Guangzhou / Foshan / Shunde / Guangzhou
If you are overseas Chinese who want to seek for deep cultural connections, or if you are travelers who are fond of cultural exploration especially the brilliant Lingnan culture, this tour is exactly right for you! It covers three cultural destinations Guangzhou, Foshan and Shunde where you can fully appreciate Lingnan culture and have a bite of Cantonese food!
Guangzhou, with a history of 2200 years, is a foodie paradise, an artistic adventure, and so much more. With something for everyone, traveling in Guangzhou should be far from a boring trip. Foshan was famous for its ceramics in the Ming dynasty. Today, it’s better known as the birthplace of two Kung Fu icons, Wong Fei Hung and Ip Man (Bruce Lee's master), and the Wing Chun style of kung fu developed here. In this amazing place, you’ve got the chance to enjoy on-the-spot lion dance, learn the thousand-year-old history of ceramics producing and overseas trading, soak in excellent architectural decorations, etc. Shunde was picked by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a Creative City of Gastronomy and is one of the cradles of Cantonese cuisine. Shunde cuisine is famous for its delicacies characterized by their nutritional value and preparation. The combination of inventive cooking methods, creative ways of presentation and outstanding flavors, make the city’s cuisine truly exceptional. A extension visit to Shunde is surely worth your time that you can only not satisfy your taste buds but also feast your eyes with classical Lingnan garden as well as picturesque water village. Come with us to seek for the true flavor and authentic Lingnan folk culture!
Welcome to Guangzhou, the City of Rams! Situated in south China, Guangzhou is a “hot” metropolis for relaxation, food exploration, business communication and seeking of culture, history, arts of Lingnan Area. Upon your arrival, your local guide and driver will meet you at the arrival hall of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport or railway stations in Guangzhou and then escort you to your hotel in downtown and help you check in. The rest of the day is free on your own to take a nice break or explore this city.
Arrival Idea: Guangzhou is a large international city with great transportation connections including many international and domestic flights to and from. Furthermore, high speed trains are quite convenient from most domestic cities including Hong Kong (about 1 hour), Shenzhen (0.5-1.5 hours), Guilin (2.5-3.5 hours), Beijing (8-10 hours), Shanghai (7-8.5 hours), Chengdu (9-10 hours), Guiyang (4-6.5 hours), Xian (8-9 hours), Hangzhou (6-7.5 hours), and so on.
Evening Optional Experience: Enjoy the 70-minute fascinating Pearl River night cruise sailing along the mother river of Guangzhou people and soak in the wonderful sightseeing of lights and neon of historical architectures and new modern towering buildings to feel the pulse of this developed city. You won’t miss the Canton Tower during the cruise.
After breakfast, your local guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. Start to explore the old and new Guangzhou City from Yuexiu Park, the largest city park in Guangzhou. Stroll leisurely in the verdant park to see the Five Rams Statue from which you will savor the interesting legendary story of the five rams and know why Guangzhou is called the “City of Rams”. Then, continue to appreciate a five-storey ancient structure in red - Zhenhai Tower which was changed as Guangzhou Museum. Have a brief learning about Guangzhou’s over 2000 years’ history and if you like, climb up the tower to get a bird’s-eye view of Guangzhou City. After the morning stretching with fresh air, move your steps to the nearby Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall which was built in memory of the great revolutionist Sun Yat-sen. Enjoy the Chinese and Western combining styled octagon-shaped main building in bright red and blue from outside. Enter the hall to know Dr. Sun deeper with excellent exhibitions of his biography and contribution to the country and people, and get a simple learning about the contemporary history of China in the 18th - 19th centuries. Before leaving, admire the 5.5-meter tall bronze statue of Dr. Sun outside in the yard and show your respect to this world famous great Father of the Nation in China.
In this afternoon, visit the must-see Chen Clan Ancestral Hall which is regarded as the largest, most beautifully decorated and best preserved traditional ancestral temple in Guangdong Province. Roam among the tranquil houses and courtyards built during 1888-1894 to discover its architectural origin and find out whether it was an ancestral hall or an academy for the Chen Family in Guangdong initially. Since it is famous as the “Pearl of Lingnan Architectural Art”, you will taste the super exquisite colorful decorations of vivid patterns of various flora and fauna, figures and immortals to feel the highly skillful construction and decoration of Lingnan people and know their typical folk culture and best wishes of harvest and prosperity in ancient China. Later, be transferred for about 10 minutes’ driving to see the quite different Shamian Island where over 150 European styled old buildings from the colonial period from 19th century are well preserved for a nice savory. Take a relaxing walk in the strongly exotic street block in emerald and imagine the past life and changes of Guangzhou told by those historical remains.
After the exploration, be transferred to the urban central axis in Zhujiang New Town to see the modern cityscape of Guangzhou at Huacheng Square. Have a leisure stroll between the glittery skyscrapers and peculiar shaped modern buildings to feel the fast development of this metropolis. Most importantly, appreciate the slim outline of the iconic Canton Tower on the opposite bank of Pearl River.
After the tour, be escorted back to your hotel.
After breakfast, your local guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel in Guangzhou downtown and drive about 1 hour to Foshan City that is famous for martial arts, ceramics and lion dancing.
Start your cultural exploration from the must-visit Ancestral Temple. Here with rich arrays of relics and materials, you will have a good understanding of Yip Man (Ye Wen) and Wong Fei Hung (Huang Feihong), two real masters of martial arts in modern times of China who have influences on the world about Kung Fu in China! Yip Man is a master of Wing Chun Martial Art and is the master of the world well known Bruce Lee. Wong Fei Hung is a representative master of Hung boxing, and also excellent at lion dance. You won’t miss the wonderful live lion dance performance (0.5 hour) to enjoy the folk art combining martial arts, dance and music together and know why it is so favored by Cantonese around the world on festivals and red-letter days. Furthermore, you will appreciate many fantastic typical Lingnan styled decorations of vivid sculptures and carvings about historic stories and traditional operas.
Continue your steps to the nearby Lingnan Tiandi, once was the rich area in Foshan and now is a top best to admire the multiple exquisite historic Lingnan constructions to seek the traditional culture of Foshan as a famous thousand-year-old commercial city. Walk in leisure to savor the prosperity left and the modern leisure life style along the winding paved streets.
Then, be driven about 15 minutes to visit Ancient Nanfeng Kiln in Shiwan. This site tells the high status of Shiwan in Foshan as the “Capital of Ceramics in Southern China”. Its rare Nanfeng Kiln and Gao Kiln built 500 years ago and listed in the World Guinness Record are still under production. Visit the kilns, houses and paths to feel the past bustling production by ancient Foshan workers. Besides, take another fun stroll on Shiwan Doll Street outside, where countless interesting ceramic dolls with high skills are displayed in those shops hidden in the ancient arcade buildings.
Optional Cultural Experience: You can also enrich your Foshan cultural experience by learning the pottery art making (0.5 hour), martial arts practicing (1 hour) or paper cutting (1 hour) during your visit at Ancient Nanfeng Kiln. Such optional cultural activities need extra fees. Just tell us if you are interested.
Tip of Lion Dance Performance: The Lion Dance performance in Ancestral Hall is held on 10:00-10:40, 14:15-14:55 and 15:30-16:10 every day, however, it is not available on rainy days.
After the tour, be transferred to your hotel in Foshan.
After breakfast, you’ll be driven about 35 kilometers to Qinghui Garden in Shunde. Built in Ming Dynasty (1607) by Huang Shijun, Qinghui Garden is a masterpiece of southern classical garden art and it’s famed as one of the four famous gardens in Lingnan area. “Qinghui” means the shines of the sun, parents of the virtues. The whole garden is elegantly designed in Lingnan-style with buildings, pavilions, winding corridor, courtyards, leaking windows, stone rocky forests, small bridges, ancient walls, green trees, lotus ponds, Koi fish and clear waters. Stepping into this amazingly beautiful garden, you’ll immerse into a picturesque picture scroll. Follow the route and you won’t miss Wooden House, Fairyland Hall, Guiji House, Bamboo Garden, Study House, Luifen House, Time-cherishing Study, Boat House, and Chengyi Pavilion.
Shunde was picked by the UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy and is considered the home of skilled Cantonese cooks who like to use fresh and seasonal ingredients and preserve their original flavor. At this noon, you’ll be transferred to one of the most famous local restaurants to taste the classic Cantonese cuisine. Enjoy your lunch in Shunde.
In this afternoon, be driven to Fengjian Water Village, reputed as “Zhouzhuang in Lingnan Area”. Far from the madding crowds, this village will give you a feeling of tranquility and poetic illusion. Fengjian Water Village has a long history and historic sites of watery regions spread all over the village. It has three stone arch bridges, namely Juji Bridge and Mingyuan Bridge, built in the Song Dynasty, and Jin'ao Bridge, built with permission from Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. Ancient temples, shrines and houses are numerous amid inland rivers and streams. Liu Ancestral Hall, Liang Ancestral Hall and Li Ancestral Hall all have large-scale sizes and great influence, and they are famous for their delicate building structure and the consummate skill in their carvings. Besides visiting the historical sites, you’ll enjoy boat experience sailing on the water to appreciate the scenery alongside.
After the tour, you’ll be driven back to Guangzhou.
Today, you will say goodbye with Guangzhou! After breakfast, your local guide and driver will send you from your hotel to the airport / train station to catch the flight / train to your next destination or home. Service ends!
Guilin, the darling of tourists!
Guilin is famous for having the best landscape under Heaven which can be seen in three most popular places - Guilin, Yangshuo and Longsheng. Only 3 days are needed to get them all in a single trip. You will visit the essential sites in the city, enjoy a relaxing cruise along Li River, and have a pleasant time of countryside exploration in Yangshuo Town. Another highlight is the unique trip to Longji Terrace which is an ideal place for experiencing ethnic culture, hiking and photography.
Shanghai, regarded as the Oriental Paris, is the best place to experience East-meet-West Culture, find hidden tradition within modernity.
Generally speaking, you can spend Day 1 exploring the popular landmarks of Shanghai, such as the Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road, the Bund, and Shanghai World Financial Center Tower. The Day 2 is for you to explore deep into the city of Shanghai (such as Old French Concession, Tianzifang or Jade Buddha Temple) and departure.
Hong Kong / Shenzhen / Macau / Hong Kong
Hong Kong / Guangzhou / Shenzhen / Macau / Hong Kong
Guangzhou / Foshan / Jiangmen / Guangzhou / Shenzhen
“Very good experience”
“WONDERFUL 25 DAYS IN CHINA - PRIVATE TOUR”
“Awesome China tour from northeast to southwest”
1,580+
Reviews
