At eight in the morning, Guangzhou’s old city district.
The teahouse is buzzing with noise, grandpas and grandmas already filling the tables. Servers push carts through the aisles, stacked with steamer baskets—shrimp dumplings, siu mai, char siu bao, chicken feet… Grandma skillfully flips through the newspaper, Grandpa slowly sips Pu’er tea. One pot, two items, they can eat from morning until noon.
This is Guangdong’s morning tea, a lifestyle etched into the bones.
Guangdong is a place that makes you want to eat as soon as you arrive.
Province Profile#
- Location: Southern China coast, south of the Nanling Mountains
- Best Travel Season: October to following April (avoid humid hot summer)
- Highlights: Morning tea culture, Lingnan charm, food paradise, reform and opening up
Must-Visit Attractions#
Guangzhou: The Millennium Commercial Port’s Earthly Vitality#
Guangzhou is a city with over 2,000 years of history, and one of China’s most inclusive cities.
Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is a gem of Lingnan architecture, three courtyards decorated with exquisite wood, stone, and brick carvings and pottery sculptures. Every detail shows the craftsmen’s dedication.
Shamian Island is a small island by the Pearl River, once the British and French concession. The island is filled with European old buildings and towering banyan trees—Guangzhou’s most romantic spot.
Canton Tower is the city’s new landmark, 600 meters tall, nicknamed “Slim Waist.” When lights come on at night, it’s Guangzhou’s most beautiful night scenery.
Best Experience: Morning tea in the morning, stroll Shamian in the afternoon, climb Canton Tower at night for the view.
Shenzhen: From Small Fishing Village to Innovation Hub#
Shenzhen is China’s youngest first-tier city—40 years ago, it was just a small fishing village.
Window of the World brings together miniature versions of world-famous landmarks—“travel the world in a day.” OCT-LOFT is where artsy young people gather, with old factory buildings transformed into galleries, cafés, and design studios.
Dapeng Fortress is Shenzhen’s historical memory, a 600-year-old ancient city with blue bricks and black tiles, telling the story of this city’s past.
Best Experience: Visit Huaqiangbei electronics market to feel the vitality of “China’s Silicon Valley.”
Chaoshan: A Pilgrimage for Foodies#
The Chaoshan region (Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang) is a paradise for food lovers.
Chaozhou Ancient City has a thousand years of history, with memorial archway streets lined with arcade-style old buildings, snack shops one after another. Beef balls, oyster omelets, guotiao strips, duck mother twist… everything makes you drool.
Guangji Bridge is one of China’s four great ancient bridges, with the middle section formed by 18 wooden boats connected as a floating bridge, dismantled and reassembled every morning and evening—the “world’s earliest opening and closing bridge.”
Best Experience: Stay in Chaozhou for a few days and try every snack in every alley.
Special Experiences#
Shunde Flavor Seeking#
Shunde is a “UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy,” one of the birthplaces of Cantonese cuisine.
Shunde Fish Sashimi is a local specialty, fish slices thin as cicada wings, dipped in ginger-scallion-garlic oil, fresh, sweet, and smooth. Double Skin Milk is a Shunde dessert, rich milk flavor, melting in your mouth. Jun’an Steamed Pig, Lunjiao Cake, Daliang Stir-fried Milk… every dish is a classic.
Kaiping Diaolou#
Kaiping Diaolou is a World Cultural Heritage, unique architecture blending Chinese and Western styles.
A century ago, overseas Chinese brought architectural styles they saw abroad back to their hometown, building one diaolou after another. Ancient Greek colonnades, Roman arches, Islamic domes… various styles mixed together, yet unexpectedly harmonious.
Danxia Mountain#
Danxia Mountain is a World Natural Heritage, with red sandstone peak forests like burning flames. Elder Peak, Yangyuan Stone, Xianglong Lake—every spot is nature’s masterpiece.
Travel Tips#
- Transportation: Guangzhou and Shenzhen are transportation hubs with high-speed rail and flights to all parts of the country. Chaoshan also has a high-speed rail station.
- Accommodation: In Guangzhou, stay in the old city (Liwan, Yuexiu) to experience morning tea culture; in Shenzhen, stay in Futian or Nanshan.
- Note: Guangdong is humid and hot in summer—recommend visiting in autumn or winter. Go early for morning tea, or you’ll have to queue.
Guangdong’s charm is hidden in that earthly vitality.
The leisurely chat of grandpas and grandmas in the teahouse, the bustle of night market food stalls, the beef aroma wafting from Chaoshan alleys… these daily moments are Guangdong’s most moving scenery.
Come to Guangdong and measure this land with your taste buds.
Tomorrow, we head to Guangxi to see the landscape of Guilin and the pastoral scenery of Yangshuo.