Guangzhou is the sprawling capital of Guangdong Province and the historic heart of Cantonese culture, sitting on the Pearl River in southern China. For more than 2,000 years it has been one of China's great trading ports — the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and, in later centuries, the only Chinese port legally open to Western trade. Today it is a hypermodern megacity of glass towers along the Pearl River, wrapped around an old town of Lingnan-style ancestral halls, colonial-era Shamian Island, and some of the best Cantonese food anywhere on earth, from dim sum teahouses to street stalls serving wonton noodles and roast goose.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Guangzhou.
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1
Qin dynasty forces establish the city of Panyu, the earliest walled settlement on the site of modern Guangzhou, as a southern administrative outpost.
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2
Former Qin general Zhao Tuo founds the independent Nanyue kingdom with Panyu (Guangzhou) as its capital.
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3
The Han dynasty annexes Nanyue, and Guangzhou becomes a regional administrative center within the Han empire.
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4
Guangzhou develops into a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road, trading with Persian, Arab, and Southeast Asian merchants and hosting the traditionally 7th-century Huaisheng Mosque.
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5
The Ming dynasty constructs Guangzhou's city wall and Zhenhai Tower, fortifying the city against pirates and regional conflict.
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6
The Qing dynasty restricts all Western maritime trade with China to Guangzhou, giving rise to the Thirteen Hongs merchant monopoly system.
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7
Following the Second Opium War, the Qing government cedes Shamian Island as foreign concession territory divided between Britain and France.
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8
Sun Yat-sen founds the Whampoa Military Academy on Changzhou Island with Soviet advisory support, training officers for the Northern Expedition.
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9
Mao Zedong directs the sixth session of the Peasant Movement Training Institute in Guangzhou during the First United Front.
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10
The People's Liberation Army takes control of Guangzhou, integrating the city into the newly founded People's Republic of China.
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11
Guangzhou launches the Canton Fair, China's oldest and largest trade exhibition, cementing the city's role as a hub of southern Chinese commerce.
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12
Post-reform economic growth transforms Guangzhou into one of China's largest manufacturing, trading, and transport hubs, anchored by the Pearl River Delta's export industries.
Historical sites
Places where Guangzhou's past comes alive.
Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: ¥10 (approx $1.41) | Child: ¥5 (approx $0.70) for students; free for young children
Nanyue Palace Museum (Site of the Southern Yue Kingdom Palace)
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free | Child: Free
Whampoa Military Academy Former Site
Where: Changzhou Island, Huangpu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free with advance reservation | Child: Free with advance reservation
Peasant Movement Training Institute Former Site
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free | Child: Free
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: ¥10 (approx $1.41) for the main hall; surrounding gardens free | Child: Free for those 65 and over; half price for ages 60-64 and college students
Shamian Island Historic Concession Area
Where: Liwan District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free | Child: Free
Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum
Where: Liwan District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free | Child: Free
Huaisheng Mosque and Guangta Minaret
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free (donations welcomed) | Child: Free
Hualin Temple (Five Hundred Arhats Hall)
Where: Liwan District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: Free | Child: Free
Zhenhai Tower and the Old Guangzhou City Wall
Where: Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Admission: Adult: ¥10 (approx $1.41) | Child: Discounted for students; free for young children