I haven’t been recently posting for some personal reasons and I am behind on a couple of projects!
Today I will be sharing with you some more on our beautiful city of Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, where as a family we have resided as a family for over 5 years now (which is nearly half of my life in China in general).
I have previously posted some pictures of Zhuhai during our Backyard Barbecue Hop and when I wrote a guest post for Mama Smiles on Exploring Geography Series so you are welcome to revisit!
We live in an older garden, called Bay Garden (Hai Wan Garden). We are quite lucky as right outside our gate there is a German-Japanese bakery, probably the best in town, where we can get fresh bread and pastries and have meals at a reasonable price.
Entrance to our garden and some of the buildings Entrance of the Bakery (Backerei – owned by a Japanese gentleman who mastered baking in Germany)Inside and outside the garden, and practically almost all over the city and in the suburbs, there are many trees, flowers and grass. Zhuhai doesn’t have many sights but it is known for its mountains, parks and greenery.
Famous Lover’s Road – one of the longest roads in China Inside and outside our gardenIf you visit local parks, plan for a Barbecue – quite a few of them have specially dedicated areas where you can make your own barbecue (bring your own food, but have to buy the coal right there).
Barbecue place at Bailiangdong Park (3 bus stops away from our garden)In China it is very common to reside near the places where your child attends kindergarten and schools. Kindergarten starts here from 2-2.5 years old. It is full time – 8.30am to 4.30pm. And there are 3 types of schools: primary (1-6 grades), middle (7-10 grades) and high (11-12 or 11-13 grades). Children usually graduate from high school at around 17-19 years of age. Some graduate after middle school and join special skills colleges, after which they either start working or continue to Universities.
Experimental Middle School outside of our garden (photo credit – Panoramio)You will find that Chinese likes mosaics and mosaic tiles. On the other side of our garden there is a whole long wall decorated with mosaic tiles.
Zhuhai is a coastal city. There are many small islands around it, some are fairly close hence made as attraction places for tourists and local crowds. Zhuhai also shares land border with Macau and in some places near the seaside you can see Macau’s casinos and building, which are especially visible during evening and night hours.
Seaside and riversideNigh view of the Fox Island and Macau
Inside every garden, in all of the residential areas and parks, there are small and big playgrounds for chidlren. Some are free, some have paid entrance (like, in parks, it costs 80 US cents to 1 US dollar to enter).
Playground at Hai Bin ParkOutside of our garden there is a lovely Holiday Resort and Hotel, called Zhuhai Holiday Resort. In Spring, Summer and half of Autumn, we go there to swim at the outdoor swimming pool (which is one of the cleanest and best maintained swimming pools in Zhuhai). And we also go to have picnics at the large grassy area there near by the small lake. This Holiday Resort is also known for its Dim Sum (Morning Tea) and we like to eat there from time to time.
Entrance to Zhuhai Holiday Resort
This Dim Sum picture was not taken there, however the place doesn’t exist anymore and I don’t have any pictures from our ZHR Dim Sum!
I hope you enjoyed this small tour to Zhuhai! What is your neighbourhood like?
Amanda
What a beautiful neighborhood! The whole table of Dim Sum makes me hungry. The night view of Fox Island and Macau is pretty and it reminds of Hong Kong. It feels like a very relaxing community and great for the little ones.
Varya
Thank you, Amanda! Zhuhai is a lovely place for the family!
Crystal @ Crystal's Tiny Treasures
I love this post, Varya! It’s so interesting to see different areas of the world. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Varya
Thank you! I like looking through pictures of different places as well!
Marie-Claude
I love this series and have been looking forward to seeing a neighborhood in China! Looks like a lovely area! And like Amanda, that Dim Sum looks delicious 🙂
Varya
Thank you! Our neighbourhood is more or less typical for bigger cities in China. And since Zhuhai is relatively new city (it used to be a fishing village around 30 years ago) there isn’t much traditional architecture which you can see in older cities.
Annabelle
Thanks for taking part Varya. Oh and I love the German style bakery!
Varya
Thank you! It was fun recreating our neighbourhood!
Abbi Gutierrez
Thanks for sharing. The Middle School is huge. I thought it was a hotel!
Varya
Thank you! Schools here are huge because the population is big. My daughter’s kindergarten has over 400 children, in each class 30-40 children. Schools have 40+-60 students. In this particular school there must be 500-600 students.
Jody
It was so lovely to get a peek at your neighborhood! I really like how much green space is incorporated into the city and that Dim Sum looks delicious!
Varya
Thank you! In all my years in China I noticed that Chinese are really good with greenery and designs and NO ONE pulls flowers or breaks trees.
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[…] introducing our neighbourhoods to you. There have already been features from Russia, Japan, China, France, and loads of others. You can find all of the information about this series through The […]
janis
Hi, very happy to come across this post. I am currently looking at employment in Zhuhai, I was wondering if Expat children are able to attend local primary schools there? It seems to be that International schools are unaffordable! Do your children attend local schools or do you know anyones who has children in a local school public or experimental?
Varya
Hi Janis! I emailed you directly. So please check and see and also check your spam folder in case it went there. It should be from Varya CWOV! Thank you for stopping by.
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[…] an increasing number of inquiries from expat families planning to move to China, in particular to Zhuhai, where we currently reside. I have also been told I should write a bit more about our hands […]