5 Days Guangzhou Tour with Foshan

When you arrive at the airport, you will find your guide waiting for you with a pick-up card that reads your name. Today, you will begin your Visa Free Tour to Guangzhou here. Then, you will be transferred to a hotel for a good rest. Located in the south of China, Guangzhou has a permanent resident population of 18,676,605, covering 7434.40 square km. Guangzhou is also called “ram city”. It is said that in ancient times, five immortals rode sheep of five colors with five strings of grain in their mouths and gave out the grain to the locals in Guangzhou. They blessed the land with plenty of grain so that they would never suffer from famine. Later, the five immortals left the five sheep behind which turned into stones to protect the city. That is the origin of the name of ram city. Besides, there are various snacks here, such as wonton noodles, steamed rice rolls, steamed prawn dumplings, milk custard, and so on.

After breakfast, you will visit Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, a Chinese ancestral temple built in the middle of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The following buildings are located along the central axis of Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, including a screen wall facing the gate of the house, memorial archway, courtyard, hall, garden, and other buildings. It is preserved well, with a distinctive feature of Fuzhou architecture. There are more than 100 plaques and couplets most of which were composed by celebrities and emperors, such as Zuo Zongtang (a high-ranking official and strategist in the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912)), Li Hongzhang (a diplomatist and politician in the Qing Dynasty), Zhang Zhidong (a famous official in the Qing Dynasty), and so on. The walls of Chen Clan Ancestral Hall were painted white, symbolizing that the ancestral hall belongs to scholar-officials. Then Chen family produced 21 successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. In ancient times, an imperial competitive examination was held annually and it included examinations at three levels. Those who were admitted to the final exam are called successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations and are tested by emperors.

Then you will go to Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street with a length of about 1,273 meters. As one of the prosperous traditional commercial centers, there are 238 commercial shops and thousands of Cantonese snacks and you will enjoy your lunch here. If you are fond of Cantonese Dim Sum, ginger milk pudding will amaze you. The ginger milk pudding is cooked with ginger juice and milk, so it tastes sweet and a little spicy. Moreover, it has the function of warming the stomach and removing coldness. It is said that an old lady wanted to cure her cough with ginger, but the ginger was so spicy that she could not drink it. Her daughter-in-law decanted milk into a bowl with ginger carelessly, and the milk became curd strangely. After drinking it, the old lady got well the next day. Gradually, the ginger milk pudding has become a snack, not merely a cure. Additionally, the Cantonese mooncake is worth a taste. There are various flavors of mooncakes, such as lotus seed paste mooncake, salted egg yolk mooncake, barbecued pork mooncake, and so on. The wonton noodles are also a special snack, cooked with wontons, noodles, and a special sauce. You can eat any traditional Chinese delicacies!

In the afternoon, you will go to Yuexiu Park where Yuexiu Mountain stands, covering more than 750,000 square meters. As one of the largest comprehensive parks built earliest in Guangzhou, Yuexiu Park boasts various places of interest, including Zhenhai Tower, the Ancient City Wall in the Ming Dynasty, the Five Sheep Statue, and Sun Yat-sen Monument. Zhenhai Tower is known as the best scenic spot in Guangzhou, built in 1380. There is a legend about Zhenhai Tower. After Zhu Yuanzhang who was the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, founded the Ming Dynasty, once he visited Zhong Mountain with a Taoist who said to Zhu that auspiciousness of the emperor's fortune occurred in the southeast. “That means there would be a new emperor unborn who would scramble your throne in the future. Thus, what you need to do is to construct a tower to repress the auspiciousness.” said the Taoist. Hearing this, Emperor Zhu immediately sent someone to make a detection, and then commanded the local official to build Zhenhai Tower. Hence, that is what we see today.

Your next destination is Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, which is 35 meters tall, covering over 30,000 square meters in total. As a great national hero and patriotist, Sun Yat-sen overthrew the feudal decadent Qing government since he could not bear to see the Qing government's exploitation and oppression of the people. It was Sun Yat-sen who founded the Republic of China, symbolizing the end of the 2,000-year feudal rule of China. To memorize him, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was built in 1983. Stepping into the hall, you will see a Sun Yat-sen bust carved with white marble. On the second floor is Sun Yat-sen Revolutionary Historical Sites Exhibition Hall. If you are interested in this great hero, please go to the second floor for a careful look.

After visiting the spot, you will be sent to the hotel.

Yuexiu Park

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

In the morning, you will visit Canton Tower with a height of 600 meters, which makes it the highest tower in China. As the landmark of Guangzhou, it covers 114,054 square meters. Yunxiao 488 photography viewing platform is the highest point for tourists’ sightseeing, at the height of 488 meters on the antenna mast of Canton Tower. It even surpasses the height of the 422m-high Sky Cap of CN Tower. You can enjoy the scenery of the Pearl River, Yanling Park, and downtown area of Guangzhou. Additionally, you can appreciate the beautiful scenery while enjoying the buffet in the revolving restaurant which is on the 106th floor of the Canton Tower. About 100 minutes is exactly a period for dining and also a period of rotation, so you can enjoy the scene of Guangzhou all around.  

Next, you will pay a visit to the Archaeological Site Museum of Nanyue Palace (Closed on Monday). Nanyue was a regime in the Lingnan region of China from the end of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC -207 BC) to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC -220 AD). Hence, you can appreciate the ruins of Nanyue Palace and the remains of Nanyue’s antiques. Besides, volumes of eaves tiles are displayed, each carved with delicate pictures. It is worth mentioning that there is a shipbuilding site of the Qin Dynasty below the ruins of Nanyue Palace. You are lucky enough to see various cultural relics.

As for lunch, Cantonese Dim Sum will be offered, such as salt-roasted chicken, clay pot rice, sweet and sour pork, and so on.

After lunch, you will go to Shamian Island for a visit. Covering 30,000 square meters, Shamian Island completely retains the European style of the 19th century British and French concessions and is a famous tourist area and historical relics reserve in Guangzhou. There are all kinds of western buildings, including the Catholic Church in French Concession, the Christian Church in British Concession, HSBC, and so on. Built in 1889, the Catholic Church only covers about 39,960 square meters and adopts Gothic architecture style. Given that the Lourde Madonna Statue stands in the courtyard, the Catholic Church gains its name, Our Lady of Lourdes.

Afterward, you will be transferred to the hotel.

Shamian Island

Canton Tower

After breakfast, you will be driven southwest to Foshan from Guangzhou, which will take about 1.5 hours since it is 35 km away from Guangzhou. 

The first stop of your today’s trip is Ancestral Temple built in 1078, covering 30,200 square meters. It is said that the Pearl River Delta Area was being plagued by floods while North Emperor (a god) who could tame the flood was regarded as a patron saint and enshrined by the locals. Ancestral Temple is a folk museum combining ancient architectural art and Foshan traditional culture, including the ancient temple complex, Confucius Temple, Huang Feihong Memorial Hall, and so on. Not only can you appreciate the unearthed local folk cultural relics which demonstrates the Taoist culture, martial art culture, and Foshan folk art, but watch some folk culture activities such as praying on the Spring Festival, celebrating the birthday of the North Emperor on March 3rd, drinking ceremony in the countryside, and so on. There is a Jinxiang pool in front of Lingying Memorial Gate. There is a  stone statue of a turtle and a snake standing at the bottom of the pool, which embodies North Emperor. Every tourist to the Ancestral Temple will throw coins at the turtle and snake statue. The more coins you throw at the statue, the better your fortune will be.

Then you will go to Lingnan Tiandi which has preserved one of the most complete ancient buildings in China, covering 1.5 million square meters. It preserves 22 cultural relics, such as Jian’s Cottage (In Chinese, Jian means a Chinese family name.), wedding house, Confucius Temple, and so on. Taking the wedding house for example, at that time, the living conditions of ordinary people were limited and they were unable to hold a wedding ceremony. The Yang family rented out a large house built in the early Qing Dynasty to ordinary people as a venue for weddings. In the past, the bride would take the bridal sedan chair on the wedding day to pass some roads with auspicious names, meaning to bring happiness all the way and bless the new couple happiness. Nowadays, more and more young people would like to experience a traditional wedding ceremony featuring Lingnan style. Hence, such kind of wedding house with a hall for making formal bows by bride and groom in the old custom in China and a bedroom for the new couple meets young people’s requirements. 

In the afternoon, you will visit Ancient Nanfeng Kiln which comprehensively displays Linear Pottery culture to visitors. Here, you will be overwhelmed by various potteries and have an opportunity to know the manufacturing process of pottery. In addition to sightseeing, you can make pottery by yourself under the guidance of a ceramic art master and enjoy the manufacturing process. A kiln in Ancient Nanfeng Kilin, is 234.4 meters long in appearance. Since it looks like a dragon, the kiln is called Dragon Kiln. The Dragon Kiln mouth faces south and in summer a cool breeze blows in, so it is also called Nanfeng Kiln. In Chinese, Nan refers to the south; Feng means a breeze. Ancient Nanfeng Kilin is also a collection of tourism, sightseeing, production, acquiring skills, and shopping. A variety of traditional Chinese handicrafts such as paper cuttings, miniature statues, and so on are sold here. You also have a chance to see Chinese martial art, dragon dance, and Cantonese opera here. 

Finally, you will be sent to the hotel.

Lingnan Tiandi

Ancient Nanfeng Kiln

Today, all your services end here and you will be sent to the airport. Hope to see you next time, bye!

Author: Wang Chongchong