It was a cool morning when I left Beijing, so I was amused to feel such warm weather in Guangzhou after just a two and a half hour flight.

Guangzhou, here we are!

No wonder the city is called The Oasis, there are plants everywhere… Flowers, fruits and trees, lots of trees, they're clustered in groups and dot about the city as mini forests, providing wonderful greenery and shade in this sunny city. I was so looking forward to experiencing the local life, and discovering its unique aspects. Scenery sites, craftworks, architecture and cuisine, there were so many items on my list. Huh, where to start?

"My life was destined to Music"

Huang Yicheng is a talented songwriter. He started his career as a mere apprentice, but the 30-year-old has now risen to become the CEO of a record label. Touched by his music- Impressive Guangzhou at home, I couldn't wait to meet him soon after my arrival.

Huang Yicheng has an enduring love for Guangzhou where he was born and raised. His albums depict the city's unique culture and have won him universal praise.

"I can still recall the taste, the sights and even the touch of those good old days. Every inch of my body flows with native blood."

Alongside his music, Huang Yicheng works to develop a strong sense of community and culture. The idea to produce songs about Guangzhou is part of this pursuit.

"The image of Guangzhou in my mind is of a village on the water, with countless numbers of wooden junks floating between old buildings along the banks of the Pearl River."

"It rains very often during the summer in Guangzhou, so old men bellow before the rain starts to remind neighbors to bring their drying clothes inside."

Huang Yicheng is very willing to tell me about his childhood when he walked home on green stone roads after school. He can even recall the smell.

"The road blended together a mixed aroma of cooking, laundry and incense burning on the windowsills. My love for Guangzhou is a combination of sights, sensations and flavors."

"In fact, Guangzhou has a rich history of over 2,000 years. People rarely learn about the local culture, such as the delicate Cantonese embroidery, carved ivory, dancing lions and dragon boats. For years, people mistook my hometown for a cultural desert. This might be due to the modesty of local people, that's why I decided to use music to depict my beloved hometown and to encourage others to protect its culture."

This song　'Guangzhou in Moonlight' is from his first album. It depicts a typical childhood in Guangzhou by using a popular lullaby that every local would know.

(Lyrics) "Moonlight covers the whole ground;
Hush, my little baby;
Mom is leaving to go fishing early tomorrow,
And your grandma will be weaving a net all night"

Fantastic, isn't it? Does the song remind any lullaby of your hometown?

All the songs are sung in Cantonese, the local dialect, which still retains many words and structures from ancient Chinese. Because of its special pronunciation and grammar, every word had to be carefully chosen to suit the song's rhythm. Differing from Mandarin Chinese, the songs might be hard to understand. But isn't the original sound appealing to the ear?

I asked Huang Yicheng　if he ever anticipated being so successful. He firmly replies no.

"I never envisioned success; I did all these things by merely following my heart. I only wanted to use my music to plant a seed of our local culture in young people's heart, to cultivate a sense of responsibility and encourage them to protect and preserve our local culture, to make it better. That's enough."

The charm of Guangzhou lies in its people. Avid collector Zou Yongsheng is a perfect example.

The 50-year-old owns 200 Si-Ma scales, which were used to weigh gold and precious herbs in ancient China, along with more than 300 antique abacuses. Besides these, he has more than 1,000 china bowls from the Ming Dynasty, on each of which is written the Chinese character "Shou", meaning longevity, in different fonts. And that's just a small portion of his whole collection. His desire to showcase the typical Lingnan culture in Guangzhou has motivated him to co-found a cultural theme park- Guxiangli. I was lucky enough to have a glimpse of Zou Yongsheng's treasures.

"All the architecture works in Guxiangli are reminiscent of typical Lingnan culture. Each brick and each tile is a genuine ancient artifact, which was either bought or collected."

Following Zou Yongsheng, we went into an abacus exhibition hall. An entire wall of the room was decorated with abacuses made from different materials.

"There is an old saying among the Cantonese: Calculate and measure before you leap and you won't miss!"

He showed me an abacus made of ox horn.

"Usually, a pair of horns can only make eight beads. There are in total 105 beads on this abacus, which means horns of more than 10 oxen were used."

There's a special room inside the cultural theme park of Guxiangli. I would call it a kindergarten. It was filled with a collection of cute traditional baby carriages.

Some of them were woven from bamboo, and some were made from wood. Most of them are more than half a century old. They can be pushed, used to rock the baby, hung from a tree and even warmed with a mini-stove inside. Some of them can be manually adjusted to fit the needs of the baby.

"This bamboo basket is called You Lo in Cantonese. Women were able to carry their sleeping babies in the basket everywhere. Isn't it an interesting creation?"

We passed by thousands of household items such as hooks of mosquito net hooks, ancient pillows, rulers, locks, shoulder poles, water pots and some old electric-machines such as an gramophone. Some of them looked very peculiar, such as a pillow in the shape of a wooden stool. All of the items on display are on China's list of Material Cultural Relics.

"It's a great idea to arrange these things. I'm so familiar with all these scenes!"

Zou Yongsheng says he's overjoyed whenever anyone experiences an inspiring moment in his antique park.

"I was so moved when an 80-year-old lady from the US told her son that a life of luxury meant nothing to her at her age. However, it was most satisfying to see her hometown and experience the good old days again."

At the end of my Guxiangli tour, Zou Yongsheng proudly stated that he considers himself so lucky to be able to combine his passion with his career, and to share it with others.

This sort of life satisfaction is evident elsewhere in Guangzhou as well. It was very apparent when I met the locally famous Yuexiu choir, a big singing group made up of more than 200 citizens who are all 50 years or older.

"We started singing in Yuexiu Park in 1998. There were only 10 volunteers at first. Thanks to the good accompaniment of musical instruments, we sang better and our group was growing. We enjoy singing on Yuexiu Mountain so much that it is now an indispensable part of our happy life!"

No matter where you are from or how shy you are, it's impossible to resist singing along with them - a truly amazing experience.

Are they merely amateur singers? No, they are shining stars.

The locals warmly embraced me with a handful of gifts---several delicious giant moon cakes and some local handicrafts.

("Thank you so much for your love, the love I will always remember." )

In the end, I asked them what they want to say to the rest of the world through the airwaves. The group called out in a resounding voice that pierced the sky:

Yes, welcome to Guangzhou, a city with multidimensional charms: It's an oasis for plants, a paradise for shoppers and epicures, a prosperous market for traders, a cultural park and a sweet home.

As a visitor, a few days aren't enough to truly get to know Guangzhou, but they're certainly long enough for you to fall in love with the city.

Author: Xiaohua     Date: Jan 22, 2008

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