Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou, China, is the capital of Guangdong province: a Pearl River megacity of 18.8 million people (2024), the historic southern trading port and the home of Cantonese cooking and dim sum.

Capital of Guangdong, the historic southern trading port and the home of Cantonese cooking. The first Chinese city to industrialise, the centre of dim sum, and a working megacity less polished than Shanghai but with deeper food roots.

Guangzhou (older Western name: Canton) sits on the Pearl River, 120 km up from its mouth at Hong Kong. It has been the major southern trading port for more than two thousand years — the southern terminus of the maritime Silk Road, the only Chinese port open to foreign merchants for much of the 18th and 19th centuries, and the birthplace of the modern Chinese revolution. It is also the cultural and culinary capital of Cantonese China, the home of dim sum, of Cantonese opera, of the morning yum cha tradition that still defines daily life.

The city today is a working megacity rather than a tourist polish job. The historic Liwan and Yuexiu districts contain the temples (Chen Clan, Bright Filial Piety, Six Banyan), the riverside arcades and the Shamian Island colonial concession. The Tianhe district to the east is the modern CBD, with the Canton Tower, the IFC and the high-speed rail terminus. The Pearl River separates them.

The climate is the southernmost in mainland China outside Hainan: summers are long, hot and very humid (April–October regularly exceeds 30°C with high humidity); winters are mild (10–20°C) and short. Typhoons hit the city occasionally between July and September. The dry, mild months from November to early March are the best time to visit.

Guangzhou's relationship with Hong Kong is close — the high-speed rail to Hong Kong West Kowloon is 47 minutes; many travellers combine Guangzhou with a Hong Kong stop. The city is also the launchpad for the Pearl River Delta industrial cluster — Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai are all within an hour by train.

Arrive through Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), about 28 km north of the centre and served by Metro Lines 3 and 22. The Guangzhou arrival guide covers SIMs, mobile payment and money, and the Baiyun Airport guide covers the terminals. Once in the city, the Guangzhou neighbourhoods guide describes districts including Tianhe, Zhujiang New Town, Shamian Island and Liwan old town.

Food is a main reason to visit. The Guangzhou food guide covers dim sum, Cantonese roast goose, white cut chicken, congee and wonton noodles, with venues by neighbourhood in Liwan and Tianhe, plus markets and street food. For time beyond the city, the Guangzhou day trips guide covers Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, the UNESCO-listed Kaiping Diaolou and Conghua hot springs, and the Guangzhou with kids guide lists Guangzhou Zoo, Chimelong Safari Park, the Guangdong Science Center, Shamian Island and Baiyun Mountain.

The Canton Tower, the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall and Shamian Island each have their own page. For a longer stay, see the Guangzhou expat living guide; English-speaking medical care is listed at Guangzhou United Family Hospital.

Guangzhou's trading past explains much of what you see. In the Tang dynasty (618–907) it was the main Chinese terminus of the maritime Silk Road, with Persian, Arab and Indian merchant communities living in the city; Huaisheng Mosque, reputed to be the oldest in China, was founded in that period. From 1757 the Qing court made Guangzhou the only port where foreigners could trade with China, the arrangement known as the Canton System. Guangzhou's two-millennia trading history tells the full story.

Yum cha (飲茶, "drinking tea") is the ritual behind Guangzhou's dim sum. It grew out of the Cantonese teahouses (茶樓) of the Qing dynasty, and the Cantonese term dim sum (點心) means literally "touch the heart". Traditional service runs in three sessions: early morning from around 6 or 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., noon from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m., with the morning session considered the purest form. Read Guangzhou dim sum: the tradition behind yum cha for the history and how to order dim sum without a guide for trolleys and tick-sheets. For a food street, Shangxiajiu in Liwan District is Guangzhou's main historic food and shopping street, a covered arcade of Cantonese snack shops that is not primarily a night market but is most pleasant after dark; see night markets by city.

For getting around the wider Pearl River Delta, the Lingnan Pass (岭南通) transit card covers the Guangzhou metro and buses and extends to Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan and other delta cities. It is bought at metro service windows and is not accepted on Hong Kong's MTR, which uses the Octopus card; the transit cards guide compares the options. Our internet speed by city guide lists Guangzhou among the cities with the most extensive 5G coverage and describes its coverage as good and consistent.