Explore Guangzhou city on a private historical tour

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (also known as the Chen Clan Academy, for those who's surname is Chen), which now houses the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, is a great stop on a tour of Guangzhou for its history and architecture. It was originally a space for students training for the Confucian Imperial Examinations, built by two overseas Chinese in America returning to Guangzhou. The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall was set up by two Chinese-Americans who wanted students from the Chen family to have an academy in Guangzhou as they were preparing for their Confucian Imperial Examinations. It was built just before the end of the Qing era between 1890 and 1894, with the two founders whose surname was Chen, Chen Ruinan and Chen Zhaonan, rallying support from all over Guangdong. It is said that money was contributed by 72 Chen families.

Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the People's Republic of China. The city is also known by an older English-language name, Canton. It is a port on the Pearl River, navigable to the South China Sea, and is located about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Hong Kong. As of the 2000 census, the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of roughly 8.5 million (though some estimates are as high as 12.6 million) making it the most populous city in the province and the third most populous metropolitan area in mainland China.

Shamian Island, previous known as Zhongliusha or Shicuizhou, is an elliptic sandbar in the Liwan District of Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese. Surrounded by water, it is just like a giant ship mooring alongside the wharf. Get further and one will find that Shamian Island is carefully planned. Three east-west avenues, Shamian Avenue, Shamian North Avenue and the South Avenue, and five north-south streets, Shamian Street 1 to the Street 5 divide the whole area into 12 parts, with various buildings, namely White Swan Hotel, Shamian Hotel, and Poland Consulate in Guangzhou, scattered around.

ShangXiaJiu Pedestrian Street situated in the central area of Liwan (or Xiguan) district, this area consists of Shangjiu Lu, Xiajiu Lu and Dishipu Lu. The street is notable for its unique Lingnan architectural style, Xiguan folk customs, commercial and cultural ambience. Featuring the characteristics of European and Chinese styles. As one of the three most famous commercial centers in Guangzhou, the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street is about 800 in length with 250 shops on both sides. Opened at 30th September 1995, it is the first commercial pedestrian street in Guangzhou city. It is a showcase of traditional Cantonese architecture, especially pretty at night when lit up. All the shops here are Qilou or sotto porticos (a building structure of South-China's construction style), which make the open market weatherproof. Walking on the Beijing Lu, in the center of Guangzhou City, however, you will find a world not far different from Shangxia Jiu Lu.

Founded in 537 and still inhabited by monks, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is a destination for foreign families adopting children from China. Don't try to find the six banyan trees, as there are only two, but otherwise, this ancient Buddhist temple is intact. Sit in the courtyard under the shade of tall trees, contemplate the comings and goings of monks, listen to the sound of the fountain, and admire the beauty of the buildings. The 16-storey Flower Pagoda is especially popular. Fifty-seven metres high, its column topped with a thousand Buddhas, it could be imposing, but instead has a reassuring, almost maternal quality, perhaps due to the presence of the statue of Kuan Yin. Pregnant women come here to have pray for a boy, because, according to legend, Kuan Yin was a man who changed his sex to attract women to Buddhism, and is considered the goddess of fertility. Foreigners adopting Chinese children come here for blessings, too, but this is probably because of its proximity to foreign consulates. Don't miss three very large, very beautiful, and very happy-looking statues of Buddha, just east of the pagoda.

Discovered in 1983, the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou is the largest and the unique stone-chamber tomb of Han Dynasty with colored decorations in the area. Zhao Mo, the owner of the mausoleum, is the second king of Nanyue Kingdom and reigned from 137 BC to 122 BC. The king was buried in Panyu (which was the capital city of the kingdom and is known as Guangzhou today) after his death and has fortunately escaped from being invasion and harassment for more than two thousand years. This some 100 square meters mausoleum collects over ten thousand unearthed cultural relics including articles of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, ceramic, jade, crystal, carnelian, silk, fiber, wood, leather, traditional Chinese medicine, poultry, livestock, aquatic product, etc.; and what's more, four wives and fifteen servants were also buried in the tomb to serve the king.