The Liwan District is one of the most popular places to visit in Guangzhou and it’s one area you definitely want to spend sometime exploring because it’s home to many tourist sights such as the famous Shamian Island.
Shamian Island is a small sandbar island located in the south-end of Liwan (overlooking the Pearl River) and it's most popularly known for its 19th century colonial buildings (Shamian Ancient Structures) such as the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes (a French Catholic church). There are also many western-style buildings and public gardens to be seen such as the White Swan Hotel (boast a beautiful waterfall inside it), and Shamian Park which is home to some stunning gardens and interesting-looking sculptures made of bronze.
Liwan District is also home to many Buddhist temples (i.e Hualin Temple) and the famous Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, which now serves as the Guangdong Folk Art Museum. Definitely make sure to pass by the Guangdong folk art museum to see the beautiful woodcarvings on display!
Beijing Road (Bei Jing Lu), Yuexiu District
Beijing Road is Guangzhou’s famous pedestrian street and one of the most popular shopping streets in Guangzhou to go for a bit of retail therapy. There are wholesale markets (i.e. Onelink Plaza), souvenir shops and hundreds of other stores selling stuff such as ceramics, antiques and high-end brands.
Besides the shopping, Beijing Road is also a popular tourist sight because of the stone roads beneath the street that were built nearly a thousand years ago. The cool thing is that you can see the remnants of these ancient roads through a glass encasing.
Baomo Garden, Fanyu District
Baomo Garden is one of the loveliest and most relaxing places you can go in Guangzhou to escape the crowds.
However, as a tourist sight Baomo Garden offers an excellent opportunity to marvel at a beautiful example of traditional Chinese garden that combines classical Chinese architecture such as pagodas, lotus ponds and a Nine-Dragon Screen wall similar to the one in Beihai Park in Beijing.
Baiyun “White Cloud” Mountain, Baiyun District
Baiyun Mountain is Guangzhou’s top natural attraction and it’s definitely one place you cannot miss seeing while in Guangzhou. The mountain is surrounded by beautiful hills and interesting sights such as the spectacular Yuntai Garden (People’s Garden) and Xing Hai Park (near Luhu Lake), which is home to a huge 3.5 mile lotus pond.
In the vicinity of Baiyun Mountain you'll also find a cool sculpture park (located west of the Fei'e Ridge) and a beautifully reconstructed old Chinese temple (Nengren Temple) located on Yunshan Nan Lu that you're allowed to explore inside.
Best thing about going to Baiyun Mountain has to be the opportunity to ride the cable car up the summit of the mountain to get bird’s eye views of Guangzhou. Once at the top of Baiyun, you’ll find many viewing areas to catch the sunset such as Baiyun Wanwang Pavilion; and Mingchun Valley which is the biggest bird cage in China.
Canton Tower, Haizhu District
A visit to Guangzhou won’t be complete without climbing to the top of Canton Tower, which is one of the tallest freestanding structures in the world. Canton Tower is certainly one of the most visited tourist sights in Guangzhou and the views from the rooftop observatory are truly epic!
From the top you get to see the amazing city skyline of Guangzhou and other structural wonders such as Hadid Opera House, Guangzhou Twin Towers, Guangzhou TV Tower, CITIC Plaza, and many more. Canton Tower also boasts a cool horizontal Ferris wheel on the top, and at night the tower is spectacularly lit-up using LED technology.
Museum of the Western Han Dynasty, Yuexiu District
The Museum of the Western Han Dynasty is another must-see attraction that is by far one of the most interesting places you'll get to visit in Guangzhou. This museum is one of the best archeological museums in China and the video exhibitions showing in detail how the site was actually excavated and the artifacts extracted are really enlightening.
The archeologists managed to excavate the mausoleum of the Nanyue King intact and all its artifacts in one piece. You can see on display all the relics unearthed such as pots, iron swords, silk fabrics, silver wares, ceramics, Emperor seals and a jade burial suit, which was a typical ceremonial suit reserved for the Han Dynasty royals.
The Watchtowers of Kaiping
The city of Kaiping is located a couple of hours bus ride southwest of Guangzhou, though it's another sight worth visiting because of the hundreds of fortified towers located there. These watch towers are important historic sight because they were built during the last dynasty of China (17th-20th centuries).
The most striking thing about these Chinese constructed watchtowers is that many of them were built with western influences using Byzantine and Roman architecture so the blend is quite remarkable. Best of all, you’re allowed to climb to the terrace tops for lovely views of the area around.
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