In Guangzhou, one cannot come and judge that money will make the people happy. Rather, it is a different scale they gauge happiness by.
Located about an hour outside of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is one of China’s leading industrial cities. Simply walking through the city showcases the different economic climates that this creates. Walking through the city can show both ends of this economic spectrum.
Along the Pearl River are beautiful apartments and buildings adorned with colorful lights that turn on at night, creating a breathtaking scene of modernity. The restaurants are luxurious, some featuring German and other Western style foods. Transportation is easy to find and life seems glamorous.
However, at the outskirts of the city are tiny “villages”. Where people are just as happy, not because of pretty landscape but because of beer and game of cards they play each night. The rats running around go unnoticed. Trash on the ground is expected. But the smiles and laughter of the people cannot be missed.
Guangzhou, like every city, contains people on both ends of the spectrum. Yet this does not mean that some are happier than others. The villagers playing cards and laughing with close friends, seemed to me, just as happy as those that were dining in five-star restaurants. Signifying that in Guangzhou, one cannot come and judge that money will make the people happy. Rather, it is a different scale they gauge happiness by.
Perhaps it is by company, or satisfaction for what they have. Either way, traveling is about having an open mind and without any stigma. It is without thoughts of how you think things should be. What I finally learned is that, Western ideals of happiness do not necessarily apply in a city like Guangzhou.
Written by Rachel Chenoweth.
