Official Language:
Mandarin Chinese
Secondary Language:
Cantonese (Cantonese is a dialect spoken in Hong Kong, Macau ,Guangzhou and some other parts in South East Asia).
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Currency:
Chinese Yuan
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Population:
Approximately 6.66 million call Guangzhou home.
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Weather:
Climate and current weather information for Guangzhou: Situated in the subtropical zone and on the Tropic of Cancer, Guangzhou enjoys a pleasant temperature most of the year round. After Kunming, this city ranks as the city with the minimum temperature differences. It is neither too hot in summer here, nor too cold in winter. However, there is abundant rainfall here, making the scenery very lush and green but also ensuring that visitors need an umbrella or a raincoat! Autumn is the best time of year to visit and this season can last from May until November when it is cool and comfortable. 70°F/22°C Fannually with the highest of 78°F/38°C and lowest of 32°F/0°C
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Guangzhou (also Canton, Kuang-chou, or Kwangchow) is a city in southern China. It is a busy port and a commercial and industrial centre on the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang). Landmarks in the city include Sha Mian (Shameen) Island, where foreign traders formerly lived; a Ming dynasty temple, now the Peasant Movement Institute; a pagoda in the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees; a 14th-century watchtower (now Guangzhou Museum) in Yue Xiu (Yue Hsiu) park; the blue-roofed Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall; and a mosque said to be the oldest in China.
An ancient settlement of obscure origins, Guangzhou was brought into the Chinese Empire in the 3rd century BC. Arab, Persian, Hindu, and other merchants traded here for centuries before the Portuguese arrived in search of silk and porcelain in the 16th century. They were followed by British merchants in the 17th century and French and Dutch traders in the 18th century. Guangzhou became a treaty port in 1842 and was returned to Chinese control in 1946. Guangzhou was a centre of activity during the Republican Revolution (1911), led by Sun Yat-sen. The Japanese occupied and heavily damaged the city between 1938 and 1945. Guangzhou leaves many people with the unfavourable impression that China dwells in relentless chaos and that the city is simply a bad caricature of Hong Kong. Guangzhou is indeed very much modern China pushed to the limits: the traffic and pollution are horrendous, bridges and crumbling flyovers which seemed ludicrously over-ambitious when built in the mid-1980s now groan under the weight of vehicles and shelter the homeless during wet weather, and the city seems not so much to be booming as blowing apart at the seams. Buffeted by the crowds, travellers tend to stay only long enough to tackle a couple of temples and museums before organizing a ticket out, hoping that the rest of the country will prove less overwhelming.
Solidly geared to business rather than tourism, it may seem in any case that Guangzhou has little to offer the casual visitor. In purely practical terms, however, while the city is expensive compared with some parts of China, it's considerably cheaper than Hong Kong - particularly in regard to shopping and onward travel . Airfares into China from Guangzhou are about half what you'd pay south of the border, allowing big savings even after you factor in transport from Hong Kong and a night's accommodation. You'll also find that, having mastered the initial shock, Guangzhou is a city you can learn to enjoy. Compared with Beijing's bureaucratic aloofness or the image-conscious populace of Shanghai, the city's inhabitants are immediately upfront, and pleasantly indifferent to foreign faces after two thousand years of contact with the outside world. They're also compulsively garrulous, turning Guangzhou's two famous obsessions - eating and business - into social occasions, and filling streets, restaurants and buildings with the alternately guttural and musical sounds of Yuehua , the rhythmic Cantonese language. Guangzhou has also traditionally been the first place where foreign influences have seeped into the country, often through returning Overseas Chinese, and this is where to watch for the latest fashions and to see how China will interpret alien styles. The sounds of techno, Canto-pop, and punk fill the night-clubs here, not karaoke and Chinese folk tunes, and youths in leather and blue-tinted, wraparound sunglasses ride Japanese Harley-Davidson clones. Although the city lacks any great sights, you can easily ditch its Western veneer by wandering into the maze of flagstoned back lanes, in search of monuments and busy markets hidden away from casual observers.
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Located in the south part of China, at the mouth of the Pearl River as capital of Guangdong, Guangzhou is most well-known for being an economic power house as well as a paradise for epicures. The place is so big, however, that there are a few decent sights left here, scattered amongst the ever sprouting modern buildings, and all are fairly well kept. The strangest thing about the sights is that similar attractions all seem to be scattered together, and in these terms, the city is divided into three basic regions: Central Guangzhou, North Guangzhou and the Outer regions. Probably the best of all sights in Guangzhou, and the easiest way to escape the hustle and bustle of downtown, is Shamian Island, shrouded in European atmosphere colonial past.
Ancestral Temple of Chen Family
The Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, built between 1890 and 1894 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, is the largest, best preserved, and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province.
It was built with donations of members of the Chen family who lived in the 72 counties of the Guangdong province. After its completion, the temple was used to provide lodgings for Chen family candidates who came from all over Guangdong to in order to prepare for the imperial examinations to be held in Guangzhou. Hence it was also called the Chen Clan Academy.
Occupying an area of 15,000 square meters, the temple, has a rectangular main building and comprises six courtyards, nine main halls, and nineteen buildings. With an architectural design of traditional Guangdong style, the temple is especially renowned for its beautiful decorations. In the temple, historical figures, legends, and scenes are represented in many art forms, including wood carving, brick carving, pottery carving, stone carving, lime carving, clay sculpture, ash sculpture, brass and cast iron, grotto, new year painting, and so on. These artistic and historical attributes make the temple an important attraction in Guangzhou.
In 1986, it was designated as an important cultural relic by the State Council. The temple now is the site of the Museum of Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts.
Bright Filial Piety Temple
The Temple of Bright Filial Piety on Guangxiao Road is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and was the mansion of Prince Zhao Jiande of the Nanyue Kingdom during the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.24).
The Temple of Bright Filial Piety was first built by an Indian monk during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317- 420) but the present temple, occupying an area of 31000 square meters, dates from the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The temple has an important place in Buddhist history as Huineng of the Zen Buddhist sect was a novice monk here in the 7th century.
The Sixth Ancestor Hall in the temple was built in memory of Huineng, the sixth master of the Zen Sect of Buddhism, who was also the most influential monk in the history of Chinese Buddhism.
In the temple there is also a pagoda where Huineng's hair was buried. Other ancient structures in the temple include Sakyamuni Hall, Samgharama Hall, the King of Heaven Hall, and two iron towers.
Huaisheng(Remember the Sage) Mosque
Located on Guangta Road, Huaisheng Mosque, popularly known as the Light Tower Mosque, is one of the earliest mosques established following the introduction of Islam into China in the 7th century. The original mosque on this site is said to have been built in 627 AD by the first Muslim missionary to China, an uncle of Mohammed. Huaisheng means "Remember the Sage", in memory of the prophet - Mohammed
Rebuilt following destruction by fire, the present mosque dates from 1695 during the Qing Dynasty. Covering an area of 2966 square meters, the mosque is composed of Imam Hall, Storehouse of Islamic Scripture, Chapel Hall and Baptismal Hall.
An important feature is the minaret, which is 36 meters in height with a pointed tip. It is a typical Arabic architectural style. In the past sailors often climbed the minaret to observe weather conditions before going to sea and in night, the minaret used to serve as a beacon for the boats on the Zhujiang River. Hence the name Light Tower.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, situated in the original site of Sun Yat-sen's Presidential Office on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, is a memorial building built in 1931 with the funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's bourgeois democratic revolution.
Sun Yat-sen, born on November 12, 1866 at Cuiheng Village of Guangdong province, was a leading figure in China's revolution against the Qing government and the first President of the Republic. In August 1905, he formulated the Three Principles of the People - nationalism, democracy, and social well-being - which he believed were the guidelines for building a modern China, and as he had proposed, he truly contributed his whole life into the great task.
Completed in October 1983, the memorial hall, occupying an area of 12,000 square meters with a height of 46 meters, has magnificent exterior and elegant interior decorations. The whole building, octagonal in shape, is of a typical Chinese architectural style. The designer skillfully applied the structural theory of architectural mechanics taking full advantage of the benefits of reinforced concrete. He thus created a pillar less space with the span of up to 71 meters, its grandeur resembling a huge umbrella when seen from afar.
Above the entrance of the door, there is a plaque that bears in gold the words "Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall" inscribed by Liao Chengzhi, the vice chairman of the standing Committee of the National People's Congress. At the central up-layer wall of the small hall hangs another plaque with the words "The Whole World as a Community" which was inscribed by Sun Yat-sen himself.
In 1956, a 5-meter- high bronze statue of Dr Sun was erected in front of the hall.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is the most symbolic building of Guangzhou, and a key venue for the city's large-scale meetings and performances.
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, situated on Liurong Road, is a world famous ancient Buddhist temple. It was built in 537 in the Liang dynasty during the Southern dynasties (386-581).
More than 1460 years ago in the Liang dynasty, Tanyu, the master priest, under orders of Emperor Liangwu, built Baozhuangyan Temple to store the Buddhist bones brought from Kampuchea. During the Northern Song dynasty, a great writer - Su Shi, on a visit to this temple was attracted by the six banyan trees surrounding it and wrote the inscription "Liu Rong" (Six Banyan Trees). This temple has since been known as Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. The temple was burned down and rebuilt in the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127).
Flowery Pagoda, built in 1097, is the major structure in this temple. Named for its colorful exterior, the pagoda stands 57 meters high in the center of the temple, having a bronze column with 1,000 Buddhist sculptures on its top. Viewed from outside, the pagoda has 9 storey while in fact it has 17 storey inside.
To the west of the pagoda is Grand Hall, a magnificent hall rebuilt in 1983 with an area of 300 square meters and a height of 14 meters. In this hall are enshrined three huge images: Sakyamuni in the middle, Amitabha left and Maitreya right. Elaborately made of brass in 1633 during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty, each is 6m high and weighing 10 tons, being the largest existing ancient brass images in Guangdong province.
In the Banyan Garden, there is the Hall of Liuzu in which a copper image of Liuzu - the sixth generation of China's Buddhist master is enshrined. This image, 1.8 meters in height and 1 ton in weight, was meticulously cast in 989 in the Northern Song dynasty. The image is very life like, sitting silently with its eyes closed in meditation
Western Han Nanyue King Tomb Museum
The Nanyue King's Tomb Museum, located in Jiefang road, stands on the site of the tomb of Emperor Wen, the second ruler during the Southern Yue Kingdom dating back to 100 B.C.
The tomb was originally 20m under Elephant Hill and was discovered in 1983. More than 1000 burial objects were excavated, among which are a chariot, gold and silver vessels, musical instruments, and sacrificial human remains. The tomb is 10.85 meter in length and 12.43 meters in the widest place, consisting of the front and rear chambers. It is the earliest large-scale painted stone-chamber tomb to be found to the south of the Five Ridges.
The site is now the Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum.
White Cloud Mountain
People like to describe the natural beauty of Guangzhou as the "pearl sea and white cloud". White Cloud Mountain refers to the mountain range located 7.5 km northeast of Guangzhou. As an offshoot of Dayu Ling, the main mountain range of Guangdong province. White Cloud Mountain consists of some 30 peaks, covering an area of 28 square meters. The highest peak, Moxing Ridge (Star- scraping Ridge) stands in the center of White Cloud Mountain, and is 382 meters high, and regarded as "the First Peak under the Southern Sky".
The name of the mountain is derived from the white clouds that fly over it and gather around its base. The magnificent scenery and abundance of historical relics have made this a famous scenic spot in Guangzhou since ancient times.
White Cloud Mountain is a park with natural hills and waters, ideal for sightseeing and as a summer resort, with a history of development of over 1,000 years. Locations such as Wind Soughing in the Pines on White Cloud Mountain, Pujian Spring, and Looking Afar in the Evening from White Cloud Mountain, the Returned Monk at Jingtai, the Splendid Mountain of Cloud, etc. are all famous scenic spots in this mountain. Renowned poets and scholars of past dynasties, such as Sushi, Yang Wanli, Wang Shizhen and others once came here and recorded their experiences in poetry and prose for posterity.
Described as the premier spectacle of Guangzhou by some brochures, the site is also widely known for the well ordered traffic conditions. In good weather, traveling there is really rewarding and peaceful for those who choose to walk.
In recent times new tourist attractions have been created and these include facilities for water sports, a golf course, botanical gardens and a sculpture park
Yuexiu Park
The largest park in Guangzhou, Yuexiu Park covers an area of 93 hectares. Besides a number of artificial lakes and a huge swimming pool, the park is renowned for its Zhenhai Tower and the Sculpture of the Five Rams.
Zhenhai Tower
Standing on the top of Yuexiu Hill in the northern suburbs, the 28-metre-high five-storey tower - also known as the Five-storey Pagoda - was built on the order of Zhu Liangzu, the Yongjia Marquis of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), to flaunt his power said to be able to "shake the seas and mountains". It is a magnificent building, commanding a bird's-eye view of the whole city. The tower now houses the City Museum, with exhibits which describe the history of Guangzhou from Neolithic times till the early part of this century.
British and French troops occupied the tower during the Opium Wars on account of its strategic location. The 12 cannons in front of the tower are from that time. Now the City Museum is situated in the tower. To help you learn something of the history of Guangzhou, you are sure to find the exhibits dating from Neolithic times to the early part of this century in the museum of great interest.
The Sculpture of the Five Rams, the symbol of Guangzhou, was erected in 1959. A beautiful legend said that long, long ago there were five celestial beings, who wore robes of five colors. One day they rode rams through the air to Guangzhou, each carrying a stem of rice. They presented to the people the auspicious sign from heaven and told them that the area would be free from famine forever. Later, according to the story, the city took a name: City of Rams, or just Goat City. Its official name Guangzhou, however, means 'broad region" in Chinese.
Guangzhou Museum
The Guangzhou Museum is located in Yuexiu Park within the 14th century Tower Controlling the Sea (zhenhai lou). Each of the 5 stories of the 28 meter (92ft) tower has exhibitions relating to the history of Guangzhou from prehistoric times to the present. The 3rd and 4th floors have some interesting exhibits relating to Guangzhou’s role as a trading center both before and after the Opium Wars (1839-1862). The top floor of the tower has a café and a selection of shops selling traditional gifts and souvenirs.
Zhenhai TowerStanding on the top of Yuexiu Hill in the northern suburbs, the 28-metre-high five-storey tower -- also known as Five-storey Pagoda -- was built on the order of Zhu Liangzu, the Yongjia Marquis of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), to flaunt his power that was able to "shake the seas and mountains". A magnificent building, it commands a bird's-eye view of the whole city. The tower now houses the City Museum, with exhibits which describe the history of Guangzhou from Neolithic times till the early part of this century.
Bright Filial Piety Temple
Bright filial Piety Temple is also called Guanghua Temple. Situated in the city proper and first built in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), the temple is known as the "first ancient temple in South China". The Sixth Ancestor Hall in the temple was built in memory of Huineng, the sixth master of the Chan Sect of Buddhism, who was also the most influential monk in the history of Chinese Buddhism. In the temple there is also a pagoda where Huineng's hair was buried. Other ancient structures in the temple include The Sakyamuni Hall, The Samgharama Hall, The King of Heaven Hall, and two iron towers.
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The temple is known as Liu Rong Temple in Chinese. Situated inside the city, the temple, first built in the Five Dynasties period (907-960), was originally called Baozhuangyan Temple. It was renamed in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) as Su Shi, a great writer of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), was found to shave written the two characters of Liu Rong when he saw the six ancient banyan trees there on a visit to the temple. In the temple there is a 57-metre-high, 17-story octagonal pagoda, which has on its top a bronze column with 1,000 Buddhist sculptures. The column, with its metal accessories, weighs five tons, something rarely seen in ancient China. The pagoda is also called Flower Pagoda for its colorful exterior. In the temple there are also three large bronze Buddhist sculptures made in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), each standing six metres high and weighing 10 tons.
Huaisheng (Remember the Sage) Mosque
Built in the city during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the building is one of the oldest mosques in China. The name of the mosque means "Remember the Sage", in memory of the prophet. The 1,000-year-old Guangta, or Smooth Tower, a 36-metre-high brick structure with a smooth surface, is of the Arabic architectural style. In the mosque are the Praying Hall and other buildings.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
The hall, situated on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, is built in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's bourgeois democratic revolution. The 49-metre-high hall, with a magnificent exterior and elegant interior decorations, can accommodate 6,000 people.
There are also other sites of historic interest and scenic spots in Guangzhou, such as the Southern Yue Tomb Museum and tombs of ancient Moslem sages, Baiyun (White Cloud) Hills, Nankun Hill, Lianhua (Lotus) Hill and Feixia (Flying Clouds) Hill.
Qingping Market
Qingping Market has over 2,000 stalls along 1km of Qingping Lu and Ti Yun Lu just north of Shamian Island. It is the largest street market in Guangzhou and over 60,000 people shop here every day. The most infamous section of Qingping is the meat market where live chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs, anteaters, turtles and all sorts of animals are sold, and often slaughtered on the spot to provide fresh meat. Definitely not for the faint hearted. The Chinese medicine section is interesting and less disturbing, perhaps as the by-products of endangered species are not so instantly recognizable. Behind the packed crowds and stalls there are also some jade and antique stalls and the antique shops along nearby Daihe Lu are also worth a visit.
Yuexiu Park
Yuexiu Park covers over 100 hectares and is located in central Guangzhou. Apart from the lakes and landscaped gardens the park is also home to some of the city’s famous sights including Guangzhou’s symbolic Statue of the Five Goats and the Guangzhou Museum.
There are a number of small amusement parks for children within Yuexiu Park including the Journey to the West Amusement Park, which is an entertaining mini-theme park featuring characters from this classic Chinese story.
Liuhuahu Park
Liuhuahu Park is located in the west of Guangzhou close to Yuexiu Park. It is well maintained and has the city’s largest artificial lake with plenty of shady trees and benches.maintained and has the city’s largest artificial lake with plenty of shady trees and benches.
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