Eating out

The Rose Garden
With a great menu featuring Chinese as well as Western dishes starting from around Yn40, and a good range of drinks and cocktails, the tables along the riverside provide beautiful views of the Pearl River waterfront, in a friendly but peaceful atmosphere.
3 Shamian Nanjie. Tel: 020 81922808

Lucy's
Relatively cheap and cheerful mostly American style food, with a bright and breezy atmosphere, and pleasant views out across the river. Good beer and bar snacks are readily available.
5 Shamian Nanjie. Tel: 020 81874106

Banana Leaf Restaurant
One of a chain, this place is popular with foreigners and locals, and has a wide variety of Southeast Asian dishes, specialising in curries. Main courses start at around Yn40.
Broadcasting and TV Hotel
8 Luhu Lu. Tel: 020 83591288 ex 3118

Bars and nightspots

Elephant and Castle
With a wide selection of beers, wines and cocktails and a good pub-style menu, as well as a pretty well filled jukebox, this Western-style bar often screens live sports and has become a very popular hangout. Beer from about Yn40 a pint.
363 Huangshi Dong Lu. Tel: 020 83593309

Paddy Field
Ex-pat owned and very popular with foreigners, Paddy’s is a lively bar with great food, and features a resident DJ at weekends, as well as various drinks offers. It also boasts the only draft Guinness in the city.
Booth 1a, g/f, Central Plaza, 38 Huale Lu. Tel: 020 83601379

Cave Bar
With a 2-4-1 happy hour, impressive drinks list, a DJ, and an often pretty crowded dance floor, this bar/club is a favourite of foreigners and locals alike. The place is busy until the early hours, and they make a great Martini.
360 Huangshi Dong Lu. Tel: 020 83863660

Overseas Chinese Village
This district, including the Holiday Inn, features an assortment of bars and clubs, including the very popular Wave Bar (no. 6 Heping Lu, tel: 020 83494568) with up-to-date pop music and a huge choice of cocktails for Yn35, and the China Box (no. 3 Heping Lu, tel: 020 83596868), crowded and loud downstairs, quieter and with sofas on the first floor. The whole place has a party atmosphere, it’s a great place for a big night out. 

Arts & Culture

Yue Xiu Gong Yuan
Guangzhou’s largest park includes several notable attractions within its extensive boundaries. The Sculpture of the Five Rams, commemorating the mythical beings that brought prosperity to the region, was erected there in 1959. The Zhen Hai Tower, or Five Storey Pagoda, contains a variety of antiques and historical exhibits and provides some excellent views of the grounds, and is virtually all that remains of the original city walls. The park also features several lakes and small waterfalls, and plenty of stalls selling refreshments and souvenirs. It is easily reached from Yue Xiu Gong Yuan Subway Station.
13 Jiefang Beilu. Entrance Yn5

Guangzhou Museum of Art
Opened in 2000, the Guangzhou Art Museum has a huge array of sculpture and paintings by some of China’s best known artists. Although the focus is on more contemporary art, there are also some major historical artefacts, including some of Xi’An’s prized Terracotta Warriors.
13 Luhu Lu. Tel: 020 83589126. Entrance Yn30

Chen Jia Ci
The ‘Chen Family Temple’ is a late 19th century family shrine, consisting of close to 20 buildings situated around courtyards. With exhibits including sculptures, paintings, exquisite screens, tiles and textiles, it is a fascinating insight into one of the Mainland’s wealthiest historical families.
34 En Long Ji Lu. Next to the Chen Jia Ci subway station. Entrance Yn10

Pearl River Cruises
A number of small river boats sail up and down nightly, providing beautiful views of the illuminated waterfront. Times, fares and journey durations can vary, so for details visit one of the ticket offices along the Shamian Dao riverside, most a short walk from Rose Garden Restaurant or the White Swan Hotel on Shamian Nanjie. It’s also worth asking at the hotel for details of their privately organised more up-market river cruises.

Shamian Dao (Island)
Shamian Dao (see also ‘Restaurants’ and ’Shopping’) has an atmosphere quite distinct from the rest of the city. Relaxed and quiet, the island’s architecture reflects its former status as a British/French concession, which it became following the end of the Opium Wars. Land reclamation has nearly doubled its size since then, to about 1km (east to west) by 400m. As well as the now aging colonial trade buildings and offices, there are Victorian houses and gardens, large European-breed trees, and a quite impressive French Catholic church - the ‘Our Lady of Lourdes’ Chapel - to bear witness to the Island’s history, and an increasing number of cafes, bars, boutiques, tennis courts and hotels reflecting its modern day role as a rather trendy retreat from the chaos of the city proper.

Baiyun Shan
Baiyun Shan, or the White Cloud Hills, lie about 15km northeast of Guangzhou, but are easily visited as a day trip. A cluster of around 30 peaks, they can provide quite spectacular views of the region, particularly if you’re lucky and it’s a relatively clear day. But the air is invariably much, much fresher than in the City itself, and with its aviary, sculpture park, botanical gardens and several small and serene temples, it can make for a lovely day out. It’s not an overly taxing hike, although there is a cable car up to the higher peaks, and minibuses which make various stops around the park grounds.
There are buses from around Renmin Gongyuan, to either the main entrance or to Baiyun bus station. Be prepared for the journey to take up to an hour.
Park Entrance Yn5, plus charges for cable cars or minibuses, and some attractions within the grounds.

Shopping

Beijing Road
Beijing Road (Beijing Lu) is hailed as one of the busiest shopping streets on the Mainland, and is fully deserving of its reputation. Lined with up-market, Western-style stores, it’s not the best place for bargain hunting, but is certainly worth a visit. Clothes, leathers and jewellery feature heavily, and you should expect to be approached by men offering to lead you off the high street to examine their cheaper and less authentic alternatives.
A short walk from Gong Yuan Qian Subway station.

Shamian Dao
A far cry from the madness of Beijing Road, Shamian Dao’s peaceful atmosphere makes it a pleasant place to shop for souvenirs and gifts. There are plenty of small shops and market stalls selling everything from chopsticks and tablecloths to traditional Chinese clothing, and while the prices may not be the lowest around, they’re very far from unreasonable, and it’s definitely worth bargaining.

Zhonghua Guangchang
A fun and crowded complex, this place is great for cheap and trendy clothes, gifts and accessories, as well as a vast selection of DVDs and CDs, including an often surprising range of Western music.
Lie Shi Ling Yuan subway station.

Haiyun Electrical Market
A wide selection of computers, digital cameras and stereos, as well as parts and accessories. The prices here aren’t always as low as people hope, but there are bargains to be had. The general rule is to know exactly what you’re after before you go in.
Dong Hu Lu.

Haiyun Silk Market
Separated into two large buildings, this complex has endless stalls selling beautiful Chinese fabrics in endless colours and patterns. It’s all quite reasonably priced, and once you’ve made your selection you can either take it with you or have garments made to measure by one of the tailors on site. They have catalogues of designs to choose from, but while-you-wait services are only really an option for things like scarves; if you’re wanting to have clothes made expect to have to make at least one return visit. It’s a fun and interesting way to buy your traditional Chinese clothes, and as well as being able to get just what you want, you’re guaranteed a much better fit than you’ll find in the souvenir stores.
A short walk from the Electrical Market, Dong Hu Lu.

Guangzhou Book Centre
Here you can find a wide range of English-language books, including English translations of Chinese classics as well as English classics aimed at Chinese students (some complete, many abridged). There is also a good selection of Chinese language textbooks, as well as English-Chinese dictionaries.
123 Tian He Lu.