Street Scene, Guangzhou
Guangzhou Yuexiu Park
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Ancestral Temple of Chen Family
Guangdong province, Yue for short, is located at the southern coast of China. It borders Hong Kong, Macao, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian, and also faces Hainan province across the Qiongzhou Strait. It has an area of 179,800 square kilometers (about 69,421 square miles) with a population of 104,300,000 (2010 statistics). The languages used by the local people are Cantonese, Hakka, and Hokkien. Thanks for foreign trade and communication, Guangdong has been a prosperous area since the Qin (221BC – 207BC) and Han (206BC – 220AD) dynasties. It is also the hometown of most overseas Chinese.
Guangzhou is the provincial capital. It is a heaven to gourmets and shoppers. All kinds of delicious food and snacks are found in the city; the famous Shangxiajiu and Beijing Road commercial streets are lined with various shops and stores. Shenzhen is the second largest city in Guangdong province. It faces Hong Kong SAR across the Shenzhen River and has seven ports connecting Hong Kong. Zhuhai is an important city at the south end of the Pearl River Delta. It borders Macau SAR and faces Hong Kong across sea. Along the 604 km coastline of Zhuhai, there are over 140 islands, so it is also named “the city of one hundred islands”. Located in the north of Guangdong Province, Shaoguan is a famous historic and cultural city. It is also blessed with beautiful landscape – the famous Danxia Mountain.
Attractions
The long history leaves Guangdong rich cultural relics. There is 2,000 year-old Western Han Nanyue King’s Tomb, the iconic Yuexiu Park, and time-honored Ancestral Temple of Chen Family. Its hilly and coastal lands also give the province beautiful landscapes, including White Cloud Mountain, Mount Danxia, and Dameisha and Xiaomeisha beaches. Moreover, there are also famous theme parks, such as Window of the World, Chimelong Paradise and Splendid China. More Guangdong attractions: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Temple of Six Bayan Trees, Guangxiao Temple, Chinese Folk Culture Villages, Happy Valley
Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit Guangdong Province is spring and winter, especially between October and December.
Guangdong is blessed with tropical and sub-tropical climates, featuring long hot summers and short warm winters. Every April to September, typhoon and rain come. It is wet all the year round.
The average temperature of spring (March to mid May) is 23°C (73.4°F), and visitors can wear T-shirts, light overcoat and jeans. In summer (May to mid September), the temperature averages 33°C (91.4°F) and it rains (mostly showers) a lot. Autumn is mild but short, and the mean temperature is also 23°C. From September to February is the coldest time in Guangdong, with a mean temperature of 17°C (62.6°F). Visitors can take sweaters and overcoat with them.
Tips
1. When traveling in Guangdong, you should never miss the interesting activities, such as the Guangzhou International Food Festival, China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), and Yangjiang Kite Festival. Please note that during these festivals, especially the Canton Fair, hotel rooms and transportation are in large demand, so you’d better make an early reservation.
2. The unique custom is also one of the highlights of Guangdong. Dragon dance in Fengshun County is called fire dragon dance. The dragon is covered with fireworks and burns when people are dancing with it. Lion dance here is also different from other part of China. Each lion is held by two dancers, and the dancers shows some Kung Fu moves during the performance. People in Chaozhou and Shantou areas also keep the traditional custom of Yingge Dance and burning towers in festivals.
3. Cantonese cuisine is one of the top four cuisines in China (the other three are Sichuan Cuisine, Shandong Cuisine, and Huaiyang Cuisine), so do not forget to have a taste of the local food during your trip. The most famous dishes are snake soup, fried squab, poached chicken, and fried fish with pine nut. What’s more, the locals love to drink morning tea and eat some dim sum and snacks, such as shrimp dumplings, steamed vermicelli roll, and barbecued pork buns.
Recommended Guangzhou Tour Itinerary:
Southwest China Tours: 14 days tour of Beijing - Chengdu - Jiuzhaigou - Huanglong - Chengdu - Leshan - Mt. Emei - Chengdu - Chongqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Guangzhou
