Guangdong 广东Guǎngdōng

About Guangdong

Guangdong has traded across the seas for some two thousand years, and Guangzhou, the city foreign merchants called Canton, lent its name to the Cantonese cooking that emigrants carried around the world. Days here begin over dim sum and tea, while ancestral halls, arcaded shophouse streets and Cantonese opera keep old traditions in view. Beyond the high-rise cities of the Pearl River Delta lie the fortified watchtowers of Kaiping and the Hakka and Chaoshan cultures of the east.

Guangdong at a glance

Area

179,800 km²

Population

126.0 million 2020

Highest point

Shikengkong 石坑崆1,902 m

Borders

Fujian, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Macau

Area, population and highest point from Wikidata; the population is the latest census or official estimate there.

What to eat in Guangdong

• Dim sum morning tea (早茶)
• White-cut chicken (白切鸡)
• Chaoshan beef hot pot (潮汕牛肉火锅)

Places to visit in Guangdong

• 

  Canton Tower & Pearl River 广州塔

  A slim-waisted tower glowing over the Pearl River in China's Cantonese food capital

  Best time: Oct–Dec · Time needed: An evening, plus a day for the city · 4A scenic area

• 

  Kaiping Diaolou and Villages 开平碉楼

  Fortified tower houses rising above rice paddies, built with emigrants' money

  Best time: Oct–Apr · Time needed: 1 day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

• 

  Mount Danxia 丹霞山

  Red sandstone cliffs and flat-topped peaks that gave the 'Danxia' landform its name

  Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: 1–2 days · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

Listed sites in Guangdong

289 sites in Guangdong are on the official lists, 14 of them rated 5A and 116 protected as national heritage. They are listed by city, with what each is and how to get there.

Cities and prefectures of Guangdong

• Chaozhou 潮州 City
  Gongfu tea, a bridge of boats and the old heart of Teochew culture
• Dongguan 东莞 City
  Opium pools, Qing river forts and a garden where Lingnan painting took root
• Foshan 佛山 City
  Kung fu heroes, lion dancers and a dragon kiln built in 1506
• Guangzhou 广州 City
  Kings' tombs, carved clan halls and a 600-metre tower on the Pearl River
• Heyuan 河源 City
  Dinosaur eggs, hot springs and a reservoir clear enough to bottle
• Huizhou 惠州 City
  A poet's lake and a Daoist mountain on Shenzhen's eastern doorstep
• Jiangmen 江门 City
  Emigrants' homeland, where money earned overseas built towers in the rice fields
• Jieyang 揭阳 City
  Jade workshops, pingpong kueh and the airport for all of Chaoshan
• Maoming 茂名 City
  Ancient lychee trees, a long sandy coast and village fairs bigger than New Year
• Meizhou 梅州 City
  Round earthen fortresses, mountain songs and tea on the Hakka hills
• Qingyuan 清远 City
  Pai Yao hill villages, rafting gorges and hot springs north of Guangzhou
• Shantou 汕头 City
  Hand-beaten beef balls, island beaches and a Thai-Chinese merchant's mansion
• Shanwei 汕尾 City
  Salty pounded tea, beaches and old opera on the coast east of Shenzhen
• Shaoguan 韶关 City
  Red cliffs, a Chan patriarch's temple and the old pass road into Guangdong
• Shenzhen 深圳 City
  Border farmland turned skyscraper city, with theme parks and a Ming sea fort
• Yangjiang 阳江 City
  Island beaches and a Song-dynasty merchant ship raised whole from the seabed
• Yunfu 云浮 City
  The Sixth Patriarch's birthplace and Guangdong's oldest cliff inscription
• Zhanjiang 湛江 City
  Seafood, a crater lake and French colonial buildings at mainland China's tip
• Zhaoqing 肇庆 City
  Limestone crags in a city lake and the inkstones that calligraphers prize
• Zhongshan 中山 City
  Sun Yat-sen's home county, where returned emigrants built arcaded streets
• Zhuhai 珠海 City
  A full-size Summer Palace, a Hawaiian fortune and ferries to wooded islands

Before you go

• Visas and visa-free entry Can I visit China without a visa?
• Paying for things How do I pay for things in China without a Chinese bank account?
• Internet and apps Will Google and my other apps work in China?
• Trains and 12306 How do I book train tickets in China with a foreign passport?
• Book popular sights early Which sights in China need booking in advance, and how?
• When to go When is the best time to visit China?

On the map

Open Guangdong on the illustrated map to see where its places sit, how far apart they are, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)