Guangzhou Travel Guide, China

Charming Guangzhou

The charming city of Guangzhou is China's Flower City where flowers bloom all year round and where summers are long and winters are nonexistent.   For the tourist who wants to start a journey towards mainland China, Guangzhou is a great place to begin.  This famous city was popularly known as Canton during the time of the tea clippers.

Here are some useful fun facts about Guangdong Province's capital city: Guangzhou.   

Heading South

Guangzhou is located right in the middle of Guangdong Province which is in the south of China and is incidentally near other tourist havens like Hong Kong and Macau.

The weather in this city enjoys a cool sub tropical climate that averages 22 degrees C. While August is considered the hottest month, January is the coldest.  Rain falls from April until August.  

The History of the Five Rams

Just like Greece Rome or Italy, Guangzhou has a rich history of more than 2500 years.  Legend has it that five gods rode into the sea towards Guangzhou on five rams while carrying sheaves of rice.  As a sign of blessing, the gods bestowed these sheaves of rice to its people and blessed the land with great abundance.  Since then the city of Guangzhou has come to be known as the City of Rams.

Guangzhou has a colorful past.  The city was captured by the Persians in 786 and by 1711 the British East India Company set up a post here.  By 1842 the seaport of Guangzhou was open to the world of trading thanks to the Treaty of Nanjing.

Preserving Culture

The city of Guangzhou is both the cultural and economic center of southern China.  It has recently undergone some changes especially when it came to preserving its cultural identity as its government vowed to preserve its culture and modernize the city.  

Guangzhou is home to a lot of museums that accommodate historical artifacts and relics that have been uncovered in their area.  A recent dig in 2003 at the City's University Town had uncovered tombs of prominent emperors of their time.

The city is known for its performing arts and in particular the famous Cantonese Opera.  For the food lover Guangzhou won't disappoint the palate.  Cantonese food is the specialty of the house and a lot of restaurants around the city offer traditional delicacies like fried dumplings and wonton noodles.

The Residents of Guangzhou

The city of Guangzhou is considered the third most populous metropolitan area in China and a large number of the population are immigrants from nearby provinces.  The booming economy of this city is what attracts neighboring residents to live in Guangzhou.  

A great number of the residents are Han Chinese and generally speak Cantonese which is also the language of neighboring countries of Hong Kong and Macau.

The city of Guangzhou is certainly worth visiting if not for its delectable cuisine that is loved the world over, its rich culture and history is enough to satisfy the curious traveler in you.