Contrasts Guangzhou Bashny.Net

Atmosphere provinciality never left me and after exiting the station. Hong Kong seemed bright, lively, varied. Guangzhou after it created the opposite impression.
We needed to find a hotel. It would seem that it may be easier than the drive address in the map and follow the route? But in fact, the label on the offline map led us to some residential area, where no one had ever heard of our hotel. Moreover, no one around could not understand English and could do nothing to help us. Aspires to the night, and we speculated that the big bags do. Internet was not. We then saved screenshot armor where small but clear enough was depicted map with the location of the hotel. I still do not understand why the address in the armor and the actual location of the hotel different from each other.
We had a cheap hotel. Three star, but cheap as a hostel. Upon arrival it turned out that the room we had, though large, but has no windows. So the next day we woke up about 2 hours a day in total darkness. We in turn woke up, thought still dark and it was morning, and went to sleep on, until someone of us looked at the clock.

We had a little time, but we wanted to have time to climb on the roofs and attend the Canton Tower.
Guangzhou - one of the 24 historical cities in China, with more than 2,000 years of history. The city was founded in 862 BC. e. At the moment, the city is home to over 13 million people. Guangzhou - a city of sub-provincial value of the People's Republic, the capital of Guangdong Province, the political, economic, scientific, technical, educational, cultural and transport center of the whole of southern China.
Currently, the city is the largest tourist, industrial, financial and transportation center of China. Guangzhou - the world-renowned center of light industry, producing products of silk, cotton, jute, ramie and artificial fibers. In Guangzhou, there are about 100 wholesale markets, different types of products and hundreds of thousands of industrial plants, factories. There are still produced products of traditional art and crafts, as well as the development of fishery and fishing.

Residential areas on the background of skyscrapers.

Sports complex soorudzheny Tinhe, comprising Stadium Tianhe, whose capacity is 60,000 people.

Because of the huge number of factories over the city stands a thick smog. Smog is not here only on weekends and holidays. In the center of the frame, you can see the Canton Tower.

Canton Tower. TV tower height of 600 meters, this makes it the second TV tower height in the world. Up to a height of 450 meters tower built as a combination of hyperboloid carrier retina of and a central core. Hyperboloid structure retina of Guangzhou Tower relevant patents in 1899 Russian engineer Vladimir Shukhov.
Canton Tower - it is a huge tourist attraction. At altitudes of 33, 116, 168 and 449 meters glassed Lookouts located at an altitude of 488 meters is an open platform sightseeing. Revolving restaurant located on the heights of 418 and 428 meters, at an altitude of 407 meters there is a «VIP-cafe».

View from the very top of the lookout over the city. Guangzhou immersed in smog.

Despite the smog, the city is transformed at night.

Skyscrapers in China are growing like mushrooms. Interestingly, as will be more years in China through 5-10.

Bottom visible inspection booths that revolve around the perimeter of the tower. Another attraction there is the free-fall for a particularly brave.

There is another attraction - the rise of the spiral staircase around a central core of the tower. Lifting height of 136 meters. Moreover, if you went below, then no way back - the door closes behind you, the only way out at the top.
Between Climbing the roof once we accidentally wandered into the slums, reaching for demolition. It was quite an interesting place which very soon will not be.

This quarter is called Xian Cun. In the picture you can see the piles of concrete boxes - this is the slums.

China builds giant strides. As I said, skyscrapers are growing like mushrooms. Older neighborhoods are demolished without hesitation and build new ones. Xiancun - one of the few neighborhoods that has not had time to tear down and rebuild. Currently slums represent a low-rise semi-abandoned and very dense development. District walled at the entrance to his duty policemen.

Despite the fact that these houses seem to be completely abandoned in this area is still warm life.

In fact, in this region unfolds a real social problem. Not all residents want to leave and give their homes under demolition.

Here comes the confrontation between the residents and the authorities. The first did not want to sign an agreement on the demolition of their homes, while the latter are trying to oust first, complicating their lives - bulldozed markets, limit garbage collection, prohibit the sale and so on.

But, despite all the protests, the number of people in the area decreases. It seems to me that China is useless to argue with authority in such matters.
In the photo you can find a homeless person.

On the one hand, residents can understand. Basically it is the poor people, hard workers, they live here all my life and this land belongs to their ancestors. But on the other hand, the houses in which they lived, were already in disrepair, poor drainage, lack of adequate sanitation and very dense buildings, where the streets are not formed by the road, and the gaps between the buildings, the width of which can be less than a meter. Living conditions were very bad here - all this does not go in comparison with the rest of the "new" China.

Another interesting point: the majority of the people who have already moved out to slum resettlement awaits new home. But to build these homes, you need to demolish the old. And it turns out that the protesters tenants, not sliding down from the slums, creating problems not only power, but also ordinary people who are waiting for their apartments.