Greetings from Goat City

Lots of cities have nicknames. The Big Apple, Sin City, the City of Angels, the Twin Cities, Steel City, City of Roses, Old Gold Mountain (okay, that's cheating, that's just what San Francisco is called in Chinese), the Cradle of Liberty, the City of Lights. Well, Guangzhou's got a nickname, too. Say hello to Goat City, everyone.

I am not a goat.

Yes, I know. It's not a very glamorous name. Goats are rather humble, and even the glorious goats who produce mohair and cashmere won't be winning any animal kingdom beauty pageants (take a moment and image the swimsuit competition). So, why does Paris get lights, and Pasadena gets roses, and Guangzhou gets goats? It's actually an interesting story.

presenting wheat to the people

It begins, as all good stories begin, in a distant time. Long, long ago there was a small village on the banks of a little river. The soil was poor and the fishing wasn't great. The villagers lived a wretched life, until one day, five immortals came down to the village, accompanied by five goats with sheaves of wheat in their mouths. The immortals taught the villagers how to plant the wheat and improve the soil, and then they returned to their celestial home, leaving the goats behind. The village soon flourished and grew. Soon it was a town, and then a city, until now it is the heart of one of the largest urban areas in the world.

That one on the right? So not a ram.

To commemorate this historical narrative, there is a famous statue in Yuexiu Park, called the Statue of the Five Goats (sometimes called the Statue of the Five Rams, but one look at the statue shows you that's patently untrue). I figured my stay in Guangzhou wouldn't be complete without a visit, so I took advantage of yesterday's lovely weather to visit Yuexiu Park.

Hey, why is no one crowding this side of the statue?

Yuexiu (越秀), which means something like "surpassing beauty," is indeed a beautiful place. It has three man-made lakes, a Korean garden, a children's park, a soccer stadium, the Guangzhou Museum, a piece of the Ming-era city wall, and a memorial to Sun Yat-sen, among other points of interest.

You can paddleboat around the lake.

Take a stroll through the formal gardens.

Skyscrapers, in case you forgot you were in the city.

The Guangzhou Museum (I saved it for another day)

Dr. Sun Yat-sen memorial. You can climb it. I didn't.

Yuexiu Park is huge. I walked around for about three hours and never even made it to the far end of the park. You can get to the main gate right very conveniently from the subway (Line 2, Yuexiu Park stop, exit B1, turn right). The rest of this post is just going to be pictures of the park. I'm back in my apartment today -- my artificial box, full of ninety degree angles, plastic and metal -- high above the skyscraper city. It's hard to remember that just yesterday I had the silence of birdsong and croaking frogs, the wind through the trees, butterflies wafting and sun shining. I don't mind living in China. There is beauty and diversity here, and so many beautiful people and things. City living, on the other hand, would require a lot longer than a year for me to acclimate. I miss seeing unstructured greenery, you know? 

"Poisonous mushrooms may cause death. Do not casually pick and eat."

Lovely day for a promenade.

The woods are full of little places to sit. Oh, and old tombs.

Really, I'm standing the middle of 40 million people or so.

I can't decide if these guys are scary or adorable.

This makes me want to landscape the backyard back home.

Koi in the pond / fish in a barrel, you decide.

This is the official flower of Guangzhou.

A little Chinglish to make you smile.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this visual tour of Yuexiu Park. Spring is well underway here, and it turns my mind toward thoughts of home. My contract ends three months from yesterday. I will be going home after that, although I do not know yet what will come next (except for blueberry season, to which I am very much looking forward). As for what I will do in my time remaining here -- who knows? Anything, everything, nothing, something. We'll see.