Holiday Triple Bill - Detour - Guangzhou MTR

When we took our first cab ride in Guangzhou, we heard in Chinese the following conversation on the radio about Guangzhou's MTR (train system).

"It has been said that the greatest distance we face is that between life and death. But that's not really true in Guangzhou when you take the MTR because here, you have one half of your body in the train and another half somewhere else".

We didn't know what in the world the person was talking about. We were to later find out, however.

But first, we had to get to the MTR from Shang Xia Jiu. When we asked for directions, we kept getting the response.

"Zhou na li jiu shi le." - Just walk that way and that will be it.

So we walked. Past a row of shops that specialized in selling jade - and two curious passers-by who were probably wondering what silly person would be taking photos.



And into a lane flanked by quaint, rustic shops on either side...



The lane was quite pleasant, what with the trees providing good shade as well as an excellent backdrop for the photographs...



But the road was a little longer than expected, so we stopped at a roadside stall because my friend believes that all food sold at the roadside is good and cheap. This one was ok. I think the snack could best be described as an egg cake.



And on we walked down the lane... So much for the MTR being just round the corner. I think maybe in tiny Singapore our concept of distance is different.




When we came to a square of some sort, we discovered a large crowd and wondered if there was a sale going on. Now, my friend absolutely loves sales while I am lukewarm at the best of times and adverse to them when we are pressed for time. So I told her that we weren't going to queue no matter what. She went to check out the 'sale' and returned to tell me, "We are going to queue no matter what. That is the queue to ENTER the MTR".




Maybe they were regulating entry into the MTR so as to prevent overcrowding, I thought.

That they were, but if it meant that it was less crowded inside, I was wrong.



I didn't try to take a picture of us on the platform as I did not want to lose a limb, suffice to say that all those of us back home complaining as to how cramped it is on the platform at City Hall MRT during peak hour ain't seen nothing yet.

I did, however, manage to snap a picture of the queue to enter the station which we exited at.