Depending on your mood, Guangzhou can be compulsively energetic or disturbingly intense - either way, not somewhere to come for peace and relaxation. Commerce is its lifeblood, a religion inspiring everybody from train station pickpockets to company directors and, with this in mind, it's one of the most vibrant cities in China. At times there doesn't seem to be enough room for all the wheeling and dealing: markets completely block alleyways, and the need to set up shop wherever there's space has caused some strange bedfellows - where else would you find a store selling mining drills and laser theodolites sandwiched between a florist and a nightclub? Yet there's another, more community-orientated side to the city, rarely farther away than the nearest alley. With a fair sense of direction, the best way to get to grips with Guangzhou is to make your way around on foot, taking every available back lane. It can be a real surprise after the main streets to come across older residential districts with their flagstones, tiny collectors' markets, laundry strung on lines between buildings, and homes screened away behind wooden doors with heavy swing gates