A Saturday at Guangzhou Lychee Bay

I just have a short time left in Guangzhou so I’ve been trying to visit many places in between teaching a few summer classes!

I thought I knew most of the big parks in Guangzhou, but I’d never heard of Lychee Bay until this week. It’s been awhile since I visited a new place in Guangzhou and after this popped up on my radar I wanted to check it out.

LYCHEE BAY

Lychee Bay is a popular scenic area in the Liwan area of Guangzhou. It’s a bit farther out of the Guangzhou city center in the Yuexiu District – to get here take Line 5 to Zhongshan Ba Metro Station and walk out Exit A.

There are many rivers and lakes in the park, as well as lots of bridges, towers, and ancestral halls. It’s a great place to see some Chinese architecture and also get a glimpse at some local Chinese hobbies!

WHAT TO DO HERE

I love visiting Chinese parks, especially on Saturdays, because there’s so much activity going on. There are ladies dancing, people practicing tai chi, and the traditional game of jianzi being played (which is basically hackey sack). Where I’ve been living in Guangzhou I don’t see these local Chinese traditions everyday, so it was fun to watch them today.

The food around this area is supposed to be really good, too. It is unique style called Guanxi cuisine and is mostly special kinds of snacks. I didn’t try anything this time but another time I hope to. You can also rent a boat here and ride around the little canals!

I had a lot of fun taking some pictures and bike riding for a bit – you can’t bike inside the park, but you can right outside of it.

I went a little later than I planned so it was pretty crowded today and hard to get some of those bridge shots without lots of people walking into them 😉 I really enjoyed the day here though and I’m glad I went!