the chewy tradition of Cantonese chicken feet. Compared with others we’d tried, this one had an extra sour-spicy kick from the pickled peppers, a flavour that kept flirting in the nose, leaving you hanging between a sneeze and not sneezing.
『Lung’s supreme shrimp dumpling king』
Slippery skin with a tender filling; one bite and it was all shrimp inside. The meat was bouncy, tight and sweet, and biting down made a ‘chee chee’ sound, leaving me utterly lost in the pleasure of my teeth squeezing the shrimp. The dumpling skin kept its elasticity and chew, not going mushy – truly a ‘king’ of shrimp dumplings, every detail done to perfection.
『Golden custard lava bun』
A single bite and it gushed. The filling truly ‘flowed like sand’, without a trace of graininess, salty-sweet. If the bun skin had been a little fluffier, it could have rivalled the shrimp dumpling.
『Chicken and sticky rice in lotus leaf』
By the time we got to this, we were nearly stuffed. The sticky rice had no alkaline aftertaste – soft, glutinous, carrying the delicate fragrance of lotus leaf. Inside were all kinds of hidden treasures: pork belly, chicken and salted egg yolk.
When ordering, gazing at the whole menu, this was tempting, that was tempting – the result was ordering way too much. But with our pathetic appetites, we ended up packing most of it and had a bonus afternoon tea back at the guesthouse.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】6 Jinliang Road, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong
【Opening hours】07:00–14:00 / 17:00–21:00
【Parking】There’s a car park at the restaurant entrance.
【Speciality】Cantonese morning tea
【Recommended】Supreme supreme soy sauce fried noodles, passion fruit pudding, wild mountain pickled pepper chicken feet, Lung’s supreme shrimp dumpling king, golden custard lava bun
【Per person】42 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Recommended by locals, close to our guesthouse
We’d originally planned to take Little Egg Tart to ‘PLAN B FUN Kids’ Restaurant’ to celebrate his birthday. When we drove to the navigation point, we couldn’t find the restaurant entrance. We got out in the rain and only located the hidden entrance after searching around. Standing at the doorstep, an idyllic family scene began to play in my mind: Little Egg Tart romping through the play area, us sitting nearby, eating while watching him – a perfect shoot for a heartwarming family drama.
Full of anticipation, we went upstairs, only to find the door firmly shut. There we stood, like drowned rats in the dark stairwell, Little Egg Tart at the end of his patience, Egg Tart Mum desperate for a toilet. The earlier pretty picture shattered. All that was missing was a ‘snowflakes fluttering, north wind howling’ soundtrack. So we made a snap decision and ate at the restaurant next door.
『Salt-and-pepper live shrimp』
The salt-and-pepper didn’t overpower the shrimp’s natural sweetness; instead, it intensified the flavour, achieving a perfect balance of shrimp umami and salty-spicy on the tongue. The only flaw was the slightly small shrimp, but that’s also what made them so well infused.
We even scored a lucky one with roe – the sandy texture, like salted egg yolk, lifted the whole flavour up another level.
The chicken skin was smooth and the meat tender; it retained both the firmness of free-range chicken and the tenderness of a battery bird. The skin was thin, slippery and elastic, actually upstaging the meat. Eating skin and meat together with the soy dipping sauce, savoury fragrance flooded everywhere.
『Sichuan boiled beef』
The meat texture was absolutely flawless – featuring that same chicken-like silkiness plus beef’s distinctive bounciness. It looked heavy but was actually well-balanced in salt and spice, with the numbing Sichuan pepper stripped out, making it a mild version of Sichuan food that suited all ages.
『Garlic-fried lettuce』
Previously, the greens we’d eaten were all light. This one was a surprise. The generous use of oil made even the leaves silky smooth, and the garlic wasn’t merely a token sprinkle; the whole plate was alive with garlicky fragrance. The one thing I couldn’t fathom: why do Cantonese greens always come whole, never cut up?!
『Banana roti』
Compared with rotis where you only smell a hint of filling, this one was very honest. Inside, you got soft, real banana, the sweetness just right and not cloying. The fatal flaw was the pastry, which wasn’t crispy enough.
During this meal, Little Egg Tart discovered his true love: freshly pressed corn juice. He downed five or six cups and filled himself up on corn juice alone.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Next to Hai Li Fang, Nanhong Road, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong (enter the main gate of Nanhong Wenchuang Industrial Park)
【Opening hours】10:00–14:00 / 16:00–21:00
【Parking】The restaurant is inside the Nanhong Auto Culture Creative Industry Park and Hai Li Fang Park, with plenty of parking spaces.
【Speciality】Seafood ordered and cooked on the spot – incredibly fresh
【Recommended】Salt-and-pepper live shrimp, scallion oil chicken, Sichuan boiled beef
【Per person】47 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Spontaneous decision
【Note】At the time we went, the shop had just newly opened; our bill got a 15% discount.
Plain-water hotpot – the heavyweight champion of the hotpot world. This had long been scribbled in my little notebook, but after the raw-fish experience, I was torn. Eat or not eat, that was the question. In the end, to leave no regrets, we decided to go for it.
From the outside, this place looked more like a garage than a restaurant. Only the ‘Established in 1988 – Old and Famous’ sign beside it gave away that this was an eatery with history.
Even though it’s plain-water hotpot, they do provide dipping sauces – though just the usual shredded ginger, spring onions, chilli and aged vinegar, without the fermented bean curd and coriander common at our hotpot places. The sauce station even had a helpful note: ‘Chilli is really hot, use sparingly.’ I couldn’t help a scornful smile. As a born-and-bred Hunanese, I only ever complain it’s not hot enough.
To control the optimum heat, diners aren’t allowed to cook the ingredients themselves. The entire process is handled by the waitstaff, ensuring that the food is enjoyed at its very best.
『Handmade fresh shrimp paste balls』
Beyond the standard ‘slipperiness’, these were ultra-bouncy. That bounce was a tad less tough than beef balls, making it more agreeable to the teeth. The flavour was on the light side, with only the natural sweetness of shrimp; adding some dipping sauce suited our strong-flavour preferences better.
『Handmade pork balls』
These took the shrimp-balls’ texture and added that extra toughness. As my teeth bit through the meatballs, I could also feel the crispy, fragrant sesame seeds. The salt level was perfect – they could be eaten straight away without dipping.
『Signature bamboo intestines』
No offal smell, or even the particular odour of pig intestines – it didn’t feel like eating pig intestine at all. The texture was true to its name: like bamboo, tough and resilient. Picking fattier sections made them easier to chew – crisp yet not overly chewy.
No offal smell on the nose, but the aroma of offal would be released after chewing. They were tender without being powdery, with a soft, cottony texture. Pairing them with ginger and spring onion reduced the offalness, but for me, who isn’t a big offal eater, it wasn’t my thing.
『Ox tongue root (ngau lei hang)』
This is the meat near the root of the tongue. Compared to beef, it’s firmer, the texture somewhere between meat and tendon. Taking a slice was like French-kissing a cow – it kept teasing my tongue, leaving me utterly enthralled. After chewing, a faint milky fragrance lingered in my mouth. My first time trying ox tongue, and I was completely won over.
I’d always thought hotpot had no inherent flavour; it all came from the broth and dipping sauces. This experience completely turned that idea on its head. Turns out, even plain water can deliver sublime flavours.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】3 Hexiang Road, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong (opposite the United Electronics Factory)
【Opening hours】11:30–14:30 / 17:30–21:30
【Parking】The road outside is very narrow and hard to park on. I suggest parking on the opposite Wenjiao Road, where there are marked parking bays on the street. From there it’s a five-minute walk to the restaurant.
【Speciality】Plain-water hotpot – literally just water, even plainer than Beijing-style copper pot mutton hotpot
【Recommended】Handmade fresh shrimp paste balls, handmade pork balls, signature bamboo intestines, ox tongue root
【Per person】63 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Recommended by “Pin Cheng Ji” and “Lu Jian Bu Ping Lai Wan Fun”
【Note】The chilli at the sauce station – I admit I underestimated it. First bite: hot. Second bite: really hot. Third bite: I was already hiccuping from the heat! I hereby concede, with the full integrity of a Hunanese, that this chilli is legitimately fiery!
Parking bays along Shunde’s streets are paid parking. When we returned after eating and found a slip on the car, we thought we’d been fined. Turns out it was a ‘parking notification slip’ – you scan the QR code, enter your licence number and pay. First time encountering this pay-for-parking method. Another strange bit of knowledge added.
After our earlier taste of Man Sun Lo Pong, we decided to try its arch-rival, ‘Yan Sun Lo Pong’.
『Chestnut double-skin milk』
The chestnuts were sweet and powdery, nice as a snack by themselves. The double-skin milk was served hot – I felt it wasn’t as smooth as the cold version, and that distinctive buffalo-milk scent (or gameyness) was milder. Sweetness was about the same as Man Sun’s; after half a bowl it still became a touch heavy.
『Curry fish balls』
Tasted of fish, but the curry flavour only clung to the surface, without soaking inside at all. Not bouncy enough either. A bit of a fail.
Smoother and silkier than double-skin milk, with a tofu-pudding-like texture. It wasn’t very sweet, even had a slight bitterness from the ginger, but without the ginger heat – easier to enjoy.
『Mung bean soup with tangyuan』
True to Shunde congee tradition, it was a complete paste, like a thinner version of sesame paste. The sweetness, between double-skin milk and ginger milk curd, was just right.
The tangyuan were soft and sticky, filled with black sesame paste – pure black sesame without sugar, just sesame flavour and fragrance, and a hint of sesame bitterness after a long chew. This dessert was perfectly suited to sweet-averse straight blokes.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Unit 113–114, Building 9, Qushuiwan Street, Happy Coast, 1 Huanle Avenue, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong
【Opening hours】10:00–23:00
【Parking】Park in the underground car park of OCT Happy Coast PLUS; currently the car park isn’t officially operational yet, so parking is free.
【Speciality】Desserts made from south-of-the-mountain’s unique buffalo milk
【Recommended】Chestnut double-skin milk, ginger milk curd, mung bean soup with tangyuan
【Per person】29 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Grabbed a bite while visiting ‘OCT Happy Coast PLUS’
The prices here always gave me pause. But since arriving in Shunde, Egg Tart Mum had been clamouring for a big feast, so I had to bring this place out to show her.
『Tall Portuguese-style egg tart』
The pastry was flaky and crumbly, the inside soft and tender as tofu, with the scent of egg and dairy rushing the nose. But most perfect was the sweetness. A normal egg tart: one is fine, two’s a push, three’s the limit. This sweetness gets a 101 from me – one extra point it can be proud of. I wolfed down three in a row without feeling the slightest bit cloyed.
『Open-flame roast goose』
The goose skin stunned me. One bite gave a sharp ‘ka-chi’ sound. The goose meat wasn’t outdone – fragrant and tender, each mouthful a massage for my teeth. The flavour was savoury with sweet notes, so satisfying even without dipping. Adding the ‘demonic’ sour plum sauce, the sweet-sour tang fully awakened my taste buds, sending me irrevocably down the path of rich goose fat.
『Jun’an shredded fish soup』
The moment I see the word ‘fish’, I fear fishiness. This had absolutely none. The texture was as varied as its appearance: the thickened broth smooth, the wood-ear fungus crunchy, the fish meat tender, the luffa refreshing, the tofu skin chewy, the carrot sweet. The seasoning was just right – neither salty nor bland – and spoonful after spoonful felt like a ‘tongue bath’, the rich assortment of ingredients constantly soothing my lonely, quiet taste buds.
『Stir-fried silver cod with black truffle』
A rich, pan-fried fish fragrance hit us as soon as it arrived. The fish had a slightly charred exterior, with the inside fresh, firm and tight; after a slow chew a thread of sweetness blossomed on the tongue.
There was this fruit inside that I never did identify – very soft and sticky, and once bitten into, a bitterness akin to lotus seeds was released.
『Steamed fish head with chopped chilli』
The chopped-chilli flavour had seeped right into the whole fish head, spicy enough to reach our Hunanese standards. First the ‘water jutsu’ of the fish soup, now the ‘fire jutsu’ of the fish head – a double-kill on the tongue in three words: so damn good!
『Grilled moray eel with pomelo peel』
The texture lay somewhere between fish and beef, firmer than ordinary fish, with a smooth exterior and tender, elastic interior – so much so that we kept doubting whether we were eating ‘real’ fish. The tastiest part was where the flesh met the skin, which crunched wonderfully as we chewed.
The pomelo peel was like a sponge, fully soaked in the eel’s umami sweetness, the texture resembling steamed-till-mushy taro – you’d never guess it was pomelo peel. Only now and then a faint pomelo scent would tap my taste buds, reminding me: this is pomelo peel. The one slight imperfection was a residual bitterness detectable at the very end.
This meal was a non-stop flavour hit for the taste buds, with basically no low points. After eating, we all agreed it was the most satisfying meal since that Michelin-starred one in Guangzhou.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】Shunfengshan Tourist Area, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong (near National Highway 105)
【Opening hours】09:30–14:00 / 17:00–21:00
【Parking】There’s a car park in front of the restaurant.
【Speciality】High-end, top-class – represents the pinnacle of Fengcheng (Shunde) cuisine
【Recommended】Tall Portuguese egg tart, open-flame roast goose, Jun’an shredded fish soup, grilled moray eel with pomelo peel
【Per person】138 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Represents the highest realm of Fengcheng (Shunde) cuisine
While eating at Shun Fung Villa, Egg Tart Mum kept wanting to order oxtail. Seeing it was nearly 300 yuan a portion, I firmly talked her out of it, promising we’d try oxtail at another private kitchen instead.
This place was extremely tricky to find. We got out of the car and followed the navigation on foot, finally spotting a banner for ‘Niu Neng Private Home Cuisine’ tucked in a corner.
We followed the sound of chatter down an alley – and there it was, this private kitchen hidden in the middle of a construction site.
Out the window was Lunjiao Dakeung – a genuine river-view room. Put in some floor-to-ceiling windows, tidy it up, and it could become an internet-famous restaurant overnight. A place that clearly could rely on its looks, yet insists on relying on its cooking.
There’s no menu; ordering means having a face-to-face chat with the boss, ‘Shan Gor’. It was our first time and we didn’t know what to order, so we let Shan Gor decide for us.
The dipping sauces were black pepper and curry. We took a bit of each and tried them on their own – sure enough, these were much richer and punchier than the hotpot dip.
Figs and tomatoes went into the pot first, mainly for flavouring. Papaya and sweet potato would be added later, to serve as a post-meal ‘dessert’.
With the lid on and everything ready, we sat around the table like we were gambling at the casino, staring intently, waiting for the big reveal.
When the lid came off, the beef was chewy yet full of bounce, the broth having thoroughly soaked into every sinew, making the meat extra juicy. The cowhide was loaded with gelatin, each bite hovering between bite-through and not-quite, sending my teeth into an obsessive frenzy of chewing pleasure. When skin and meat were taken together, the gelatin, fat and meat fibres intertwined and tangled in the mouth, releasing the oxtail’s most glorious flavour.
This was the ‘shin’ cut, with a perfect ratio of meat to tendon, sliced just the right thickness – not tough to chew at all. The braising liquid had completely penetrated the grain of the meat, each slice being tender and packed with flavour, completely overturning my preconceptions about beef shin.
Not mushy, not tough. Each bite required a real tear of the canines, yet severed cleanly every time – no second chewing needed. Dipping it made the flavour even more dimensional.
Once cooked through, the fig had turned incredibly soft and tender; the seedy graininess and crunch vanished. Beyond its own fruity sweetness, it had also absorbed the beefy aroma, and with the gentle savoury broth it wasn’t jarring at all – instead it paired in a way that’s hard to describe.
Baptised in the broth, the papaya became even more refreshingly sweet, and at this point it was a superb palate cleanser. One piece and the greasy meaty feeling instantly disappeared.
〓Restaurant info〓
【Address】48 Nanju Straight Street, Lunjiao, Shunde District, Foshan, Guangdong
【Opening hours】11:00–21:00
【Parking】Park in the residential estate, but be careful not to block anyone’s garage.
【Speciality】Oxtail hotpot
【Recommended】Oxtail, beef shin
【Per person】79 yuan
【Reason for choosing】Recommended by “Pin Cheng Ji” and “Lu Jian Bu Ping Lai Wan Fun”
【Note】The location can be tricky to find; it’s inside a residential area. If you really can’t find it, just ask the neighbours around the estate.
On this trip we visited four attractions, spending 851 yuan in total. Here’s the breakdown:
· Canton Tower: 851 yuan
· Chimelong Safari Park: included in hotel room rate
· Chimelong Paradise: included in hotel room rate
· Shunde OCT Happy Coast PLUS: free entry; rides charged separately
【Note】Guangzhou attractions require showing a ‘Suikang’ health code. I suggest applying in advance via the mini programme.
Canton Tower tickets come as combo packages that include different attractions. The ticket we bought covered the Cloud & Star Sightseeing Galleries, the 450 Outdoor Observation Deck and the Ferris wheel. Entry must be within the time slot you select when buying. We mainly wanted the night view, so we chose the 18:00–20:00 slot.
By the time we left our guesthouse, Canton Tower’s lights were already on. Truly, it’s all about the lighting – the ‘Slim Waist’ now looked full of charm, sultry and alluring.
“Before the lights, you call it Canton Tower; now you call it ‘Slim Waist’!”
After entering, we first took the lift to the outdoor observation deck.
Once there, a long queue wound around the Ferris wheel. A child nearby was losing patience, crying non-stop. Sensing the mood spreading, I – alert as ever – pre-empted a meltdown with a barrage of Peppa Pig, construction vehicles and snacks, perfectly keeping Little Egg Tart’s emotions in check.
The intermittent screams from the ‘Sky Drop’ ride above became our only entertainment.
It was Little Egg Tart’s first time on a Ferris wheel, and he began to take a curious interest in the nocturnal view outside.
Following the normal story arc, he’d keep peering around, every light like a new continent, asking incessantly while we answered gently – an adventure of discovery unfolding.
But reality is cruel. Compared with tasty snacks, the world outside the window was dim and dull. After just a few minutes, only snacks could soothe his little soul.
The highlights were basically all on the Ferris wheel; the outdoor observation deck was pretty boring.
The best point in the indoor sightseeing galleries was the glass walkway, although it’s actually an official photo spot. When taking pictures, the staff will also use your phone to snap a few, but of course the official shots turn out better.
We went to the counter to ask: 120 yuan for one photo, no digital file; 240 yuan for four photos, including digital. The pricing was fiendishly clever. Egg Tart Mum obediently handed over 240.
〓Canton Tower info〓
【Address】222 Yuejiang West Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou
【Opening hours】09:30–22:30
【Ride opening hours】
Ferris wheel: 10:00–22:30 (Mondays 15:00–22:30, and the last Monday of each month 17:00–22:30)
Sky Drop: 10:00–22:30 (Mondays 12:00–22:30, and the last Monday of each month 17:00–22:30)
【Parking】Canton Tower underground car park
【Entry rules】Time-slot-based visits, with 2-hour slots (first slot is 2.5 hours); six slots in total per day
【Note】Real-name ticketing and tower entry; you must present your ID.
1. I suggest buying the 16:00–18:00 entry slot, so you can see both daytime and nighttime views.
2. For a night cruise on the Pearl River, buy the combo ticket with ‘Canton Tower Fortune Pier’; it’s a seven-minute walk from the tower to the pier after your visit.
3. The best viewing point is the Ferris wheel, followed by the glass walkway in the sightseeing gallery. There are glass walkways on both the 107th and 108th floors; choose based on the view you like, then queue to take photos.
4. As an old Guangzhouer might say, “Why pay to ride a lift? With that money you could eat so well in Guangzhou!”
We were staying at Chimelong Hotel, and the safari park tickets bundled with our room allowed unlimited entry over two days. So we decided to explore the South Gate walking areas on the first day, then head to the North Gate the next morning to take the little train.
Exiting the hotel and turning right, the park shuttle bus stop took us on Route 1 straight to the South Gate.
〓Chimelong Safari Park info〓
【Address】593 Xiangjiang Avenue, Panyu District, Guangzhou
【Tickets】Weekdays: full 300 / child & senior 210; peak days: full 350 / child & senior 245
【Opening hours】09:30–18:00 (subject to change on certain dates)
【Parking】Chimelong Tourist Resort Car Park No.1
1. This year self-drive tours in the ‘safari area’ have been cancelled; you can only take the park’s free little train.
2. To ensure animal safety, except for baby food and a reasonable amount of drinking water, Chimelong Safari Park prohibits bringing in outside food and drinks.
1. There are daily schedules for each area of the park; I suggest snapping a photo on your phone so you can time your visits to shows.
2. Absolutely definitely positively bring a stroller for young kids! The park is huge and needs a whole day. Kids can rest directly in the stroller when tired.
3. Must-do spots: Panda Village, White Tiger Jumping, Giraffe Plaza, Animal Fun Parade, little train.
4. The park has a great variety of animals but limited interactive experiences. Kids aged 5+ will enjoy it more; Little Egg Tart at 3 wasn’t interested in many animals.
5. The park really is vast, and Little Egg Tart wasn’t into some animals, so we didn’t explore every area.
【Cable car (free)】
1. Swan Lake Station is near the North Gate, Panda Paradise Station near the South Gate. If you need to quickly switch gates, you can board or alight at these two.
2. The loop line circles the entire park without intermediate stops, returning to your starting point.
3. Some cable cars have glass floors, which are great for viewing ground animals, but you can’t count on getting one.
【Little train (free)】
1. Each row seats four. Sit on the far right-hand side; most animals appear on that side. When queuing, the last person in each row to board sits on the far right.
2. If a row isn’t full, staff will let those willing to squeeze in board early – during peak season, this is a decent queue-jumping trick.
3. You can bring a stroller onto the little train.
Security check first, then entry. We had only water and got through smoothly.
Inside, we saw the schedule for each area, so we snapped a photo.
Our South Gate route: Flamingos → African Forest → Panda Paradise → Cable car loop → Flower-Fruit Mountain → Black Swans → White Tiger Mountain → Giraffe Plaza → Koala Garden → Asian Elephants → Children’s Zoo → Meerkat → Mandrill.
Entering the chimpanzee house, an oppressive feeling washed over us. It sat motionless behind the glass, staring right at us. That intense gaze, the powerful build, the jet-black hair and the aura of menace deeply shook me.
By chance we caught an outdoor stage show at the Panda Paradise cable car station. I have to say, Africans really are born dancers – rhythm lives in their blood. The invisible infectiousness had the audience swaying along involuntarily.
To the left of Panda Paradise Station was the Chimelong Giant Panda Centre, a dedicated space documenting the growth of the world’s only surviving panda triplets: Meng Meng, Shuai Shuai and Ku Ku.
“Daddy, Daddy, the big pandas are so cute,” said Little Egg Tart, pulling my hand with one hand and pointing at a picture frame with the other.
Alright, I made that up. At that moment, Little Egg Tart had zero interest in pandas and had long since fallen fast asleep.
Alert! A wave of pandas incoming!
Lying-flat move one: side lie. The hard part is clamping the bamboo between your feet while maintaining feeding-ready status.
Finally, something other than a static JPEG! We were beside ourselves to see an actual GIF version. Even if it was a profile, it had us spellbound.
Lying-flat move two: ‘headless’ lie. Snap all you like – you’re not seeing my face.
This was the most cooperative panda of all, giving us 360-degree poses to photograph at will.
Lying-flat move three: tree crotch lie. The tricky part is that teasing sense of hide-and-seek.
And this pose? Exactly like us in summertime, wanting nothing more than to lie motionless on an ice block for the whole season. Having witnessed the pandas’ lying-flat skills, we had to concede they are the undisputed champions of lying flat.
As for Little Egg Tart, he was the undisputed champion of bubble machines. National treasures meant nothing to him; the bubble machine was his one true love.
Emerging from Panda Paradise, we hopped on the cable car right there, circling the entire park and viewing it from the air.
Since it was low season and few visitors, the fast lane wasn’t open, so our room card was no use for fast access.
The most exciting stretch of the cable car ride was the East African Grasslands; from other spots, hardly any animals were visible.
“Mummy, look, water.”
“And black swans in the water, right?”
“Mm, yes.”
Now this was normal family-trip dialogue! The storyline was finally straightening out.
Getting off the cable car, we noticed black spider monkeys swinging from the ropes right above our heads – we were genuinely afraid they might jump onto us.
Little Egg Tart was at his bubble machine again. Since cute critters couldn’t win him over, let’s try fierce beasts – onward to White Tiger Mountain.
Across a narrow river, it was my first time seeing a tiger so close. I kept fearing one might leap over in a hungry pounce.
More than the big tigers, we fell for the adorable ‘little brain-axes’ (baby tigers). According to Roadside Society research, animals are cute when young because it melts enemies’ hearts, making them reluctant to strike.
Once again, we were utterly captivated by tigers, while Little Egg Tart remained immersed in bubble-blowing bliss.
The main event at White Tiger Mountain was the ‘White Tiger Dive’.
When I saw a white tiger climbing a tree, I was instantly petrified. To those who say ‘climb a tree if you meet a tiger,’ I reckon their grave-mound grass is already a metre tall.
The thrilling moment approached. A big hunk of raw meat slowly descended on a wire, eventually stopping above the pool. The white tiger adjusted its footing on the plum-blossom posts, chose its timing, then launched off its hind legs, soaring through the air and snatching the meat. That leap drove the crowd below into a frenzy – men and women, young and old, all cheering wildly.
Giraffe Plaza was another spot I loved. Here, you could actually interact with an animal.
Leaves to feed the giraffes cost 30 yuan a branch. Among Chimelong’s hotels, only guests at Xiangjiang Hotel get a 50% discount – not Panda Hotel or Chimelong Hotel. I couldn’t figure out that genius logic.
“Little Egg Tart, wanna feed the giraffe?”
“Mm, I wanna feed the giraffe!”
Finally, something Little Egg Tart was keen on! Gritting my teeth, I splurged on a single branch.
Thirty yuan for three seconds – three seconds of joy, gone before I could even savour it.
Opposite Giraffe Plaza was Koala Garden, another hub of cuteness. Little Egg Tart, always needing to be held, was a perfect match for these koalas.
The Asian Elephant Garden had quite an… aroma. You smelled them before you saw them.
Outside the Children’s Zoo, an oversized wooden horse was impossible to miss – perhaps modelled after the Trojan Horse?
Seeing meerkats instantly brought to mind scenes from the film Life of Pi. Luckily there weren’t too many here, so no trypophobia trigger.
The first time I heard of mandrills was in the novel Destiny. Fierce, irritable, aggressive – that was my impression of them. Yet the ones before me now were completely peaceful. Either I read a fake novel or these were fake mandrills.
Close to five o’clock, park pathways were being closed off – the ‘Animal Wild Fun Parade’ was about to begin.
After the parade, while waiting for the bus, Little Egg Tart had already slipped into recharge mode.
Early next morning we brought Little Egg Tart to the White Tiger Restaurant for breakfast. Just like the Panda Restaurant, the White Tiger Restaurant really does have white tigers.
We adored the white tigers, but Little Egg Tart preferred the flamingos at the restaurant entrance.
The North Gate route through the safari park required little strategic thinking. The area can only be traversed in one direction, no doubling back – just follow the signs mindlessly.
North Gate route: Little Train → Jurassic Forest → Rainforest Trail → Jungle Monsters → Mini World → Hornbill Flight → Ape Encounter → Golden Snake Realm → Happy Forest.
It was a quiet season, so again no fast lane for the little train. We waited about ten minutes and got on smoothly.
The little train didn’t stop for the small animals, only halting for the big beasts, giving us a moment to snap pictures.
Most animals appeared on the right side of the train, making the far right seat of each row the best spot.
The highlight was the East African Grasslands. Watching all kinds of animals strolling leisurely across the savannah – it felt completely different from before, like upgrading from a single-player game to online multiplayer.
A grey heron in the distance reminded me of the ‘testing the edge of disaster’ meme with the white heron. Beyond their testing skills, their walking style is also hilariously amusing.
Another black-and-white combo: pandas are cute, zebras are handsome.
“Little Egg Tart, look, so many animals! Giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, ostriches…”
“…”
At this point, other parents were already telling stories about wildebeest crossing the river. Little Egg Tart, meanwhile, had entered dreamland. You can’t beat that – he perfectly missed every highlight.
Getting off the train, Little Egg Tart was perfectly still, sound asleep. So we had no choice but to continue on our own.
Inside Jurassic Forest, eerie sound effects filled the air, with dinosaur roars echoing around. It would surely have been a great experience for Little Egg Tart, but for us, it was just a superficial glance.
The macaws’ feathers were brilliantly vivid, even more striking in motion; no wonder they captivate fans. We kept hoping one would perform its ‘parrot mimicry’ trick, but it never happened.
The internet-famous sloth from Zootopia – no matter how we greeted it, it remained utterly immobile. You have to admit, pandas, koalas and sloths are the three saints of lazybone-ism, the slayers of video clips.
Toco toucan – the aerial photo of this year’s viral ‘Eye of the Demon’ Aiken Spring in Qinghai looks just like its profile.
Chimelong’s second celebrity, ‘Liu Mao’, a TV star – but it just lay in its mesh bed, refusing to show its face.
The little monkeys at the food plaza were less reserved, putting on all sorts of antics on the netting overhead to win fans.
Little Egg Tart finally woke up, but by then he’d missed the good stuff. The next stop was Golden Snake Realm – I couldn’t help worrying for him.
Exiting, we unexpectedly bumped into another internet star: the groundhog. Instantly, a mental image of the screaming groundhog meme popped into my head.
Our North Gate journey was wrapping up. Finally, we ticked off the peacock. In an ordinary zoo it’d be a top-tier attraction, but here, without being teased or crowded by visitors, it looked a little forlorn.
Chimelong Paradise was super close to Chimelong Hotel. Exiting the hotel’s East Gate, cross a footbridge, and you’re right at the North Gate of the amusement park.
The park was thick with Halloween atmosphere. We asked Little Egg Tart if he was scared, but he didn’t react at all. All we could say was, he doesn’t know how to write the word ‘scared’ yet.
The most ‘popular’ character around was this chainsaw weirdo. The moment the chainsaw revved, girls scattered in fright.
Crowds queued outside every haunted house. We decided just to look from the outside and not go in.
Okay… actually, it was because we’re wimps.
Gazing at all these thrill rides, I couldn’t help sighing, ‘Youth is over.’ Now I can only watch; rewind ten years and maybe I could still battle.
