Guangzhou: Seriously, Why SO Grimy & Chaotic Everywhere?!
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Some out-of-towners say this place doesn't feel like a first-tier city.
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Even as a northerner who's lived in Guangzhou for 20 years, I agree it doesn't feel like a first-tier city.
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It's true. I've been to many places, and Guangzhou is honestly quite poor in comparison.
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Honestly, it's true. The city's appearance is becoming increasingly chaotic. And this is coming from someone who's from Guangzhou and loves it very much.
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It's slowly becoming like a large county town, increasingly feeling like the hometowns of migrant workers.
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Hey, county towns aren't necessarily dirty, messy, and poorly maintained.
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Those e-bikes have dragged Guangzhou down to a third-tier city. Their 'contribution' is truly remarkable!
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There used to be bike lanes, but now they've become parking spots for cars. So, you can't just blame the e-bikes.
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I really don't want to sound discriminatory, but there are just too many people in Guangzhou who spit and litter everywhere. Some even relieve themselves in public. I've visited many cities across China – top-tier, second-tier, even eighteenth-tier – and Guangzhou's public hygiene is the worst, and I'm not exaggerating. For years, people have said Guangzhou is 'down-to-earth,' but maybe it's too 'down-to-earth,' causing its appearance and order to deteriorate. So, is being 'down-to-earth' really a good thing? I'm not asking for it to be as grand as Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen. At the very least, can't its public image and cleanliness catch up to Chengdu's standards?
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I see this comment and clicked the translate button.
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Take a look at the 'talents' in charge of management, and you'll understand why.
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Well, you all love to flock to Guangzhou, so what can you do? Mandarin is everywhere on the streets now.
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Quzhuang and Taojin are considered downtown, right? I've lived in two different places here, and in both, I've seen middle-aged and elderly Cantonese-speaking women casually littering right downstairs – a used napkin one day, a pastry wrapper the next, even when the trash can is just a meter away. Honestly, with many Guangzhou locals, it seems their hygiene habits from village life haven't adapted to urbanization. This also reflects in their 'countryside' fashion sense. It's not that their clothes are cheap because they're practical; often, their clothes are very expensive. It's more like ingrained village customs passed down through generations, without early education on cleanliness. When Cantonese people criticize the 'refined rusticity' of outsiders, they overlook that those outsiders were often taught from a young age to be civilized and keep clean, even if their clothes were patched. This kind of ethical upbringing is passed down. So, please don't blame your own unkempt habits, rooted in old customs, on Mandarin-speaking newcomers. Guangzhou also has a rather odd habit: women often don't wear safety shorts or slips under skirts in summer, and you see them sitting around in ways that might expose their underwear.
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There really are a lot of people who just toss their trash anywhere.
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It's because you can hardly find any trash cans on the streets. Yesterday, I walked for twenty minutes and didn't spot a single one.
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I'm from Dalian. Due to some 'leadership' issues, we're now considered a lagging city, the 'poor Northeast' in the eyes of Southerners. But in terms of climate, environment, urban construction, and natural scenery, few cities can beat us. I just got back from Guangzhou, and I honestly thought its urban areas were the suburbs – it's just dirty, messy, and chaotic. Crossing the road is a free-for-all, no one yields or queues, people spit and litter everywhere, you hardly see any sanitation workers, parking is haphazard, they even have human-powered tricycles, the roads are filthy, and the climate is even worse. Just my personal take, I just really love my Dalian; nowhere is as good as Dalian.
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I totally agree. I also think our Northeast is much better than this place. Staying here every day makes me feel like I've aged ten years. It's really hard to bear.
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To be honest, I just got back from Chengdu, and it feels much more pleasant and comfortable there than here.
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Even Jiujiang in Jiangxi has a much cleaner environment than Guangzhou. It's very pleasant there.