Guangzhou, China, just a few hours from Hong Kong, provides a nice bridge to the outside world. It is located 80 mi/130 km northwest of Hong Kong and 1,200 mi/1,900 km south of Beijing.
Guangzhou will host the 16th Asian Games in 2010, and like Beijing in 2008, it is using a major sporting event to re-create its image. An entire mini-city, the New Pearl River City, is being created east of downtown and will feature scores of hotels, tourism sites and cultural venues linked by an enhanced subway system to the purpose-built Asian Games stadiums in the south.
Some new attractions are already taking shape. Designed like a twisting candelabra, the New Guangzhou TV Tower dominates the skyline. On the opposite bank of the broad Pearl River is Zaha Hadid's dazzlingly futuristic Guangzhou Opera House. A vast new provincial museum is also being built, and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie is designing a 27-hole golf course and club in the hills fringing the city.
Guangzhou's massive urban revamp is also driving the hotel scene, with a number of new hotels already open and others in the works.
A modern city in appearance and outlook, Guangzhou is where the Chinese began their experiments with the free market. Even so, there are many parts of the city (also known as Canton) that reflect its long history.
Created in 1862 as a British and French concession, Shamian Island was the foreign seat of power in southern China. It was the old foreign residents' compound, where diplomats and traders were isolated while living in China.
Some of the colonial architecture from the 1800s still stands today, and the island is fun to stroll around. Surrounded by canals and shrouded in tropical greenery, Shamian's picturesque streets are flanked by colonnaded and neoclassical buildings that once housed international banks, hotels, theaters and consulates.
The Qingping Market, just north of Shamian Island, was notorious for the live animals sold there for food, many of which would be pets elsewhere (monkeys, cats, large wild birds, an endangered species of anteater called pangolin, and other surprises). You could also see sights such as snakes being skinned alive and freshly slaughtered cuts of meat. However, that part of the market was closed during the SARS crisis in 2003 because it was considered such a risk for cross-infection between livestock and to humans. The authorities also used it as a way of cracking down on the sale of dogs and cats for food, although you can still come across them being sold in cages on side streets—until PSB officers arrive and the traders run off.
These days, Qingping is a fascinating, five-block-long herb market with everything from dried starfish to ground lizard. Allow an hour to walk through it, but don't wear your best clothes—the market is not particularly clean.
Near the end of the market is Guangzhou Cultural Park. There, after 7 pm, you can enjoy Chinese operas in the round, acrobat and puppet shows, art exhibits, roller-skating and other forms of amusement. An evening there is highly recommended.
Other things to see and do include a boat trip on the Pearl River, best at night when the city is ablaze with colored lights; the exquisite treasures discovered in the 2,000-year-old Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyu King; a visit to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (site of a 1,400-year-old pagoda with a fine view); the Roman Catholic church; the Mohammedan Tomb (thought to be the tomb of the Islamic missionary who built the original Huaisheng mosque); the Chen Clan Temple (wonderful ornate architecture from the late 1800s); Yuexiu Park, which contains the Ming-era Zhenhai Tower with the Guangzhou Museum; the circular Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, commemorating China's first president; and Guangzhou Zoo (the second-largest in China—it, too, has pandas).
The city has good shopping, especially around Zhongshan Five-Road and Beijing Road. A group of upscale shops can be found around the Holiday Inn-Garden Hotel area. You might also consider a day trip to the nearby village of Foshan to visit the Foshan Folk Art Institute, which trains craftspeople in various fields.
Avoid travel to Guangzhou in the second half of both April and October, when all hotels are booked for the Chinese Import and Export Commodities Fair, China's largest international trade show, also known as Canton Fair.
History
Formerly known as Canton, Guangzhou sits on China's southern coast at the mouth of the Pearl River. From the mid-18th century, Guangzhou became China's shipping hub. It remained the only port permitted to trade with foreign nations until the Opium War in 1840, which opened up—and largely created—the eastern port city of Shanghai.
The Opium War also gave foreign powers greater access to Guangzhou, as it was one of the five Treaty Ports spanning China's coast. The resulting legacy is a fine collection of late 19th- and early-20th century architecture.
Dining Overview
Local Cantonese cuisine is widely revered as the most refined and delicate in China. Visitors will find an abundance of places where they can sample the local cuisine.
An evening dinner at the Guangzhou Restaurant is a quintessential Cantonese experience. This elaborate marble-and-gilt eatery was established in 1935 and serves local specialties such as roast goose, double-boiled soups and abalone.
