Capital · Historic city · Port · Guangdong
Guangzhou
广州
City of Rams on the Pearl River, China's oldest open port
Guangzhou, historically known in the West as Canton, is the capital of Guangdong and the principal city of South China, at the head of the Pearl River Delta. Founded in 214 BCE, it has been a port for overseas trade for more than two thousand years and was the only Chinese port open to Western merchants from 1757 to 1842. It is the heartland of Cantonese language, cuisine and opera and hosts the Canton Fair.
Key facts
Overview
Guangzhou grew on the north bank of the Pearl River, where the West, North and East rivers meet the head of the delta. Its long history as a port gave it a character unlike that of northern cities: mosques and churches as well as temples, a merchant class with links across the south seas, and a language and cuisine that emigrants from the region carried around the world.
The city is one of China's four first-tier cities and a major centre of trade, manufacturing, logistics and services. Its centre moved east over the twentieth century, from the old walled city and the western suburbs of Xiguan to the towers of Zhujiang New Town and the Canton Tower on the south bank.
Names and nicknames
羊城
“City of Rams”
From the legend of five immortals who descended on rams carrying ears of rice and blessed the city with freedom from famine; also 五羊城.
花城
“Flower City”
For the year-round flowers and the Spring Festival flower markets.
穗
“ear of grain”
The city's one-character abbreviation, from the rice the immortals brought.
番禺
The Qin and Han name of the city, now the name of a southern district.
History
The Qin founded Panyu in 214 BCE; it became the capital of the kingdom of Nanyue and then of Han Lingnan. From the Tang, Guangzhou was the main harbour for merchants from the Arab world, Persia, India and South-East Asia. After European ships arrived in the sixteenth century, trade was increasingly regulated, and from 1757 Western merchants were confined to the Thirteen Factories outside the city walls. The opium trade led to war in 1839. Guangzhou was the cradle of Sun Yat-sen's revolution and, in the 1920s, the base of the Nationalist government and the Northern Expedition. Since 1957 the Canton Fair has made it the meeting place of Chinese exporters and foreign buyers.
214 BCE
Panyu founded
The Qin general Ren Xiao built the city as the seat of the Nanhai commandery after the conquest of Lingnan.
204–111 BCE
Capital of Nanyue
Zhao Tuo and his successors ruled the kingdom of Nanyue from Panyu; the tomb of the second king was found intact in 1983.
226
The name Guangzhou
Sun Quan of Wu divided the province of Jiaozhou and created Guangzhou, with its seat at Panyu.
879
Huang Chao takes Guangzhou
The rebel army sacked the city and, according to Arab sources, killed many foreign merchants.
1757–1842
The Canton System
Western trade was restricted to Guangzhou and handled by licensed Hong merchants; the foreign factories stood on the river bank near today's Shisanhang Road.
1859
Shamian concessions
The sandbank of Shamian was reclaimed and divided into British and French concessions, whose buildings survive.
27 April 1911
Huanghuagang Uprising
A failed revolutionary rising; the dead were buried at Huanghuagang, now a memorial park.
1924
Whampoa Military Academy
The Nationalist military academy was founded on Changzhou Island east of the city.
1957
Canton Fair
The China Import and Export Fair has been held in Guangzhou every spring and autumn since 1957.
2010
Asian Games
Guangzhou hosted the Asian Games; the Canton Tower was completed the same year.
Landmarks
Historic site
Chen Clan Ancestral Hall
陈家祠
Academy and ancestral temple of 1894 with virtuoso wood, stone, brick and ceramic carving; home of the Guangdong Folk Art Museum.
Museum
Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King
西汉南越王博物馆
Built over the stone tomb of Zhao Mo, second king of Nanyue, with his jade burial suit.
Temple or shrine
Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
六榕寺
Buddhist temple with the Flower Pagoda; its name comes from an inscription by Su Shi.
Temple or shrine
Guangxiao Temple
光孝寺
One of the oldest temples in Lingnan, where Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan, was ordained.
Street or quarter
Shamian Island
沙面
Former British and French concession with nineteenth-century villas, banks and churches along tree-lined avenues.
Historic site
Zhenhai Tower
镇海楼
Five-storey Ming watchtower of 1380 on the old northern city wall in Yuexiu Park, housing the Guangzhou Museum.
Temple or shrine
Sacred Heart Cathedral
石室圣心大教堂
Granite Gothic Revival cathedral completed in 1888.
Modern landmark
Canton Tower
广州塔
The 600-metre television tower on the south bank, completed in 2010.
Neighbourhoods
Xiguan (Liwan)
西关
The old western suburb of merchant houses, arcaded streets such as Enning Road and Shangxiajiu, and traditional teahouses.
Zhujiang New Town
珠江新城
Business district of towers, the opera house and the Guangdong Museum.
Dongshankou
东山口
Early twentieth-century villas built by returned emigrants and missionaries, now full of cafés and small shops.
Beijing Road
北京路
Shopping street on the central axis of the old city, with glass-covered excavations of road surfaces from ten dynasties.
Food
Dim sum
点心
Steamed and fried snacks served with tea in the morning and afternoon.
Rice noodle rolls
肠粉
Steamed sheets of rice batter rolled around shrimp, beef or char siu, with sweet soy sauce.
Wonton noodles
云吞面
Thin egg noodles and shrimp wontons in a shrimp-roe and dried-fish broth.
Sampan congee
艇仔粥
Rice congee with fish, squid and peanuts, once sold from boats on the Liwan river.
Double-skin milk
双皮奶
Set milk pudding from Shunde, widely eaten in Guangzhou dessert shops.
Culture
Guangzhou is the standard-bearer of Cantonese culture: the Guangzhou variety of Cantonese is the reference for the language, and the city's teahouses, opera troupes and temple fairs set the pattern for the delta. The Lingnan school of painting, which combined Chinese brushwork with Western realism, was founded here in the early twentieth century. Religious diversity is part of the city's history: the Huaisheng Mosque traces its origin to the Tang, and there are Catholic and Protestant churches from the nineteenth century.
Getting around
- The Guangzhou Metro is one of the largest networks in China and links the centre with Baiyun International Airport and Guangzhou South station; it connects with the Foshan metro.
- Guangzhou South is the main high-speed station; Guangzhou East is the main station for trains to Shenzhen; Guangzhou Baiyun and Guangzhou stations handle many conventional services.
- Water buses cross and follow the Pearl River in the city centre.
Day trips
Foshan
佛山
The neighbouring city of the Ancestral Temple, Cantonese opera and martial arts, linked by metro.
Shawan
沙湾古镇
Old town in Panyu with ancestral halls and a tradition of Cantonese music.
Baiyun Mountain
白云山
Forested hills on the northern edge of the city.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Guangzhou Municipal People's Government — Guangzhou Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Guangzhou — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Guangdong
- Shenzhen深圳Industrial centre · Port · Border cityChina's first special economic zone, across the river from Hong Kong
- Foshan佛山Historic city · Industrial centre · Cultural centreCeramics, kung fu and Cantonese opera next door to Guangzhou
- Zhuhai珠海Port · Border city · Scenic areaCoastal special economic zone on the border with Macau
- Chaozhou潮州Historic city · Cultural centreWalled Teochew city on the Han River
- Jiangmen江门Historic city · Cultural centreHomeland of the overseas Chinese and the Kaiping diaolou
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