Meeting Guangzhou on a small-group tour with lunch

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.

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.

Located in Yuexiu District, Yuexiu Park is the largest park in downtown Guangzhou. Covering an area of 860,000 square meters (212.5 acres), it is made up of three artificial lakes and seven hills of Yuexiu Mountain; hence the name. It is a perfect combination of cultural relics and ecological tourism, reputed for its pretty water and hills as well as cultural relics. The main places of interest include the stone sculpture of the Five Rams, Zhenhai Tower, the site of the Ming Dynasty City Wall, and Square Cannon Site.

With a history of 630 years, Zhenhai Tower is a five-floor tower located on the top of Yuexiu Mountain. It is also known among the locals as the Five-Story Tower. As one of the landmarks in Guangzhou, it is reputed as the best preserved architecture with best vigour and unique traditional features. The tower is also named as Guangzhou Museum which shows the changing and development of Guangzhou's culture, customs and the city itself through the display of ten thousand cultural relics, pictures and historical data of Guangzhou. On its west seats a stele corridor which shows the stele carvings of the past dynasties of China and 12 Ancient Cannons. If you want to have a deep understanding of the city's culture and history, Zhenhai tower is a must see attraction.