Photos: Guangzhou, China
The following are photos taken in Guangzhou, China from July 2-7, 2011
A life-size replica of the 1899 Box Kite flown by the Wright brothers in 1900 is suspended midair at the Hong Kong International Airport.
Benjamin Fung waits at the Hong Kong bus terminal for a 1-hour long shuttle to Guangzhou, China.
Thomas Fung waits at the Hong Kong bus terminal for a 1-hour long shuttle to Gunagzhou, China.
Henry Fung at the Hong Kong bus terminal.
Henry Fung laughs as Ben cracks a joke on route to Guangzhou
Crosswalk on the outskirts of Guangzhou city on a Sunday afternoon.
Commuters walk out of the Guangzhou metro, umbrellas opened to block out the sun.
A man fixes the inner tube of his bicycle on the streets of Guangzhou city.
7 Days Inn - The 3.5-star Inn we stayed in. $35CAD/Night for a two-bed room.
Typical lunch in Guangzhou city.
Rachel, my cousin, inspects the new installations in my grandmother's apartment. This is where my dad and his 3 brothers and 1 sister grew up.
Ben presents our grandmother with her 81st birthday present: a framed photograph of Ben, Tom, and me - in suits.
Steamed shrimp wrapped in rice noodle is a standard during breakfast in Guangzhou, $0.80 CAD
A city vendors loads a set of plastic pipes onto his bicycle.
A homeless man pulling a cart of his belongings.
A pair of young children play peekaboo around a statue of Bodhisattva Guanyin - one of the most revered mystical figures in Chinese Buddhism.
Ben Fung escorts our mom, Kelsie, as if he was Jason Statham.
The small town where the Fung Family Village resides. Located roughly 2 hours away from Guangzhou.
Henry Fung leads the way into the 300 year-old village my ancestors lived in.
A barred up entrance to an abandoned house in the Fung Family Village.
The front yard of a family still living in the Fung Family Village.
The front door of an inhabited house in the Fung Family Village. Banners inscribed with traditional sayings of luck, prosperity, and good health outline the door frame.
A childhood friend of my grandmother's recognizes us while preparing some food for dinner.
What was formerly The Town Hall of the Fung Family, this open air building used to be the location for town council, ancestor worship, and life-stage events such as weddings and funerals.
The Chinese character 正, meaning "right" or "proper", is made out of 5 strokes and is often used to tally a count. This blackboard still shows the results of the last town election. Note: Traditionally, Chinese is written vertically.
The centrepiece of the Fung Family Town Hall is the family tree. Bordering the family tree are banners with the Fung creed.
A close-up of the Fung family tree.
Tom lights up incense and gives thanks to our ancestors.
An old drawing on the wall of the Town Hall shows the land plot distribution of each household living in The Fung Family Village.
Old benches and foldable tables are stacked in a corner of the Town Hall. These were once used for large celebratory dinners and gatherings - such as a wedding.
Two wood furnaces and two charred woks sit in what used to be the kitchen area of the town hall.
My uncle lifts up an old key shaped like a heart, used to open the door to the childhood house of my great-grandfather.
A 1985 Marlboro calendar hangs on the walls of the house my great-grandfather grew up in. The house has been empty for more than 18 years.
My grandmother's friend offers her a parting gift of Lychee.
A restaurant nested off the road in rural Guangdong. They serve home-style cooking of chicken and fish that are raised on site.
Three gold-plated Buddha statues measuring over 50ft tall reside in the Guangzhou Buddhist Temple.
Incense representing people's prayers are positioned outside of the room containing a 50ft gold-plated statue of the Bodhisattva Guanyin (the listener of prayers).
A work cleans the steps leading to the Lizhiwan channel - The Venice canal of Guangzhou.
Chinese characters are engraved and painted into a large boulder at the Liwan Lake Park
A young boy plays in the courtyard of the Dr. Sun Yu-Sen Memorial Building.
The memorial building of Dr. Sun Yut-Sen, the first President of the Republic of China after the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. He is known as the "Father of the Nation".
A marble sign discouraging tourists from littering on the grass at the Dr. Sun Yut-Sen Memorial Building.
Carved wood overlay the outer wall of an ancient prestigious private school in Guangzhou.
Carved out of a single piece of wood, this lobster trap sculpture stands 3 meters tall and almost a meter wide.
The globe of this ivory ornament is carved out of a single solid ball of ivory. Carved inside are over 50 layers of intricate patterns.
A young chef fries a "dough ball" - a lump of dough with a pocket of air in it that's deep friend while constantly rotating to create a big hollow dough ball.
Snakes at the "pick what you want" restaurant in Guangzhou. Our snakes were cooked in soup.
BBQ Soy Sauce Pigeons at the Floating Fishing Boat restaurant in Guangzhou.
The "dough ball". It could, however, be easily mistaken for a dragon's egg.
The statue of Dr. Sun Yut-Sen - first president of the Republic of China.
A pet kitthen at the Floral Bird and Pets Marketplace just outside of Guangzhou.
A pet puppy at the Floral, Bird, and Pets Marketplace just outside of Guangzhou, China.
Eating a scorpion from our Chinese Scorpion soup.
The Canton Tower at nightime on the Guangzhou skyline.