2 Days Guangzhou Discovery

In the morning, you will be picked up by the tour guide at the hotel in Guangzhou downtown as the start of Guangzhou Visa Free Tour. The first destination is Chen Clan Ancestral Hall. Set up in 1817, the Hall is a building with characteristics of palaces in the Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）. Covering 499 m2, it’s located beside mountains with picturesque landscapes. The quaint hall boasts sophisticated wood, stone, and brick carvings. In addition, there are many plaques recording stories that happened in the past. Meanwhile, as a clan ancestral hall, it houses a great genealogy of 48 volumes dating back to 1891 and another one written during the period between 1796 and 1850. Each year, people surnamed Chen from Fujian and Guangdong provinces as well as representatives of overseas Chen families usually come here in February and August to attend grand sacrificial ceremonies. During this tour, you will have a good chance to have a glimpse into Chinese culture by exploring the ancient site for commemorating ancestry. 

The Next stop is Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, one of the three major traditional prosperous commercial centers in Guangzhou City. Being 1,237 meters long, the Street is dotted with 238 stores and thousands of merchants. It features the combination of the Chinese and Western cultures, forming a unique travel highlight. You can find all kinds of products here, like shoes and clothes, Chinese watches and textiles. Meanwhile, there are dozens of old eateries of over one hundred years and distinguished taverns. A wide variety of mooncakes produced here are bestselling both at home and abroad，relieving the homesickness of those away from home. What’s more interesting is clearance sales of big brands. If you are lucky, you can get your favorite luxuries at low prices. 

After lunch, you will head to Yuexiu Park, the largest integrated park of cultural appreciation in Guangzhou. Built in 1952, the Park covers 860,000 m2, consisting of three artificial lakes and seven hills. Among many other scenic areas, the ancient wall set up in the Ming Dynasty is strongly reminiscent of the history of the past six centuries. With a length of more than 1,100 meters, the wall crosses Yuexiu Mountain and it played an important part in the defense against foreign invasion during the Second Opium War (1856-1860). You may be interested in a beautiful statue comprised of one goat, one sheep, and three lambs. There is a fascinating legend about the statue. Once upon a time, five immortals came to Guangzhou by riding one of the five creatures respectively that held a great rice panicle each in its mouth. They gave the five panicles to locals. Before leaving, they left the five creatures behind to bless residents with bumper harvests each year. You may take some souvenir photos of them.  

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is your next destination. The splendid hall is 35 meters high and covers an area of 30,000 m2. It’s designed to commemorate Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), a great Chinese national hero and a pioneer of the Chinese democratic revolution. The Hall is divided into three parts and the front part is a three-storey building with a great hall on the first floor. At the center of the hall stands a white marble statue of Sun Yat-sen. The middle part with a central air conditioner is a modern theater boasting 1484 seats. There is a well-equipped rotatable stage on the third floor. Dressing rooms of performers are in the behind part. You can take a good rest along the winding trail or in the tranquil corridor on both sides of the Hall.

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

Yuexiu Park

Today, let us first go to visit Canton Tower. The Tower is also known as Guangzhou New Television Tower. With a total area of 114,054 m2, it has a 450-meter high tower body and a 150-meter long mast. As the first sightseeing tower in China, it presents the great prosperity and openness of Guangzhou. Besides sightseeing, the Tower combines fashionable catering, science popularization, education, shopping, many other entertainments. 

After that, you will leave for the Archaeological Site Museum of Nanyue Palace (closed on Monday), housing the best-preserved remains of the earliest imperial garden in China. With a protection area of 53,000 m2, the Site has a history of over two millennia, consisting of relics of stone ponds, winding channels, and corridors. The Museum has a collection of relics of 13 dynasties in China from the Qin Dynasty（770 B.C.-207 A.D.）to the Republic of China (1912-1949). Visitors are allowed to see the process of the excavation and understand archeological procedures.

At lunchtime, you are going to taste Cantonese Dim Sum. There are about one thousand varieties of dim sum in Guangzhou, dubbed as the champion among other dim sums in China. Featuring the delicate production process, its taste can be sweet, salty, or both at the same time. Its fillings are various, including sugar, walnuts, sesame, rose petals, or jujube and red bean paste. The egg-yolk lotus seed paste mooncake is one of the most typical of its kind. Featuring thin crust and plump fillings, it may be an acquired taste to some people. However, you will be immediately obsessed with its beautiful design patterns. It’s a very popular food among the Chinese people both at home and abroad, especially at Mid-Autumn Festival (a traditional Chinese festival for a family reunion). So feel free to enjoy the special food and you may find your favorite taste.

In the afternoon, it’s time to explore Shamian Island. As a place boasting the most Continental features, the Island has well-preserved characteristics of British and French concessions in the 19th century. Surrounded by water on its three sides, it enjoys a picturesque landscape brimming with a floral aroma and chirping birds all year round. There are around 150 ancient Continental buildings of baroque and Neoclassical styles, among which the French cathedral is a typical one. Set up in 1889, the cathedral is a Gothic-style building designed for the religious activity of Catholics from the French Consulate in Guangzhou. Here you can relax by walking along the quaint streets just as you’re taking a retreat from the world.

At the end of the visit, you will be sent back to the hotel.

Canton Tower

Archaeological Site Museum of Nanyue Palace

Author: Tabitha