A Golden Visit to M8 Langhe Dumplings in Zhaoqing

Previously, I shared a photo of a wonton restaurant in Zhaoqing with a logo very similar to the McDonald's Golden Arches. The next day I happened to pass by yet again. I also happened to be hungry this time. So I took the opportunity to have dinner there.

After sitting down at a table, I noticed the M8 logo appeared in a number of locations, including signs featuring one of their ice drinks.

As indicated by their menu, in addition to wontons they offer a variety of other items, most common Cantonese fare.

The choice for me was easy. For 8 yuan (about US $1.25) I ordered a medium-sized bowl of the item featured in the name on their storefront sign — langhe wontons (塱鹤云吞).

The wantons are named after Langhe village in Zhaoqing (reference in Chinese). Some other restaurants I have passed in Zhaoqing similarly feature "langhe wontons" in their names.

I also ordered a plate of Chinese broccoli, but they were out. So for 7 yuan I had the usual choi sum — much healthier than the Big Mac I had earlier suggested pairing with the wontons.

In short, the wontons were better than I expected. They are a smaller type of wonton which I have found at some places not to be especially flavorful. But these were tasty. The choi sum was a little overcooked for my tastes, not uncommon, but for 7 yuan I was still pleased.

And just to make sure . . . I asked the high school boy who took my money while the woman who had taken my order was back in the kitchen about the eatery's name. He said "M8" and also said this was their only location.

If I were living in Zhaoqing, I could definitely see myself returning. For comparison, I would also be curious to try some of the other restaurants in Zhaoqing which similarly feature langhe wontons.

But none of them will have the golden M8.

McWonton's Golden Arches in Zhaoqing

There is something about that M . . .

I saw the small eatery in the above photo today in Zhaoqing. Other than the M8 logo I didn't see anything else, including the Chinese below the logo on the sign, which seemed to have a bit of McDonald's spirit. Instead of hamburgers, this place features wontons (to be clear, "McWonton's" is my own creation). I refrained from asking about the logo.

The eatery especially caught my attention since it had been a while since I last came across an example of a logo seemingly inspired by McDonald's, whether at a hotpot restaurant in Changde or a Wichael Alone restaurant at highway rest area probably not very far from here. It was also notable in another respect. On the other side of the street and visible from the eatery are the famous Golden Arches themselves.

So if you're ever craving a side of wontons to go along with a Big Mac, this part of Zhaoqing might be a great place to go.

A Sign of Northeast China from Shenyang

Trying to track down a possible connection inspired me to dig through the photos I took in Shenyang about a year and a half ago. The city in Northeast China's Liaoning province is about a 2900 kilometer (1800 mile) drive from my current location in Zhaoqing in Southeast China. The photos made me think of how the two cities are different worlds in many ways yet definitely parts of the same country.

The focus here has been heavy on the southern half of China for a while. So for a change of spirit and color below are two photos of a remarkable sign in Shenyang that caught my eye both when I saw it in person and when I more recently scrolled through my photos. The sign's top section is for the Huihualou Jewelry Store and the lower section is for the Huihualou Business Hotel. I find the sign reminiscent of earlier times in Shenyang and endearing in its own way.

Working, Not Working, Traffic, and Sales: A Few Labor Day Scenes in Zhaoqing, China

Today was Labor Day (May Day) in China. And today I was in Zhaoqing, a prefecture-level city which borders my previous locations — Yunfu and Jiangmen.

As I have seen during past Labor Days elsewhere in China, today . . .

Some people worked.

Paifang Plaza

Some people enjoyed their day off work or school.

Paifang Park

Some people sat in traffic.

Duanzhou 4th Road

And some stores had holiday promotions.

Zhaoqing is a popular tourist destination in the region, and the increased crowds (and hotel rates) were easy to spot during the three day holiday period. More about Zhaoqing later after I first return to posting about Yunfu. For more Labor Day photos, see past years' posts featuring scenes in Shenzhen and in Yinchuan

Pingfeng Hill Park in Yunfu

At Pingfeng Hill in Yunfu, there is a park. Unsurprisingly, it is named Pingfeng Hill Park. According to an informational sign there, the park opened last July. At the moment it consists of a single path which connects an entrance from a a road, unsurprisingly named Pingfeng Road, on the southeast side of the hill with an entrance on the south side of the hill.  According to a posted map, the current path will apparently be extended to another entrance and an alternate route will be created as well.

The park includes a small simple Chinese pavilion. And the path goes by several tombs.

The path doesn't reach very high — nowhere near the top of the hill. So the views are somewhat limited.

While this park may be appreciated by locals, it probably isn't one which would make the itinerary for a several-day visit to Yunfu. Another of Yunfu's hills which is also part of its karst topography, though, has a path all the way to its top that doesn't require advanced rock climbing skills. This one would likely appeal to somebody seeking views in central Yunfu from a height much higher than available at Pingfeng Hill Park or even the top of Qilin Hill. More about that hill later.

Two Urban Views of Pingfeng Hill in Yunfu

The previous post featured a view from Qilin Hill in Yunfu with Pingfeng Hill visible in the distance. For today's dose of urban karst topography, I will share two photos of Pingfeng Hill taken from a much closer vantage point. As a bonus, the second photo includes a water truck watering things.

This is also an opportunity to correct a mistake. I previously identified this fine example of karst topography as Bingfeng Hill. However, I now believe its proper name is Pingfeng Hill.

The first Chinese character in the hill's name, 屏, can be read as either "bing" or "ping" in Mandarin Chinese, and those two pronunciations have distinctly different meanings. It's one of the many homographs in Chinese language.

Today, as I looked for photos of Pingfeng Hill I noticed I had taken a photo of sign for a street which runs along the hill's south side. The street uses the hill for its name, and the sign went with Pingfeng.

Additionally, given their respective meanings, "ping" seems more fitting than "bing".

So Pingfeng Hill it is. Enjoy the views.

An Urban & Karsty View from the Top of Qilin Hill in Yunfu

The Revolutionary Martyrs Monument at Yunfu's Martyrs Park stands about halfway up Qilin Hill (麒麟山), also known as Shilin Hill (石麟山).* The top of the hill affords a view of some of the urban environment surrounding the park as well as an example of Yunfu's karst topography.

Pingfeng Hill (屏峰山) can be seen in the left half of the photo. To its right slightly farther in the distance are apartment buildings under construction. The relative locations of Qilin Hill and Bingfeng hill can be seen in this satellite view taken from Baidu Maps:

The Martyr's Park, including its lake, is in the upper right. Pingfeng Hill is the green area in the lower left. The newer apartment buildings are to the left (west) of it. Oddly, Baidu's label for Bingfeng Hill is misplaced slightly to its west. The label for the Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall is perfectly placed though.

Later, I will share some street-level scenes from a road with some historical architecture that nearly connects these two hills.




*Reference in Chinese here.

Updated April 27, 2018, to correct Pingfeng Hill's name in Pinyin.

A Park, Memorial Hall, and Cemetery for Revolutionary Martyrs in Yunfu

Yunfu Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall in Martyrs Park

Tucked away in the center of Yunfu's most urban district is the city's Martyrs Park (烈士公园). The park includes the city's Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall (革命烈士纪念馆), with a cemetery and monument on the hill behind it. I stumbled upon the park during a meandering walk after first arriving in Yunfu and passed through several times on following days. Below are some photos taken on two quiet days at the park, some of which also capture the urban environment surrounding it.

Park gate leading from Jiefang Road

Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall

Deng Fa (邓发)

Revolutionary Martyrs Monument

Martyrs Cemetery

Revolutionary Martyrs Memorial Hall from above

Martyrs Park

Gongbei-Ball Lives on in Zhuhai

In response to a post with a series of photos showing what happened to some blocks of ice left on the sidewalk in Yunfu, Guangdong, reader J P Hays commented:

Not what I expected in the slightest. I was expecting it to end sadly, with reports of people slipping on the ice and injuring themselves, not two kids having a fun time with it.

In fact, a couple other children were involved as well, but I didn't get any good photos including them. Fortunately, I indeed didn't witness any injuries, whether due to slipping or being hit by thrown pieces of ice. I don't know if that changed after I left though.

While putting together the ice post, the throwing aspect of it reminded me of a game I called Gongbei-ball that I saw played on Gaosha Middle Street in Zhuhai's Gongbei subdistrict two years ago. I was briefly back in Zhuhai yet again in February. One evening shortly after 8 p.m. I returned to the same street, which like Baisha Road in Jiangmen can be tricky to locate using online interactive maps. I wondered if the game was still played and whether I could be lucky enough to catch a match.

I am happy to belatedly report the game continues to thrive.

At least one of the boys playing appeared to be one of the same boys as before. And this time a man was playing as well. I'm still unsure of the precise rules, and like before sometimes suspected they were adjusted on the fly by the one boy. But it seemed to be the same game. There was one clear difference though. Instead of using a ball made from crumpled-up paper wrapped in tape, they used a regular tennis ball. Apparently the equipment change was authorized by the Gongbei-Ball Premier League.

If I have the opportunity to come across the game sometime again in the future, I will see if they will teach me the rules. I thought the paper ball had a special charm to it, but some things change. Maybe there'll be a different ball next time.

Forms of Ice in Yunfu

The science of what happens when a small restaurant dumps large chunks of ice out onto the sidewalk at a street intersection in Yunfu, Guangdong:

Ice I

Ice II

Ice Fun

A Concrete Storm Drain Border in Yunfu

Only some people will find this grating.

Another View from a Window in Yunfu

Good news. We have a winner for the latest "name this city in China" post.

Yunfu or Qingyuan？

— Urban Xia Wei (@Urban_XiaWei) April 17, 2018

Indeed, the scene which includes Xingyun East Road (兴云东路) is from Yunfu (云浮), a prefecture-level city in western Guangdong province. Yunfu borders the prefecture-level city Jiangmen, my previous location. Despite the shared border of the two cities, my bus ride, which lasted slightly less than two hours, followed a route which cuts through Zhaoqing, another prefecture-level city in Guangdong, presumably because it is shorter / faster than highway routes which don't enter Zhaoqing. In addition to Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, Yunfu is also bordered by the Guangdong prefecture-level cities Foshan, Maoming, and Yangjiang and by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region prefecture-level city Wuzhou.

I had considered sharing another photo taken from my room window that in addition to an urban setting amidst karst topography also included a portion of the Yunfu Intercity Bus Station. I decided against it, though, after noticing Yunfu's name in Chinese could be seen on one of the signs near the bottom. So here it is now:

Almost all of the people in Yunfu who have questioned me about why I came here responded with comments like "There's nothing interesting in Yunfu." and "Yunfu isn't a pretty city." However, I have already come across much that either interested me or I found visually attractive. More about some of that later.