Guangzhou itinerary for first-timers

Built in 1894 by the Chen clans of Guangdong as an academy for young clan members preparing for the imperial examinations, the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is the finest example of Lingnan architecture in the city. Its nine halls and six courtyards are linked by corridors, and every roof ridge and wall is crowded with wood carvings, pottery figures and stucco reliefs.

• Roof ridges with pottery figures
• Wood carvings
• Courtyards and corridors

Come at opening time: the carved halls are much easier to enjoy before the tour groups arrive.

Yongqing Fang is a block of old Xiguan lanes and houses that has been restored with small shops, galleries and cafés, next to the arcaded Enning Road. The Bruce Lee ancestral residence stands among its lanes.

• Restored Xiguan lanes
• Enning Road arcades
• Bruce Lee ancestral residence

One of the oldest commercial streets in southern China, Shangxiajiu runs for a long stretch under qilou, the arcaded shop-houses of early 20th-century Canton that keep shoppers out of the sun and the rain. Its side streets are full of snack stalls and dessert shops.

• Qilou arcades
• Snack stalls
• Side lanes of Liwan

This is a good place to try double-skin milk, the steamed milk pudding of old Canton.

Shamian Island, a small sandbank in the Pearl River, was a foreign concession shared by Britain and France, and its quiet streets under huge banyan trees are lined with colonial banks, consulates and villas. A riverside promenade and small parks run along its southern edge, and its little church is one of the most photographed buildings in the city.

• Colonial buildings
• Riverside promenade
• Statues and murals
• The church

East of Shamian, Yanjiang West Road follows the north bank of the Pearl River past old waterfront buildings towards the Haizhu Bridge. In the evening the riverside is busy with walkers, and the illuminated boats of the night cruises pass along the water.

• Riverside promenade
• Haizhu Bridge
• Pearl River boats

The Pearl River night cruises leave from piers along this stretch of the river; they are the best way to see the lit-up bridges.

The biggest park in central Guangzhou covers a green hill north of the old city. Its paths climb past the Five Rams Statue, the symbol of the city, the red Zhenhai Tower and a surviving stretch of the old city wall, and in the morning the lawns and ponds fill with people doing tai chi and dancing.

• Five Rams Statue
• Zhenhai Tower
• Old city wall
• Lotus ponds

Beijing Road has been a main street of Guangzhou for centuries, and under glass panels in the pavement you can see the layers of the old road dug up by archaeologists. Today it is a pedestrian shopping street, and the Dafo Temple, the Grand Buddha Temple, sits just off it.

• Beijing Road pedestrian street
• Ancient road remains
• Dafo Temple

Zhujiang New Town is the modern centre of Guangzhou, and Huacheng Square, the long green axis at its heart, runs between its tallest towers towards the river. The Guangzhou Opera House by Zaha Hadid stands beside it, close to the river.

• Huacheng Square
• Skyscrapers of Zhujiang New Town
• Guangzhou Opera House

At the end of Huacheng Square, Haixinsha is a park on an island in the Pearl River with wide views of the skyline on both banks. The Haixin Bridge, a curving footbridge, crosses the river from here towards the Canton Tower.

• Haixinsha Park
• Haixin Bridge
• River views of the skyline

At around 600 metres, the twisting Canton Tower is one of the tallest towers in the world and changes colour after dark. High-speed elevators climb to indoor observation decks and an open-air deck at 450 metres, and a slow Ferris wheel runs around the very top, high above the river and the towers of Zhujiang New Town.

• Observation decks
• 450 m outdoor deck
• Ferris wheel
• Night view over the Pearl River

Even without going up, the tower is worth seeing from the riverside after dark, when its lights reflect on the water.

West of Yuexiu Park, Liuhua Lake Park is a quieter lakeside park of willows, bridges and still water, where locals come for a morning walk.

• Lakeside paths
• Bridges
• Willows

South of Beijing Road, the old streets of Yuexiu still feel like everyday Guangzhou. Gaodi Street is one of the city's old commercial streets, and the narrow alleys around it hold a local wet market with fresh produce and dried seafood.

• Qiyi Road
• Gaodi Street
• Wet market alleys

The Sacred Heart Cathedral, known locally as Shishi, the Stone House, is a Gothic Revival cathedral built of granite in the late 19th century, its twin spires rising above the old streets near the river.

• Twin granite spires
• Cathedral square

Tianhe is the shopping heart of modern Guangzhou: Tianhe Road is lined with big malls around Tiyu Xilu station, and the Tianhe South pedestrian street behind them is a busy grid of small shops and food stalls that stays lively late into the evening.

• Tianhe Road
• Tiyu Xilu
• Tianhe South pedestrian street
• Huacheng Avenue