Guangzhou
Don't depart Guangzhou without an amble through the concession-era gem that is Shamian Island. The central east–west drag is a time-warp boulevard of…
Must-see attractions in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
An all-in-one ancestral shrine, Confucian school and ‘chamber of commerce’ for the Chen clan, this compound was built in 1894 by the residents of 72…
Qingping Chinese Medicine Market
Guangzhou
Just north of the channel that divides Shamian Island from the city, this tumbledown market is a sensory delight, with open-fronted vendors arranged…
Guangzhou
Designed by Zaha Hadid, southern China's premier performance venue has transformed the area with its typically commanding, otherworldly aspect. Futuristic…
Guangzhou
One of Guangdong's four famous classical gardens, this graceful property on the outskirts of the city was built in 1871 by an official of the Qing court…
Guangzhou
You'll feel like Indiana Jones/Lara Croft (select as preferred) as you descend the two-millennia-old steps into an actual Han dynasty tomb. This was the…
Guangzhou
Built for the 2010 Asian games, this 604m tall tower was designed to look 'female' by its Dutch architects, earning it the nickname 'slim waisted' (小蛮腰,…
Guangzhou
Tree-lined streets Xinhepu Lu (新河浦路), Xuguyuan Lu (恤孤院路) and Peizheng Lu (培正路) in the historic Dōngshān area offer a welcome respite from the city. Here…
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
Guangzhou
This Buddhist temple complex was first built in AD 537 to enshrine Buddhist relics brought over from India and placed in the octagonal Decorated Pagoda …
Guangzhou
The flagship museum of Guangdong province, this ultramodern institution was conceived as one of the city's new showpiece buildings along with the Canton…
Guangzhou
You can't miss the 36m-high minaret thrusting up over Guangta Lu like a lighthouse. Enter just east of it and you can stroll all the way through the…
Guangzhou
A crenellated roadway between attractions in this hilly park is actually a (heavily restored) slab of Guangzhou's long-departed city wall, built during…
Guangzhou
Crowds march up and down this kilometre-long shopping thoroughfare that begins towards the eastern end of Dishifu Lu. The early-20th-century buildings…
Guangzhou
The ‘Bright Filial Piety Temple’ is the oldest temple site in Guangzhou, dating from the 4th century. By the time of the Tang it was well established as a…
Memorial Hall of the Lingnan School of Painting
Guangzhou
This excellent little museum on the campus of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts pays tribute to the founders of the Lingnan school of painting, such as…
Guangzhou
The Guangdong customs building (c 1916) is one of the most impressive concession-era structures remaining along the waterfront. Designed by a British…
Guangzhou
First built in 1380 as a military watchtower, the red-walled Zhenhai Tower (镇海楼, Zhènhǎi Lóu) is now home to the Guangzhou City Museum, which ascends…
Guangzhou
The French were granted permission to build this Roman Catholic cathedral after the second Opium War, between 1863 and 1888. Constructed entirely of…
Guangzhou
The warehouses and workshops of the former Guangdong Canned Food Factory (c 1958) are now home to Redtory art village. If you're hoping for an experience…
Guangzhou
This reconstruction of a military school founded in 1924 (the original was destroyed by the Japanese) is a museum of China's modern revolutionary history…
Guangzhou
Erected in 1959 in Socialist realism style, this statue on a knoll in Yuexiu Park depicts the symbol of Guangzhou: five mythical rams who bore five…
Guangzhou
Baiyun ('White Cloud'), a cluster of scenic peaks in the northern suburbs of Guangzhou, is the closest natural escape from the city. Star Touching Peak …
Guangzhou
Across from Yuexiu Park is this charming and little-visited garden, with worn stone bridges crossing pools, an orchid display and a quaint little…
Guangzhou
Formerly a guild hall for Cantonese opera practitioners, Bahe Academy opened in 1889 to provide lodging and other services to opera troupes. It now serves…
Guangzhou
The last house along the first lane off Yongqing Fang (永庆坊), an alleyway running north under an arch from Enning Lu, was the ancestral home of kung fu…
Guangzhou
Whether or not this actually is the grave of Abu Waqas, the man who brought Islam to China in the 7th century and an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed, the…
Guangzhou
A gargantuan museum with an extensive collection of Chinese art ranging from the ancient to the contemporary. The emphasis here is on calligraphic works…
Guangzhou
Spanning a whole block, this ritzy Buddhist temple complex is most noticeable by the monolithic Chinese building on Wenming Lu lit up at night like a…
Guangzhou
On the southern shoreline of Ersha Island (Èrshā Dǎo), this colossus of an art museum showcases the works of important Cantonese artists and has been the…
Memorial Museum of Generalissimo Sun Yatsen’s Mansion
Guangzhou
Sun Yatsen lived in this restored mansion when he established governments in Guangzhou in 1917 and 1923. The beautiful complex comprises two Victorian…
Guangzhou
Browse engaging but propaganda-ish exhibits on famous Cantonese revolutionaries, with a section dedicated to the life of Sun Wan, Sun Yatsen’s daughter…
Guangzhou
Luányú Táng is a 200-year-old union for actors playing martial-arts and acrobatic roles in Cantonese opera. The union still gives theatrical martial-arts…
Guangzhou
Dating from 1890, this Roman Catholic church marks the edge of the French concession (everything due west of here on Shamian Island was administered by…
Guangzhou
The ‘Red Mansion’ (c 1907), once Shamian’s grandest abode, fuses features of British colonial architecture such as colonnades and louvre windows with the…
Guangzhou
Marking a brief period of concord between the Kuomintang and the Communists, this school, at the site of a former Confucian temple, was a joint…
Guangzhou
East of the Peasant Movement Institute on Zhongshan Sanlu, this lavish memorial park commemorates communists killed after an attempted coup in 1927, which…
Guangzhou
Not to be confused with the far more impressive Guangdong Museum of Art, this dusty old museum has middling displays of concession-era porcelain, silks…
Guangzhou
Located in the historic Dōngshān area, Spring Garden was the headquarters of the central committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1923. Mao Zedong…
