Gao Gong
Bandit Country
Gaogong
Gao Gong is the Cantonese name for Jiu Jiang, and it is part
of Nomhoi (Nan Hai) District, which is in turn a part of Foshan City Regional
Department = a small county in UK. The town is very spread out, and whilst at
the extremes is no more than 2-miles wide; it follows the river for about
20-miles in our location. The Northern quadrant is quite distant and mainly
industry with associated housing. However, the light railway is being built
here, which will provide easy access to Foshan,
The part of town connecting with our ferry is a little ways off the beaten track, although actually quite central. It is home to the major government buildings and Police stations (Cops, Traffic, etc). It has a very nice promenade of over 1-mile in length, complete with ornate and regularly tended flower beds, whilst the entire vista is nicely tiled in complementary colours. There are a string of restaurants and some recent and exclusive Gardens (Condominiums) associated, plus the town square to the Southeasterly end, which overlooks the river.
Looking East we find the main G325 road and FoKai
Expressway. These run jointly past a Buddhist hill which is home to a grand
Pagoda lit at night.
Nomhoi city is actually situated to the East of Foshan, and
part of the same conurbation to the extent that you don’t really know you are
in a different place. The real centre is called ‘Guicheung’, and extends both
East and North of Foshan city proper. We are located in a sliver of
historically associated land that encompasses both Foshan and Shunde, and it is
a couple of miles wide for about 30 miles, but fronts the mighty
Returning to Gaogong then, we will find the real town to the
East. It is not a particularly pretty place, but very functional. The only ATM
that recognizes a foreign Visa or MasterCard is located a long ways off at the
far reaches of the town. If this machine runs out of money, then it very kindly
lets you go through the entire withdrawal process before giving the message
“Abnormal account transaction – please refer to your bank’. I would much rather
they simply stated on card insertion that the machine had no money to give out.
Here is
The towns transport hub, and probably its reason for being,
is that it is located at the junction of the
Moving on we find the town has a 24/7 MacDonald’s situated quite close to the ferry terminal. Well that’s a first then! Mind you, it could be very handy if I am out all night and in need of somewhere that sells food or a version of coffee at 4am, whilst I await the first daily ferry back to the island at 5.30am. The centre of town near the Bank also has an ‘MFC’. This is notably like a KFC, except it is a Chinese copy. I am beguiled to try it sometime, despite everyone and everyone telling me it is no good. It think it looks pretty ok, and they can’t do it any worse can they? I’ll have to tell you about this one later. The Maccies I have been in, for a coffee to kill time. My friend’s chips were ok, and the rest was as you would expect for a Chinese sweet palate. Our island restaurant will have a veritably good fast food section, and I wonder about the name ‘MacTuckies’. Well if you can’t beat ‘em…
Gaogong centre is also home to several undistinguished
supermarkets, a symphony of
The centre also contains the towns 2, and only two Dry
Cleaners. Siu Ying says the town is ‘Very cheap’, inferring that people cannot
afford to have items cleansed this way, and she has a good point. We discovered
these after being dropped off one day near MacDonald’s, and taking the long and
circuitous route (Local directions) accompanied by a heavyweight of winter
bedding for cleaning, we walked several miles in order to find one that was
actually open for business. Siu Ying was amazed there was another opposite. I
was not, as all things in
The entire main street of a couple of miles in length straddles
a rather inauspicious canal that contains something of dark green colouration
and has a rather unpleasant smell to it. It has either road or foot bridges
provided every Li, a traditional Chinese measurement for length that is similar
in distance to half a kilometer. This is flanked upon either side by a dual
carriageway and pavement in parts. The canal is also protected by an ornate
marble embankment, so you may wonder why something that appears so lovely is in
fact low on my tourist sights. The answer lies in the fact that the entire
length on both sides is being renovated. This means employing the use of very
large earthmovers and associated
machinery, which occupy most of the available roadways. During the course of
repairing the canal banks, a lot of the green murky liquid is also deposited on
the roads turning them into a mudbath in many places. An additional pleasure is
that fact that many traders have stands occupying the entire pavement width, or
customers have parked their scooters there. This means you invariably spend
most of your time walking in the road and dodging other roads users and
pedestrians. The main works are right in the town centre, where a road bridge
is being doubled in width. This is also the space occupied by the intercity
coaches which travel to
Mona Lisa
It was her Birthday, so Siu Ying and I did some ‘Girls shopping’, and I was able to smile all the way through this torture. Well, the way I see it – if I need a top or pair of jeans, I just go to the shop and buy it. Girls = no. They do not need to buy anything to wear, yet they go to 50 shops to try on things they are not going to buy. Why? I am obviously missing something somewhere. Siu Ying is actually pretty good about this aspect of male disinterest, and having given her an hour of this process, she asks me if it is time to eat. For sure, I could use a beer or three right now. I have a cunning plan…
I take her to ‘Mona Lisa’, which is the only decent looking restaurant in town that I have so far spotted. She asks me how I knew – and I explain that I passed by once and knew it was a good eatery. She is still not convinced, and later is a bit mollified, as the place turns out to be very good actually.
The restaurant is a very good choice actually, and is a three part establishment, with the front facing the road open for Westerners. Most of the tables have pc and internet, and the menu is from a glance, as you would expect = steaks, chips, burgers etc. Set aside from this is a very romantic area solely for ‘Wine Tasting’. Oh my god! From experience, Chinese wine is invariably: red, very sweet, and has no accountable body to it. As an extra bonus, it will also say ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ in English on the label. Hahaha! I prefer Tuscan wines, so not interested in these copies whatsoever. Siu Ying is intrigued, but it needs a party atmosphere to enjoy properly, not just the two of us you understand. However, this sets her mood, which is now excellent.
Being first directed to the Western tables, presumably because I am a foreigner, we then go deeper inside and discover a Japanese quarter, complete with sunken tables and hostess in a pretty mundane Japanese copy Jump-suit. Moving-on, we encounter the real restaurant proper, which fortunately specialises in ‘Hot=Pot’. It is all quite classy, and as I had hoped for. This has a version of buffet, where you go and choose from a wide selection of prepared cuisine, and cook at your table. I was expecting a large bill, but it actually came in at £ 7 quid for two; including beers. Done deal and we will certainly try this again = A bit if a cracker really.
However, my personal favourite eatery is the street
restaurant atop of the ferry embarkation point. I mentioned this in passing
whilst writing ‘Island Ahoy’, but this is a fuller description that does not
overlap. There are neither airs nor graces here, and the staff stop by to chat
and have a laugh. The place is actually rammed from about 6am through until
after 10am. This is for ‘Morning Tea’, a Chinese description for drinking and
eating.
My favourite beer is called Long Bei, and brewed locally in
Long gong (Long Jiang). This is kept in an upright chiller, which is padlocked
most of the time. It is only unlocked when one of the four owners is present,
which tends to be at peak times only. However the second fridge has a good
supply of
I now know the staff pretty well, and the first one I got to know was the woman who washes the dishes. She is called Ah-Yee, smokes roll-ups and keeps offering me a try. I have refused so far, but may give one a try one day? She is very friendly and understands my Cantonese readily. Being an older person than most of the other staff, she appears quite worldly wise and presumably a good judge of character. It was she that helped me order food on the first occasion I tried, a fried dim sum called ‘Gao Gee’ – see I have remembered this one now. My next new friend was Chirpy Charlie the City Chef and it was he that helped me with the carbuoys of water you may recall. I used to enjoy passing the time of day with him, but unfortunately he has since got married and presumably has left? The other person of note is Wendy the Waitress. She is a cracking girl and one I would love to know a lot better – if I wasn’t already married that is! She likes a laugh and we can communicate quite well in spatterings of Cantonese. So: the beer is good, the food is delicious, and the staff good company. What else can I tell you about? Well, no description of mine would be complete without a trip to the toilets!
The toilets are inside to the rear of the restaurant, and
look exceedingly modern and well presented. They are very clean and have three
cubicles plus a modern sink. Accepted they are for use by either sex, and I
don’t notice this in
Don’t go away, because I haven’t reached the sink yet! The
plush pedestal type washbasin stands to one corner complete with free liquid
soap. As common with all public facilities, the tap is not fixed to the basin,
so moves when you try to use it. One day this had broken, and so a hosepipe was
connected to a cleaners tap nearby, and routed around circuitously to end its journey
conveniently positioned behind the broken sink tap and pointing in the right
direction. It worked very well, but it took 10-days for repairs to be made. In
the meantime the hosepipe became coiled like a serpent around the cleaners tap
head, and a lot more difficult to use. The tap has since been replaced, and
miraculously, it is also secured to the basin – which must be a first in
Motorcycled taxi
charges
There are no taxis here of the car variety, so all services
are provided by motorcycles. I have no problem with this and quite enjoy them.
My bone of contention is that they invent charges to suit and do so especially
with me. I had similar when I first arrived in
I guess my first dilemma is to try and work out if a boat or motorcycle should be our first purchase. It is a tricky decision. A boat will free us from the constrictions of the ferry and allow us nightlife. However, we will soon operate our own water taxi, so would this be money wasted? Contrarily, a scooter is probably my best option, as this can easily carry carbuoys of water and lots of shopping. However, this means we would have to use the main ferry. During idle moments I have been wondering about designs for a new type of boat that basically holds one or two people. It would be like a roll-on roll-off Jet Ski, and powered by the motorcycle or scooter. I haven’t quite sussed this design yet, without becoming bogged down in a lot of technicals. But for sure it can be done. But how to do it in simple fashion??? Well I guess if it was that simple, then somebody would have already invented it hehe!
Lets leave transportation issues behind, and visit the local market.
See Churng
What is in English known as a ‘Wet Market’ is called a See Churng by Cantonese speakers. It is a thronging hub of traders and activity; and the one in central Gaogong is no exception. Here you can buy virtually anything, although the main stallholders offer fruit, vegetables, plus live meats and fish, with some dried or salted produce.
The Market itself comprises of two roofed sheds which occupy over an acre each. In between and surrounding are other traders who either have shops or produce on display out in the open. The first and innermost stalls have meat products like any butchers shop. Next and completing the first shed are fishmongers. This includes all many or shellfish + toads, snakes, and everything imaginable. The second shed begins with half a dozen stalls selling mainly chicken, but also ducks, swans, and geese. Whilst the meat is cut from larger cuts, both the fish and chickens are live. The traders will gut and scale the fish for you upon request or slaughter and prepare the chickens according to your individual requirements. However, most are sold living.
The rest of this curiosity is given over to fruit and vegetables. Several of the Islanders have stalls here, which mainly sell vegetables or fish. They greet us warmly, but tell us to buy from them on the island, as they keep the best stuff at home. From other traders we buy what is not readily available: potatoes, garlic, ginger, and on one occasion Siu Ying bought a couple of pounds of prawns and nine small crabs – which the local restaurant cooked for us at a cost of Y5 = 50 pence or about 80 cents.
Lean-to’s and permanent structures surrounding this market tend to offer for sale support goods, such as: brushes, stools, and everyday household items. The only things I cannot find hereabouts are Oysters, but maybe next time…
My intention is to expand this missive over time to include other highlights and misfortunes as they beset us. I will also include local characters who become worthy of note, but for now I will make this a short discourse and turn my attention to pressing business matters. Thank you for reading
Jonno