Shamian Island in Guangzhou, China

I want to start by saying that it's virtually impossible to capture all of the things that I love about China in a single concise blog post. It'd be useless to try. But I'm gonna anyway.

China is a whole different world. And it's likely not the world you imagine based off its depictions in movies. It's more than fortune cookies (which isn't Chinese anyway) and dim sum. It's more than the Great Wall or dragons. It's more than late night karaoke or shots of baijiu. It's more than an emerging global power with more people than it knows what to do with. To be honest, I'll never fully understand Chinese culture because I will always be an outsider. But I genuinely hope to understand it better.

I could write an entire book on all of the amazing things that I saw in China. But until Oprah discovers me and pays me enough to be the next J.K. Rowling, I'm going to have to hold myself back. Rather than try and tackle thousands of years of culture, I'm gonna to write about my favorite place in Guangzhou, China. Because it's all my poor tiny brain can handle. And it'll fulfill my need to try and trick you all into thinking I'm more clever than I am. (Is it working or should I mention quantum physics more?)

I'm writing about my favorite place in Guangzhou and not in the whole of China because my favorite place in the whole of China is the Great Wall. That's just too obvious. You all know what the Great Wall is. I can't impress you with that.

My favorite place in Guangzhou, China is Shamian Island. Which technically was a British territory so who I am fooling anyway?

But, I think it's beautiful. And it really is. The architecture is very European. It just kind of pops out of nowhere as a little secret European town.

I used to go to Shamian island a lot on my own. If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a big old weirdo and I just really like to walk around places where no one has any idea who I am.

I like to try on other lives. I like to imagine the person that I would be if I had been born in this place. How would I dress? How would I act? Who would my friends be? And Shamian Island is the perfect place to pretend.

If you spend any time walking around there at all, you'll notice that almost everyone else is pretending too.

Because of the unique European architecture, it's a popular place for wedding pictures or just glamour shots in general.

One of my big regrets is not dressing up like a princess and paying for the glamour experience. The closest that I got was going shopping for a photography session that I never ended up buying. We were able to convince them to let us try on some dresses.

Shamian Island is a sandbank island located close to the Huangsha station. The name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese.

The Island has significant historical meaning. It served as an important port of trade when China first opened itself up the rest of the world. And later, it was a strategic point for city defense during the second Opium War. In 1859, it was divided into two concessions. One to the British and one to the French. This concession was part of China's promise to end the conflict.

The Green Way is basically a mix of garden and park. It is very pleasant place to stroll down and look at the statues. You'll definitely see a lot of people taking advantage of the scenic architecture for some photo opps.

Like most Americans who grew up in the Bible Belt of America, I was raised Catholic and come from a fairly religious family. To the best of my knowledge, I only know of two Catholic Churches in Guangzhou. One of them is Our Lady of Lourdes in Shamian Island and it's definitely worth checking out.