CITY HUB

Guangzhou

Trade, Cantonese food and the Canton Fair.

Guangzhou is the gateway for sourcing and trade. The Canton Fair, wholesale markets and a large international business community make it a practical base for buyers rather than a purely tourist stop.

Airport and arrival

Baiyun (CAN), about 30 km north of the city. Metro line 3 and airport express buses connect to the centre.

Getting around

Baiyun Airport connects by metro line 3 and airport buses; the metro is extensive. During the Canton Fair, allow extra time and book transport ahead.

Famous places

Canton Tower
Chen Clan Ancestral Hall
Shamian Island
Yuexiu Park and the Five Rams Statue
Pearl River night cruise

Where to stay

Zhujiang New Town is modern and near the Canton Fair; Yuexiu is older and more local; Pazhou is convenient only during the fair.

Zhujiang New Town — modern business district
Yuexiu / Beijing Road — old city and markets
Pazhou — Canton Fair complex

What to eat

Dim sum, roast goose, claypot rice, wonton noodles and late-night congee.

Day trip

Foshan’s ancestral temples or a Pearl River Delta day trip by high-speed rail.

City basics

Check the official city government and metro websites for opening hours, tickets and temporary closures. Hotel registration and visa rules still apply.

Stories & festivals

How Guangzhou tells its own story

01

Five rams and the rice ears

Guangzhou’s nickname, City of Rams, comes from a legend set in the Zhou dynasty. Five immortals rode into the settlement on five rams, each carrying six ears of rice in its mouth. They gave the grain to the people and promised that the land would never suffer famine; the rams turned to stone when the immortals left. The Five-Ram Statue in Yuexiu Park, completed in 1959, turns the story into the city’s emblem.

Festival link: The wish for abundance reappears in the Spring Festival Flower Market, where kumquats stand for luck and peach blossoms for romance. The market is a New Year ritual, not a re-enactment of the legend, but the symbolism is the same.

02

The flower market on the Pearl River

Guangzhou’s flower market is often described as a Ming–Qing tradition. In the days before Lunar New Year, flower growers once rowed boats along the Pearl River to sell blossoms at the city’s wharves; by the late Qing, the flower streets around Xihu Road had become a New Year institution. Families walk the flower street on New Year’s Eve, buy kumquats, peach blossoms and narcissus, and take them home as a promise of a good year.

Festival link: The Spring Festival Flower Market was recognised as national intangible cultural heritage in 2021. It runs for the last few days of the lunar year, with the biggest crowds on New Year’s Eve; the Yuexiu Xihu market is the best-known historic one.

03

From the Thirteen Factories to the Canton Fair

From 1757 to 1842, Qing China confined most foreign trade to Guangzhou. Foreign merchants lived and worked in the Thirteen Factories along the Pearl River, dealing through licensed Chinese hongs; Howqua (Wu Bingjian) was the best-known of the merchant leaders. Ships anchored at Huangpu, where the Pazhou Pagoda marked the approach, and cargo was transferred to smaller boats for the last stretch to the city. The system ended after the First Opium War; the factories burned in 1856 and the foreign quarter later moved to Shamian.

Festival link: The Canton Fair (spring and autumn) is Guangzhou’s modern trade festival: registration, badges, halls and business cards. It is not a traditional folk festival, but it is the event that still defines the city’s calendar for many foreign buyers.