China: Modern China in Dongguan City

The China-ASEAN Youth Camp finally began today. Our first stop was the Dongguan Songshan Lake Science & Technology Industry Park. This strategic high-tech industry park is located in the center of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong economic corridor.

Covering an area of 72 square kilometers with a well-protected ecological environment, the park was elected as the high-tech industry park with greatest development potential in China by the National Research Center for Science and Technology.

We visited the exhibition center where an impressive scale model of the park masterplan at the center of the hallway gave visitors a preview of the future of the park. I was impressed by the consistent use of the Post-modern architectural style for many of its buildings.

I was also impressed with how the planners created a sustainable environment for Songshan Lake, with modern industries and institutions in harmony with the natural environment around it. Lunch was served at a function hall by the shore of Songshan Lake. Again, we had more Guandong style cuisine. One of our drinks was white fungus with bird's nest. After lunch, we toured to the Dongguan University of Technology to check out the campus and its facilities.

To cap the day, we took a stroll at the impressive city center of Dongguan. We were dropped off at the headquarters of the Dongguan People's Hall. Again, it was a feast of structures and monuments in the Post-modern architectural style around a vast square of fountains and pools, and plant boxes filled with flowers of various colors.

We were on our way to the Dongguan Exhibition Center to view several hallways filled with exhibits on the history, culture, development, industry and technology of Dongguan. Not only were they informative and well-organized; the exhibits were nothing less than world-class!

Dinner was also in downtown Dongguan. After dinner, the delegation went around some shopping areas but nothing much to buy since it was quite pricey in the area which we visited. Since we were tired as well, we decided to make our way back to the hotel in Hongmei Town which was about 40 minutes away. More photos here.