Guangzhou is a very important city in my life.

When I was in Guangzhou, I continued the habit I had when I was an undergraduate, riding around the world with a small car.

Basically, I cycle 2-3 times a week, and the average distance per trip is between 10-20 kilometers.

This includes my freshness and curiosity about the city, my pursuit of geography, and the long-distance cycling opportunities provided by being a tutor. It can be said that under the influence of multiple "powers", I am full of fantasy.

A three-thousand-mile ride in Yangcheng.

This time, I will restore the taste of the city of Guangzhou through the memories of cycling.

Jiangcheng usually refers to Wuhan, but when riding in Guangzhou, I discovered that Guangzhou can also be called Jiangcheng.

Although Shanghai also has the Huangpu River, the bridges and tunnels along the Huangpu River cannot be passed by bicycles.

Many cross-river bridges on the Pearl River in Guangzhou can be passed by bicycles. The wide surface of the Pearl River also creates an extraordinary river landscape viewing experience. You can appreciate the characteristics of Guangzhou in different periods. The scenery changes from west to east interpret the history of Guangzhou.

The development process from modern times to contemporary times: People's Bridge-Liberation Bridge: the "Bund" of Guangzhou - the style of the old Guangzhou concession period Haizhu Bridge: the "landmark" of Guangzhou - the first bridge across the Pearl River, very representative from its shape to its meaning Jiangwan Bridge

- Haiyin Bridge: Guangzhou's "post-90s generation" - there are many high-rise buildings, symbolizing the rapid development period of Guangzhou in the 1990s. Guangzhou Bridge - Liede Bridge: the top of Guangzhou - a fully modern urban style, with many skyscrapers, the new Guangzhou image represents the Pazhou Bridge.

: Guangzhou New Commerce - Overlooking the Canton Fair, a new interpretation of the millennium-old commercial city. The East Area of ??Huanshi is the first "revival place" after Guangzhou's reform and opening up in the 1990s. The architectural style of this area is still rich in the "Nine-Nine Years".

The style of the decade."

Especially when looking at the Xiaobei Overpass, there are many tall buildings, but most of them are earthy yellow or gray, and the architectural design style is also relatively old, which makes people feel a strong sense of time travel.

I think of the high-spirited years in Guangzhou after the reform and opening up, and the shock these tall buildings brought to the "pilgrims" going south in that era.

Although Friendship Store and Baiyun Hotel are now outdated, people at that time believed that these were one of the representatives of the dream of going south.

Guangzhou can be used as a "reform and opening up" museum, and Huanshidong is the most classic "exhibition area".

Not only does the appearance resemble that of the early days of reform and opening up, but I have also "explored" several of the office buildings, and the business formats that focus on foreign trade wholesale also retain some of the charm of that era.

The specialness of Guangzhou is evident from the journey into Guangzhou.

Arriving at Beijing Station, Shanghai Station, and Shenzhen Station, many high-rise buildings appeared after entering the city, making people realize that they are not only entering the city, but also entering a first-tier city.

But it's not the case when you get to Guangzhou. Along the way, there are six-seven-storey, colorful, "handshake building"-style urban villages, which make people wonder whether they have entered the urban area. Suddenly, Guangzhou Station arrives.

Urban villages in Guangzhou are ubiquitous. There is Liede Village next to Zhujiang New Town, Xiadu Village next to Sun Yat-sen University, and the historically famous Sanyuanli near the train station.

The reason for the formation of urban villages is simply that the city is expanding too fast and the cost of demolition is high, so the villages are "contracted" into the city, forming urban villages.

The village in the city is a lively world. The streets are extremely dense and the flow of people is huge. Coupled with the "rickshaws" and cars passing through it, it seems like the whole world is coming.

I don’t know how many people live in the densely packed “Handshake Building”. The huge population also supports a variety of small supermarkets, snack bars, and small shops, forming a very prosperous commercial format.

In a sense, urban villages integrate "residence, industry, and commerce" and include both residential space and numerous small processing clusters formed by various small industries.

Although cities such as Kunming also have similar urban villages, the density of population and commerce is much different.

Life here is also an "ant-dwelling" life, with a dense population, extremely poor sound insulation, windows covered with iron mesh, accents from all directions, and gourmet restaurants from all directions gathered here.

And no matter how late it is, there will always be people active, and the late-night food stalls are open night after night. Even if the streets have become depressed, the constant light and bustle of the urban villages maintain the hustle and bustle of the city.

Although urban villages are not high-end in any sense, and are even very different from the "Guangzhou" people imagine, and are also a "psoriasis" that the government deliberately avoids when doing external propaganda, they provide the city's underlying vitality, which is also

This is what the "economic center" originally looked like.

They have also shaped the urban style of Guangzhou. It is the most inclusive city that accepts immigrants from all walks of life to start low-end entrepreneurship, and it is also a city that maintains a high concentration of pyrotechnics and civilian atmosphere while being tall and prosperous.

Taobao shows that Guangzhou ranks second in the country in terms of the number of goods for sale. I believe that a large number of these goods come from a colorful and all-encompassing area like urban villages, not Zhujiang New Town.

Urban villages, ghost stalls, people wearing simple slippers, people carrying big black plastic bags, this is the Guangzhou of civilians, the Guangzhou of freedom, the Guangzhou of pragmatism.

Since Shanghai’s 2035 master plan proposed the concept of building an “excellent global city”, “global city” has gradually shifted from an academic language to a popular language.