Guangzhou
Cantonese Dim Sum & Old Guangzhou Day Tour
Morning tea at a hall that opens before 07:00, then the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Shamian Island and the medicine shops of the old town.
From US$99/per person
View tourGuangzhou
Lingnan Gardens & Shunde Food Day Tour
A Qing-dynasty garden in Shunde, a village of silk and fish ponds, and the Cantonese country cooking that Guangdong's chefs grew up on.
The short version
Guangdong's best garden is not in Guangzhou. Qinghui Garden in Shunde, an hour south, is a Qing scholar's retreat of corridors, ponds and Lingnan joinery, and the district around it is where Cantonese cooking comes from — mulberry dykes, fish ponds, and kitchens that supply the city's best restaurants. About 8 hours.
- Qinghui Garden is the finest of Guangdong's four great Qing gardens.
- Shunde is where Cantonese chefs are trained — the food is the reason to go.
- The mulberry-dyke fish-pond system is a 700-year-old form of farming still visible here.
- Eight hours door to door; an hour of driving each way.
What not to miss
08:30
Hotel pickup
Private vehicle south into the Pearl River delta. Shunde is an hour away and the road is flat the whole way.
09:45
Qinghui Garden
A Qing scholar's garden of corridors, moon gates and Lingnan stained glass. Small, dense, and much better than its size suggests.
11:30
A mulberry-dyke village
Dykes planted with mulberry, ponds stocked with grass carp — a farming system that has run here since the Ming dynasty.
12:30
Shunde lunch
Fish served three ways from the same pond: raw with oil and salt, steamed with ginger, and fried. Plus double-skin milk pudding.
14:30
Fengjian water village
A canal village of grey brick and banyan trees, without the souvenir economy of the better-known towns.
16:00
Drive back
Back on the road by 16:00, at your Guangzhou hotel around 17:00.
What's included and what isn't
Includes
- Private vehicle and driver for the full day
- Licensed English-speaking guide
- Qinghui Garden entrance ticket
- Shunde lunch — fish three ways and dessert
- Tolls, fuel and parking
- Bottled water and tea
Not included
- Breakfast and dinner
- Gratuities
- Snacks bought in the villages
- Personal travel insurance
Pickup, timing and getting around
Pickup at 08:30 from hotels in Yuexiu, Liwan and Tianhe. The drive is about an hour each way, so we leave early and eat lunch at 12:30 rather than 13:30.
This is the day for people who have already done Guangzhou proper, or who organise trips around restaurants. If it is your first day in the city, take the dim sum tour instead.
Route diagrams are schematic and illustrative, not to scale.
More day tours from Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Canton Tower & Pearl River Day Tour
The city from 450 metres, a Cantonese dinner on the south bank, then an hour on the water while the riverfront lights come up.
From US$109/per person
View tourFrequently asked questions
What is a Lingnan garden?
The Cantonese school of garden design: smaller and denser than a Suzhou garden, with more shading corridors, more fruit trees and the coloured glass and stucco that came with Guangdong's 19th-century trade wealth.
Why Shunde for food?
Shunde has produced a disproportionate number of Cantonese chefs for a century, and the district takes its own cooking seriously — freshwater fish, dairy desserts, and a snack culture that never made it onto English menus.
Is the raw fish safe to eat?
It is a local tradition and we only serve it at kitchens we have used for years. If you would rather not, say so and you get the steamed and fried versions instead, which is what most first-timers choose.
Can we combine this with Guangzhou city sights?
Not well — Shunde takes a full day once you eat properly. Book the dim sum or Canton Tower tour for the city and put Shunde on a second day.
Explore next
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- Do I Need a Visa for China? Requirements, Costs and How to Apply
- China's 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit: Who Qualifies and How It Works
- Paying in China: Alipay, WeChat Pay, Cards and Cash
- China's High-Speed Rail: How to Book, What It Costs, How Fast It Goes
- Is China Safe for Tourists? Honest Risks and How to Avoid Them
- Best Time to Visit China: Month by Month, Region by Region
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