Guangzhou

A long time ago five gods in costumes of different colors, riding five different colored rams, each with an ear of rice in its mouth, descended from heaven near the mouth of the Zhujiang (Pearl) River. Handing the ears of rice to a local official, they told him to give them to the people. "May this area be forever free of famine!" they said, and vanished.

The five rams turned into stone and, for the doubtful, can be seen today in the city's Yuexiu Park.

The city proper, lush and green the year round, is 55 square kilometers. But the municipality includes six counties, covers an area of some 11,000 square km. and has a population of 12.7 million. Guangzhou is the main gateway from abroad into south China. It is connected with Hong Kong by daily train, air and hydrofoil services.

Much of the city can be seen from the top of Zhenhai Tower on a hill in Yuexiu Park. The tower was built in 1380 as a warning to potential invaders and to parade the power of the Ming dynasty to "awe the whole land and sea into peace." Today the tower houses the Guangzhou Museum.

Guangzhou is the site of China's foreign trade fairs. The wild marshland around the city's Liuhua Lake was converted into a neighborhood of exhibition buildings and hotels for the thousands of businessmen who come semiannually to the Chinese Export Commodities Fair. On display in t he 12 halls of the Fair Building are 40,000 industrial, agricultural and handicraft products from all parts of the country. The industrial goods on sale range from electronic equipment and complete sets of machinery to ocean-going ships. Industrial products from Guangzhou occupy a prominent place at the fair and include traditional artcraft products such as ivory, wood and jade carvings and painted porcelain.

Guangzhou's monuments and museums spell the history of the city. Ever since western powers began invading China in the mid-19th century, the name of Guangzhou has stood for the fearless struggle against foreign dominance. A small temple in Sanyuanli Village on the northern outskirts is now a museum housing a collection of broadswords, wooden pikes and homemade rifles used against the British invaders in 1841.

Dr Sun Yat-sen, under whose leadership the feudal monarchy in China was overthrown in 1911 , began his organizing here. Not far from the center of the city is the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall with a blue-glazed tile roof and well-kept lawns, tree and flowers. It was built by patriotic overseas Chinese who also donated funds to construct a mausoleum to commemorate 72 martyrs who lost their lives in one of the uprisings of the 1911 Revolution.

One of the most frequented sites is a large temple where Mao Zedong headed the National Institute of the Peasant Movement in 1926 to train peasant leaders for the revolution in the countryside. The institute has beea restored.

The Memorial Park to the Heroes of the Guangzhou Uprising is a quiet spot that also breathes the spirit of revolution. This uprising, led by the Communist Party in 1927 against a coup d'etat launched by Chiang Kai-shek, established a worker-peasant government in the city for three days. Today school children and young people come in solemn groups to pledge lifelong service to the people.

Guangzhou-style cooking is acclaimed the best in China. As a matter of fact, Cantonese dishes are known all over the world (most of China's emigres came from Guangdong province). One that particularly intrigues diners is "Fo Tiao Qiang," meaning that even Buddha would jump over the wall because the aroma of this dish is too tempting to resist.

Dining in Guangzhou means garden restaurants. The Nan Yuan, Bei Yuan and Ban Xi are the most famous. The Ban Xi is known for its pastries (or dim sum in Cantonese).