广东省

Why this place

Guangdong is where Cantonese culture comes from — its food, its opera, its language and its architecture, all of which spread across the world. It also holds Shenzhen, the city that grew from a fishing village in forty years, and Guangzhou, which has been China's southern trading port for two thousand years.

What to see

• Guangzhou's Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Shamian Island and the Xiguan lanes
• Shenzhen's museums and its Ping An skyline, and the Dapeng fortress
• Kaiping's diaolou towers — UNESCO-listed Chinese-Western fortified houses
• Chaozhou's old town and Guangji Bridge, and Shantou's arcaded streets
• Danxia Mountain at Shaoguan, and the karst at Yingxi in Qingyuan

What to eat

• Dim sum and yum cha, roast goose and char siu — Cantonese cooking at its source
• Chaoshan food at Shantou and Chaozhou: beef balls, braised goose and gongfu tea
• Shunde in Foshan, regarded as the best eating destination in the province

How to plan

A week: Guangzhou three, plus Shenzhen two and a day trip for Kaiping or Chaozhou.

Best time

October–December and March–April

Cities 21

广州市 Guangzhou韶关市 Shaoguan深圳市 Shenzhen珠海市 Zhuhai汕头市 Shantou佛山市 Foshan江门市 Jiangmen湛江市 Zhanjiang茂名市 Maoming肇庆市 Zhaoqing惠州市 Huizhou梅州市 Meizhou汕尾市 Shanwei河源市 Heyuan阳江市 Yangjiang清远市 Qingyuan东莞市 Dongguan中山市 Zhongshan潮州市 Chaozhou揭阳市 Jieyang云浮市 Yunfu