Chaoshan is the common name used by many China Chinese to describe Chaozhou or Shantou. Min Nan dialect, Teochew is the widely spoken language here. My ancestors are from Chaozhou. My grandpa and grandma lived there until 1940s when they came over to Sinagpore. Without them, there won’t be me. So I always wanted to go there to smell, see the place and find out how my ancestors lived. When Jetstar begin the direct flights to Shantou from Singapore in 2010, I know the time has come for me to visit Shantou.
My grandpa, mother and aunt are going together with me for this trip. And they are very very happy a city guy like me is willing to go to Shantou. Why not? I like adventures and historical stuffs 
but hey, Shantou is not like a kampong(village).
This is how Shantou Airport looks like
I arrive at the airport at about 1pm and my relative was there to fetch me. Along the way, took a picture of the houses in the city and they look like buddies of HDB in Singapore
We pop by a food street to have some snack and dessert.
Had some dessert and snacks there. Very nice and smooth. Taste organic too.
Lady cooking my dessert
Shantou Dessert, Cheng Ting. Taste different from what we have in Singapore
After dessert, we are on our way to Chaozhou and here is another picture of modern Shantou.
I am staying at my relatives place in Chaozhou and this is how the exterior of the building looks.
The interior looks just like a HDB flat. This neighborhood that I am staying is really for local Chaozhou people. Everytime, i take out my SLR to snap, i get the ‘stares’. Guess not many tourist come to this area of Chaozhou.
Here are some pictures of the local market selling fresh, I mean really fresh vegetables, fishes and seafood!
As walk to the main road, i went into a shop and found a cute cat
Guess which shop i went to? Pet shop? vegetable shop? pork shop??? Scroll down to find out.
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Cat found in a Cake shop! Don’t think you find a cat in cake shop anywhere :p
Time flies and is time for dinner. I love having dinner in a grand restaurant in China!
I love the privacy of having your own suite for dinner with your family. You can eat as loudly as you like :p
This the the tea room or rest room where you can enjoy tea, watch TV, talk and relax.
I like the 20 course dinner which comprise of crab, fish, lobster, scallops, clams etc..woohooooo I am not a seafood lover due to the fact those we are having in the major cities are not fresh. But over here, everything is really fresh and i can eat all the seafood I want!
Here are some interesting facts about Chaozhou
- Chaozhou is a city surrounded by three mountains and a river.
- Chaozhou considers itself the Ceramic Capital of China. There are alot of ceramic factory in the area exporting worldwide
- With an average annual temperature of 21.4oC, Chaozhou has a long summer and a short winter. No snow during winter.
- Chaozhou is a city with abundant rain just like Singapore!
- Having Gongfu tea (工夫茶) is a important daily lifestyle of people in Chaozhou
- Li Ka Shing, one of the world’s richest man also comes from Chaozhou
Next up will be my visit to the famous Guangji Tower and bridge in Chaozhou tomorrow
