Guangzhou: the megacity of Southern China

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by stolpioni

Is it just me or does this whole city look like a ghost town/construction site?
I just see skyscrapers and zero people and cars. Is this the typical American downtown or are there areas which are crowded too?

Oh yes there are. Please check this thread later once I'll post some photos (and videos) from some other locations.

[Goyazny]

Great display, Pansori. Thank you.

Guangzhou is amazing. I have visited city twice, 2007,2008. And change in such a short notice is ...too much too soon....

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by Goyazny

Great display, Pansori. Thank you.

Guangzhou is amazing. I have visited city twice, 2007,2008. And change in such a short notice is ...too much too soon....

Thanks!

True. I haven't been to Guangzhou before but for most part things really looked as if they were built very recently (and I don't just mean Zhujiang New Town). I just got a feleing "wow , this must have been built very recently". So I'm sure it did change alot.

[Pansori]

The photos continue...

189. Guangdong Museum. One of the four cultural landmarks near the riverfron of Zhujiang New Town. Designed by Rocco Design Architects of Hong Kong and structural engineering by Arup


190. All four cultural landmarks are situated around this open square



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[Pansori]

194. Guangdong Museum


195. New Guangzhou Library, designed by Guangzhou Design Institute and Japanese firm Nikken Sekkei


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[italiano_pellicano]

amazing pics

[Cumulus]

Great collection of photos!

Is the glass on the financial centre iridescent of is it just an effect from the camera? If real, that is incredibly cool - very futuristic.

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by Cumulus

Great collection of photos!

Is the glass on the financial centre iridescent of is it just an effect from the camera? If real, that is incredibly cool - very futuristic.

I think it's just the lens. I used circular polarizer which sometimes acts funny with some facades.

[Pansori]

More...

200. Guangzhou new library.


201.


202. We are next to one of the most iconic and and interesting new buildings in Guangzhou. Guangzhou Opera House designed by one of the world's most prominent and renowned architects Zaha Hadid. The project cost was around 200 mln. USD. The building recently received an award from American Institute of Architects UK Chapter for the excellence of its outstanding design. That may well become "the" cultural landmark of Guangzhou.


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[Pansori]

208.


209. Concrete is the material! Even once it comes to decorating surfaces. I think it may be a new (or re born old?) trend. Anyway, I love it...


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[Pansori]

215. Women dismount their bicycles and wait at the pedestrian crossing



216. ... that may be the reason why. A traffic officer is strictly enforcing the rules and manners of crossing the street in a proper way. Such sight is common at many pedestrian crossings around Guangzhou


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219. Entrance to Zhujiang New Town metro station



220. Metro. We're going one stop South to Chigang Pagoda station...

[El_Greco]

Did you go inside the Opera House? I love Zahas designs but from what Ive read and heard she can be a nightmare to work with and her buildings are usually very impractical.

[Pansori]

I didn't make it inside the Opera House. I know I should have but I was so tired and exhausted that I could not think of anything but a metro station at that time. It's one impressive object though.

[Pansori]

Time to carry on...

221. Chigang Pagoda metro station


222.
The destination was Canton Tower. We're going to go to the upper observation deck located at the height of 433m. It's not a cheap attraction though. The ticket costs 150RMB which is something in the range of 17EUR or 20USD


223.
Panoramic elevator... 108 floors


224. View from the deck at 433m. Weather was far from perfect but I guess it does get worse than that


225.


226. Library and Guangdong Museum

[Pansori]

227. Zhujiang New Town seen on the other side of the river. This is when you see the monumental and powerful planning of such developments in China. Zhujiang New Town is not unique in this sense. It's just one of many such developments in Chinese cities. In fact, it's just one of a number of such projects planned for Guangzhou alone... and not even the biggest one. This is when you may start realizing the colossal and simply impossible scale of transformation and development that is taking place in China nowadays


228. Residential areas


229. More expensive residential areas


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Future residential areas


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[Pansori]

233.


234. Opera House


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236. Guangdong Museum


237. Library


238. Zhujiang New Town park


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[Pansori]

240. Guangzhou Childrens Palace, designed by Steffian Bradley Architects (UK)


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242. New residential blocks


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245. Guzngzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center. Some sources say it's the biggest center of such kind in the world with an area of 1 131 000 sq. m. I was unable to find out about the architects involved in making the design.

[Pansori]

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Canton Tower upper deck


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After this we'll be going back to the street level and make some observations of what's happening near the river and after it gets dark. Of course it's all about skyscrapers and lights.

[Pansori]

Time to continue...


251. Near Canton Tower. The area still has a lot of construction fences and is a work in progress


252. The opposite bank of the river


253. Opera House


254.


255. Guangzhou library and Guangdong Museum

[Pansori]

256. This skyline did not exist just a fe years back. And it's most definitely not the final shape of it. More towers are coming


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258.
A very wide and convenient pedestrian walk near the river which has little parks and just lovely environment which is pleasant to be at. Especially in the evening


259. The river is about 600m wide at this location


260. A bunch of girls passed chanting something and carrying a red banner. I have no idea what they were up to


261. In the evening at around 19:00 a light, sound and fountain show starts. Something of the sort that we see in Hong Kong but slighly different and includes those massive fountains