东莞市

Why this place

Dongguan became the centre of China's export manufacturing — a huge share of the world's phones, shoes and toys were made in this city — but it also has genuine old towns with Ming and Qing architecture and a strong Cantonese culture underneath the factories.

What to see

• Keyuan Garden and the old city of Guancheng
• The Guangdong Opium War sites at Humen — where Lin Zexu destroyed confiscated opium in 1839
• The old villages and the coastal wetlands of the Pearl River estuary
• The factory districts, if you want to see how export manufacturing actually works

What to eat

• Cantonese cooking, with excellent middle-of-the-road dim sum
• Dongguan is known for its 'lai fen' and its own rice-cake tradition

Best time

October–December and March–April