San Paulo is huge

After leaving Rio, I went to San Paulo on February 27. It's said that Rio is a beauty, but San Paulo is a city. To be honest, I don't think it's a very interesting city comparing with Rio. But I have to admit - it is really huge! The first thing I did after arriving San Paulo, was to visit the art museum. It has two stories with many precious paintings. But it's not allowed to take pictures inside.

 

I didn't take a taxi because I wanted to take pictures, so I walked along the busy street. There were many policeman standing here and there, which made me feel puzzled: is San Paulo a dangerous city with high crime rate? Otherwise why do they need so many policeman?

 

San Paulo is the largest city in South America, and the third more populous city of the world, with more than 10 million inhabitants.

 It is the economical capital of Brazil and a very busy place. It is also rich in culture parks and museums. There is the famous cathedral in old town. But my friends told me that I had better not stay there for long time, because many pickpocket were lingering in the park.

 

This was the hotel I stayed when in San Paulo. It has a small swimming pool and nice cafe. The weather was a bit warm, sometimes it was raining heavily, then stoped quickly. There were many nice restaurants nearby, so it was very convenient to have lunch and dinner within walking distance from my hotel. I also saw many fashion shops along the street.

 

I walked around a park in the old town. Some boys were staring at me when I took pictures, but I was not afraid of them - they seem friendly. Many policemen stood here and there, which made me feel a bit safe even I saw some vagrants lying on the ground of a statue in the park.

 

The old opera house is an elegant building. I'm not sure if they still perform opera these days. It's located in the old downtown, which is considered to be a dangerous place to visit in the evening.

 

When wandering at the streets in old downtown, a guy saw me take pictures for a while, then he approached to me:"can I talk to you?". I said:"sure." then he told me about my carelessness of taking pictures without vigilance that someone might grab my camera and run away. I was surprised at his warning:"do you think this kind of thing will happen?" He replied:"of course it will happen. actually it happened to me twice already - I was robbed and lost my camera and purse".

 

A tour bus took me to the new opera house which was located in a huge park.

I can't tell which one I like better - the old opera house or the new opera house. Their styles are totally different. I wish I could have a chance to watch an opera in either building. There were a few grand statues in the park, relating to the poineer in the war.

 

The Japanese Village represents different racial neighborhood in San Paulo. Somebody told me that there are about 200,000 Japanese living here.