Must-see attractions in Guangzhou

  • Shamian Island

    Shamian Island

    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…

  • Zaha Hadid's Guangzhou Opera House.

    Guangzhou Opera House

    Guangzhou

    Designed by Zaha Hadid, southern China's premier performance venue has transformed the area with its typically commanding, otherworldly aspect. Futuristic…

  • Statues at Chen Clan Academy, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, Asia

    Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

    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…

  • Ancient chinese pavilion from the famous yuyin cottage (built in qing dynasty, around 1800) at guangzhou, guangdong, china.; Shutterstock ID 37706359; Your name (First / Last): Megan Eaves; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Destination page POI images

    Yuyin Mountain Villa

    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 CHINA - NOVEMBER 14, 2016: Mausoleum of Nanyue King Museum. ; Shutterstock ID 585532841; Your name (First / Last): Megan Eaves; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Destination page POI images

    Mausoleum of the Nanyue King

    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…

  • The Canton Tower as seen from the Four Seasons Hotel, IFC.

    Canton Tower

    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,…

  • Dōngshān

    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 …

  • Redtory

    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…

  • Whampoa Military Academy

    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…

  • Five Rams Statue

    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…

  • Peasant Movement Institute

    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…

  • Guangdong Museum

    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…

  • Baiyun Mountain

    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 …

  • Huaisheng Mosque

    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 Orchid Garden

    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…

  • Martyrs' Park

    Guangzhou

    East of the Peasant Movement Institute on Zhongshan Sanlu, this lavish memorial park commemorates communists killed after an attempted coup in 1927, which…

  • Bahe Academy

    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…

  • Ancestral Home of Bruce Lee

    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…

  • Grave of Abu Waqas

    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…

  • Yuexiu Park

    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 Museum of Art

    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 Big Buddha Temple

    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…

  • Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

    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…

  • Guangxiao Temple

    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…

  • Guangzhou Art Gallery

    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…

  • Guangdong Museum of Art

    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…

  • Spring Garden

    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…

  • Canton Customs Mansion

    Guangzhou

    The Guangdong customs building (c 1916) is one of the most impressive concession-era structures remaining along the waterfront. Designed by a British…

  • Xinhai Revolution Museum

    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 City Museum

    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…

  • Luányú Táng

    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…

  • Cathedral of the Sacred Heart

    Guangzhou

    The French were granted permission to build this Roman Catholic cathedral after the second Opium War, between 1863 and 1888. Constructed entirely of…

  • Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

    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…

  • Shamian Clubhouse

    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…

    • placement: fullWidth
    • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
    • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],
    • targeting:
      {
        "position": "superzone"
      }

More destinations you need to see