The city’s present stands side by side with its past and future. Sleek malls rise up from across ancient parks, and the region’s culinary bounty is now the primadonna of Michelin-starred restaurants and old teahouses. Yet, trade and commerce are still Guangzhou’s lifeblood, while a taste for good life and good food remains its inhabitants’ raison d’etre. Changes are everywhere and nowhere — and that’s exactly how the people like it.