It took 10 hours for us to get to Xinyi which is not accessed by train or flights. Below are the difference between Shenzhen (深圳) and Maoming (茂名) bus stations (see maps above).
We didn’t expect the bus to Maoming has no seats and folks have to take off shoes inside. Below the bus hostess (left) was reading a book about ways to good life (幸福之路). From Maoming to Xinyi was one hour+ rural scenic ride in a bus with seats.
We booked a room in California Hotel (加州旅館) for less than $40 which is very nice and classy. A group of internet friends came to the room to meet us.
Motorcycles are the main transportation in town. So they took me to have a first night cruise to see Xinyi and stopped by the river bank for drinks until midnight.
Watch a video: 夜遊信宜市 - 49 sec.
The second day (2009-9-11) morning, we have a news reporter to drive us around the city. Below is the entrance to Jade-Kingdom Park (玉都公園) up on a hill. From the top of the park, we can view the city and a rainbow. The yellow building in city view is the landmark California Hotel where we were staying.
Views of the city from hotel's room. Jade-Kingdom Park is on the hill:
Xinyi is famous in education. They want their kids to be well educated and get a good job because this area is very poor. However, they have to go to big cities like Shenzhen to get jobs. Below is the big school complex called Education City (教育城) with a status of a famous educator. A hill is being leveled down (right picture) to expand the school complex. They said that trees and hills are more protected nowadays.
In afternoon we went to see the old town (鎮隆古城), about 18 km south of Xinyi, with the chairperson and vice-chair of Federation Returned Overseas Chinese, and ChenSS. We visited the palace of former Great Hong Kingdom 大洪國 (below 2-person pictures). People still live in these old buildings. It certainly needs innovation to protect this historic site.
We had dinner at a local restaurant and had a famous chicken dish.
1 comment:
Hi Wee-yong,
Sean here.
If you find the 10 hrs road trip from Shenzen to Xinyi a chore, you may wish to consider an alternative which I took when I brought my mom to Xinyi in 2008.
We took a a domestic flight (1 hour) from Guangzhou to Zhangjiang(湛江), a coastal town above Hainan Island and 1 hour drive from Maoming. You can fly from Shenzhen airport too, but limited flights per week and reach Zhangjiang close to mid-night. As such we choose to fly from Guangzhou instead which have more flights and arrive at better time. The airfare was about US120/pax one way.
And from Zhangjiang, we pre-arrange a passenger van (they call 面包车)to pick us from Zhangjiang airport and drive to Xinyi (some 2.5-3 hrs journey.
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