Atlas of China
Chaozhou 潮州Cháozhōu
Gongfu tea, a bridge of boats and the old heart of Teochew culture
About Chaozhou
Chaozhou, long the cultural centre of eastern Guangdong, keeps an old town of ancestral halls and the Kaiyuan Temple, founded in 738. Guangji Bridge, one of China's four famous ancient bridges, links stone piers with a central run of moored boats that can open for ships, and across the Han River the Han Wengong Temple honours Han Yu, the Tang writer exiled here in 819. Since 2023 Chaozhou has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, and guests are still welcomed with gongfu tea.
What to eat in Chaozhou
- Chaozhou gongfu tea (潮州工夫茶)
- Phoenix Dancong oolong (凤凰单丛)
- Duck-mother dumplings (鸭母捻)
Listed sites in Chaozhou
11 sites in Chaozhou are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.
- Danfu Yuan 淡浮院 4A scenic area · on the map
A private collection museum and garden on the eastern side of Chaozhou, also known as Yanfeng Academy, built on the initiative of the Thai Chinese businessman Guo Fengyuan to promote Chinese culture and exchange between China and Thailand. - Dongshan Lake Hot Spring Resort 东山湖温泉度假村 4A scenic area · on the map
A hot-spring resort by Dongshan Lake on the northern side of Sangpu Mountain in southern Chao'an District, near where Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang meet. - Green Island Tourist Resort 绿岛旅游山庄 4A scenic area · on the map
An eco-tourism resort on the former Wanshanhong farm in Qiandong town, Raoping County, laid out around lakes, bamboo groves and orchards with a hotel, play areas and farming activities, and also used as a study-tour base for school groups. - Guangji Bridge 广济桥 4A scenic area · National heritage site
Also called Xiangzi Bridge, this crossing of the Han River below Chaozhou's east gate was begun in the 1170s as a pontoon bridge and built up over centuries into stone-pier spans from each bank joined by a central section of moored boats that could be opened to let ships through. - Han Wengong Temple 韩文公祠 4A scenic area · National heritage site
A memorial temple to the Tang writer and statesman Han Yu, who served as prefect of Chaozhou after being demoted, set on the western slope of Bijia Hill on the east bank of the Han River, facing the old town. - Congxi Ancestral Hall 从熙公祠 National heritage site
An ancestral hall in Jinsha village, Caitang town, built between 1870 and 1883 with money from Tan Hiok Nee (Chen Xunian), the Chaozhou-born merchant who became the leading kangchu, or plantation chief, of Johor in Malaya; it is named after his courtesy name, Congxi. - Daoyun Lou 道韵楼 National heritage site
An octagonal fortified earthen house of the Huang family in Nanlian village, Sanrao town, northern Raoping, begun in 1477 and finished in 1587 after three generations of building; its eight-sided plan gives it the nickname Bagua Lou. - Historic Residences of Chaozhou Old Town 潮州老城古民居建筑群 National heritage site · on the map
A group of Ming, Qing and Republican-era houses in three historic quarters of Chaozhou's walled town, the Ten Lanes by the South Gate, the Xu Fuma Mansion quarter and the old West Gate street, listed together as a national heritage site in 2013. - Jilüe Huang Ancestral Hall 己略黄公祠 National heritage site
A private ancestral hall completed in 1887 for Huang Jilüe in Tiexiang Lane, old Chaozhou, known for its Chaozhou gilded woodcarving and stone carving. - Kaiyuan Temple, Chaozhou 开元寺 National heritage site
Founded in 738 under the Tang emperor Xuanzong and known since the Ming as Kaiyuan Zhenguo Chan Temple, this is the main Buddhist monastery of Chaozhou's old town and a nationally designated key temple. - Xu Fuma Mansion 许驸马府 National heritage site · on the map
The residence of Xu Jue, a Northern Song official married to a great-granddaughter of Emperor Taizong, hence the popular title fuma ('imperial son-in-law'); it was first built in the 1060s at Dongfucheng in the north of old Chaozhou.
On the map
Open Chaozhou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.
Open Chaozhou on the map