Zengcheng | Seize the Final Days of Toll-Free Highways and Embark on a Breath-Gulping Journey to Zengcheng

📍 Guangzhou · 👁 8932 reads · ❤️ 27 likes

Staying home too long, wearing a mask daily, I've nearly forgotten how it feels to breathe with abandon. The holiday is coming, and I long to go for a wander. Departing from Foshan, within a 1-hour life circle, there's a wonderful place—can you guess where? Hehe, it's Zengcheng District in Guangzhou! Why Zengcheng? Tucked in the heart of the Pearl River Delta corridor, it's both far from big-city noise and a destination you reach without a long trek, making it a top travel pick.

Zengcheng is dotted with forest parks, including Dafengmen Forest Park, Taizi Forest Park, Jiaoshiling Forest Park, Nanxiangshan Forest Park, Xiancun Wudieling Forest Park, Zhengguo Jiufengshan Forest Park, and Zengjiang Hezhizhou, Paitan Shimalong, Lihu Wetland Park, among others. Towering dense forests, clear winding streams, azure skies with cotton clouds, and serenely cool climates make it a veritable “forest oxygen bar.”

[Transport] Take Guangzhou Metro Line 14 and transfer to bus “Cong 13”

[Environment] Baishuizhai is a mountain cloaked in dense forest with plentiful rain. Its 2,200 mm of annual rainfall creates nature's spectacle of thousands of springs and cascades. Here you'll find Dadongkeng's massive waterfall cluster, the vividly lifelike Mountain-Guarding Deity, both majestic and spectacular; there's also the Lidixi River's Guozuan Waterfall, plunging like a mad dragon off sheer cliffs, and the Crocodile Stopping the River as it dives into a deep pool—grand and magnificent. Atop 828-meter-high Baishuizhai Mountain, a thundering waterfall plunges straight down from the peak, renowned worldwide for its height and shape. With a drop of 428.5 meters, it's the tallest waterfall on mainland China. Shaped like an elegant demure ancient lady, pure and dignified, she holds a white lotus, stands in the breeze, robes fluttering, serene and graceful—legend has it this is the incarnation of Immortal He Xiangu, one of the Eight Immortals, who left her likeness as this waterfall upon attaining enlightenment, hence the name Baishui Xianpu (White Water Immortal Waterfall).

[Overall] The summit takes 9,999 steps, though the stepped trail only goes up to step 4,999, reaching the peak “Tianhu”. Crossing the road and climbing further brings you to step 9,999—likely few tread here. It takes about 2 hours from the base to step 4,999, with enchanting scenery all along.

📍 Baishuizhai Scenic Area, 74 Beishan Road, Baishuizhai Scenic Area, Paitan Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

Some sections of the ascent are steep; hold onto the railings and help each other.

The reservoir atop, called “Tianhu,” is a delight—sitting on the nearby dam, gazing at mountain and water, lifts the spirits wonderfully.

[Transport] Take Zengcheng Bus 74 to “1978 Film Town” stop.

[Environment] Guangdong's first tourism culture and creative industry park, a distinctive town built around film, music, advertising, design, and other creative sectors—this is the 1978 Culture & Creative Town on the east bank of the Zengjiang River in Zengcheng. It's a creative cultural zone packed with memory-evoking elements, transformed from the old Zengcheng Tangzhi Factory, surrounding old workshops, warehouses, scattered houses, and old villages.

[Overall] 1978 now centers mainly on dining, with highly iconic decorations perfect for stunning photos. The landmark White Chapel of the creative park, which won the 2016 APIDA Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards, Public Space Excellence Award, and Judges' Choice, is a must-visit. Currently, the park houses a boutique creative hotel, a craft brewery, the Tibetan-style Low House “Tibet Bar,” a waterfront mega-screen cinema, the Western-style wedding manor Liyutang, handicraft workshops, an art photography base, and more.

📍 1978 Culture & Creative Industrial Park, 15 Yanjiang East 3rd Road, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

Today's 1978 Film Town boasts Windsor Castle, the White Chapel, Reform and Opening Up Avenue, art gallery, museum, yacht dock, cinema, B4 Theater, and many other photo-worthy spots. It's a creative town blending specialty food, culture & art, cultural galas, theater & cinema, leisure inns, and creativity incubation, all carrying “Zengcheng memories,” and is the best landmark for diverse cultural experiences for Zengcheng folks.

The White Chapel, winner of the 2016 APIDA Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards

Along the riverfront is a Star Avenue, with gleaming stars on round blue balls and handprints of celebrities.

[Transport] Many surveillance cameras along the road, so be cautious if driving; parking spots are limited.

[Environment] A sweeping natural landscape scroll on the Zengjiang River—Zengjiang Gallery comprises east and west banks lined with flowering trees blooming year-round. It begins at Chuxi Water Conservancy Hub in Licheng Street and ends at Huxindao scenic area in Zhengguo Town, stretching about 40 km. You can also take a boat upstream on the Zengjiang to soak in the riverside vistas. Fine mountains, clear water, and superb air—take off your mask and breathe deeply, you'll want to bottle the air and bring it home.

[Overall] With the Zengjiang as its main thread, the banks are dotted with leisure cycling greenways, natural forest belts, orchards, ecological farmlands, timeworn buildings, service stations, and shops. You'll fully experience strong Lingnan character. It's both a water-system scenic belt and a public welfare recreational fitness zone, where you'll spot many people fishing.

📍 Zengjiang Gallery, Landscape Avenue, Shitan Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

Fine mountains, clear water, and superb breathing—take off your mask, breathe to the fullest, and pack that air home.

Zengcheng's cuisine is varied, each plate with its own character, farm-fresh countryside flavors, and plenty of snack varieties.

[Transport] Take Zengcheng Bus 66 or 67 to “Zhengguo Bus Terminal”; the road is very wide, parking available at both ends.

[Environment] “Wonton” in Cantonese morning tea is a calling card of Zhengguo Town—the entire town is full of wonton shops. Among them, an old-established wonton noodle shop on Zhengguo Old Street has persisted for six decades over four generations, drawing many admirers. The shop is modest in size; a giant oil painting on the wall lends a touch of art.

[Service] Order and pay at the counter upon entering, then find a seat. An auntie will bring you delicious wontons. Wall-mounted tissue rolls offer free napkins.

[Flavor] Fresh pork is the main ingredient, with filling made from two parts fatty meat to eight parts lean, minced, seasoned, and wrapped. The soup base is also meticulous: firewood-heated stoves simmer fresh pork bones for three hours into a clear broth, combined with wontons for freshness and delicacy. The shop keeps innovating, now offering ‘Ancestral Wontons’, ‘Shrimp Wontons’, ‘Dried Scallop Wontons’, ‘Crab Roe Wontons’, ‘Five-Flavour Wontons’, ‘Sesame Wontons’, and more. Piggy's favorites are ‘Fried Wontons’ and ‘Shrimp Wontons’.

[Overall] Well-publicized and famous, the wontons are petite, thin-skinned with bouncy filling, never cloying. However, compared to ordinary shops, the prices here aren't cheap.

📍 Lan Kee Wonton, No. 1, Lane 2, Zhengxin Street, Zhengguo Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

Four generations persisting for 60 years, thin-skinned with bouncy filling, never tiring.

[Transport] Take Zengcheng Bus 74 to “1978 Film Town” stop.

[Environment] Inside the film town is the “Zengcheng Authentic Food Street,” with many stalls selling all sorts of delights, surrounded by wooden tables and chairs. Among them, “Hei Kee” occupies a larger area and even has private rooms.

[Service] We sat in a private room; self-service, with servers generally entering only to serve dishes.

[Flavor] ‘Typhoon Shelter Stir-Fried Small Crabs’ – one crab, decent-sized, good flavor but little meat inside the shell; ‘Typhoon Shelter Shrimp’ – quite nice, the shrimp can be eaten shell and all, generous portion; ‘Typhoon Shelter Crispy Chicken’ – frozen chicken, meat just so-so, garlic taste overpowered the chicken; ‘Steamed Sea Bream’ – fresh but slightly overcooked; ‘Fish-Fragrant Eggplant Casserole’ – so-so; ‘Sizzling Boiled Beef’ – passable; ‘Eight-Flavour Tofu’ – popular, fried outside; ‘Peanut Sprouts Stir-Fried with Pork Belly’ – the meat was said to be native pork.

[Overall] Hong Kong-style Typhoon Shelter cooking, each dish a big plate of chopped garlic barely revealing any meat, small portions.

📍 Hong Kong Hei Kee Typhoon Shelter Spicy Crab, Food Street, 1978 Culture & Creative Park

[Transport] 1.5 km from Guanghe Expressway Xiaolou Exit; take Zengcheng Bus 15 or 19 to “Jiang'ao Greenway Service Area” stop

[Environment] Jiang'ao Station Lingnan Renjia is an agritainment spot fusing Lingnan poetry, eco-friendly garden concepts, leisure, wellness, and closeness to nature. It offers comfortable refined rooms, sports and recreation facilities, and most importantly, original, healthy, green Zengcheng cuisine.

[Service] We dined in a private room with a large table seating over 20, right next to the kitchen, so dishes were freshly cooked and served.

[Flavor] ‘Black Garlic Native Chicken Soup’ – plenty of ingredients, simmered just right, intense flavor; ‘Roast Chicken’ – not the old-style clay oven, but iron-roasted, likely frozen chicken; ‘Poached Native Chicken’ – freshly slaughtered and cooked, tender, springy, with sweet meat; ‘Mountain Pit Snails’ and ‘Blanched River Shrimp’ – just fingertip-sized, remarkably sweet; ‘Steamed Heshun Fish’ – prized for its freshness; also ‘Hakka Baked Goose’, ‘Steamed Pork Ribs with Pumpkin’...

[Overall] Like a private kitchen, we ordered many dishes, authentic farm-style flavors, fresh ingredients, visually appealing.

📍 Jiang'ao Station Lingnan Renjia, 188 Shangxin Street, Jiang'ao Village, Xiaolou Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou (on Zengpai Highway, He Xiangu section)

Zengcheng has roughly half locals and half Hakka people, so Hakka flavors here are very authentic. Hakka Baked Goose is made by first rolling the whole goose in a pot until it's 60-70% cooked, then adding mushrooms and a mix of seasonings, simmering everything together until done. This way, the spices penetrate the meat, making it flavorful, and the goose is rich without being greasy.

Zengjiang's fresh river delicacies include dozens of dishes, such as black bean sauce-fried clams, blanched river shrimp, steamed firm fish, steamed eel in black bean sauce. Notable fish include grass carp, crucian carp, mountain stream fish, and mixed river fish from the Zengjiang.

Paitan's tofu is especially tender and silky, thanks to the superb mountain water; turned into Hakka-style pan-fried stuffed tofu, it's top-notch.

Yearning for a life of sunrise labor and sunset rest, living free and unconstrained, I blended into local life, staying a night to experience it all.

[Transport] The hotel is located on Jiufeng Road in Zhengguo Town, Zengcheng District, hugging Jiufeng Mountain by the Zengjiang River, adjacent to the 3A scenic area Huxindao.

[Facilities] Comfortable setting, an old house renovated with a rather artistic feel, leisure walking platforms, viewing decks, etc., with about 65% greening, like living in a park. Over 30 guestrooms, twin rooms exceeding 40 sqm, simply decorated, spacious, with practical desks, free Wi-Fi, and complimentary gifts in the room: a bottle of red wine, two packs of Yunnan raw Pu'er tea, a fruit plate, and a 5-liter bucket of Zhengguo mountain spring water; the room's added value is superb—never leaving your door, you can relax in the armchair quietly sipping tea or swirling wine, utterly content! The bathroom is rather large too, with dual basins so no jostling for washing up, clean and simple, toiletries complete, and a separate shower cubicle.

[Service] Good service attitude, staff always smiling and friendly. No elevator, so if you have lots of luggage it's a bit troublesome, with some heavy lifting.

[Dining] The restaurant offers breakfast service, with a range of Chaozhou specialty snacks and light eats.

📍 Guangzhou Yunshuijian Hotel, 21 Jiufengshan Road, Zhengguo Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

[Transport] Situated in a small basin in Zhangdongkeng, backed by Zengcheng's highest peak “Niuguzhang,” adjacent to “Baishuizhai,” known as a “magnificent jade,” convenient transportation.

[Facilities] Planned area 2,000 sqm, with complete experiential villas like creek villas, round houses, mountain abodes, totaling 10 guestrooms. Branch-mimicking lamps, delicately simple greenery make it feel like living in a park. Gather with friends, sip tea, chat idly, letting your mind drift into reverie.

📍 Guangzhou Muji Yunxi Shanju, Shuikou She, Zhangdongkeng Village, Paitan Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

[Transport] Within Paitan Town, closely adjacent to Baishuizhai and linked with Nan Kunshan. Embracing verdant layered hills and lucid waters, the air brimming with negative ions, it's a “city-away” paradise in Guangzhou's back garden.

[Facilities] Unique Southeast Asian design style, grand exterior, understated luxury interior. A Venice-style swimming canal weaves past the ground-floor guestrooms—push open your door and leap right into the pool. Private natural hot spring baths in each room plus more make this a distinctive hotel. It has villas, family-themed duplex rooms, boutique rooms, all sleek and minimalist in design, each with a separate terrace, a hot spring tub, and open charming views.

📍 Forest Sea Hot Spring Resort, 101 Baishuizhai Avenue, Paitan Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou

For the May Day holiday, travel to Zengcheng and enjoy a wellness-and-lung-cleansing trip, relishing all that is tasty, fun, and breathable here—hiking, waterfall-gazing, oxygen-absorbing “lung wash,” a supremely comfortable treat.

To ensure visitors eat well, play joyfully, and breathe pleasantly over the holiday, the people of Zengcheng have thoughtfully prepared 9 distinct travel routes, meeting different groups' needs for “wellness lung-cleansing tour in Zengcheng, tasty, fun and breathable.”

Route 1: “Fresh & Lung-Cleansing” Green Tour

Path: Dafengmen Scenic Area → Baishui Xianpu Scenic Area → Shimalong Wetland Park → Baishuizhai Rural Eco Park → Xiangjiang Health Valley

Food picks: Traditional Baishuizhai roast chicken, steamed reservoir fish head with olive-pit paste, steamed pork balls in bamboo tube, stream snails steamed with baby shrimp, saltwater late-season cabbage, steamed arrowroot slices

Route 2: Paradise Town Tour

Path: Shangjiubei Village → Deng Village → Menghuabu Beautiful Countryside → She Ethnic Folk Village

Food picks: Paitan mountain-water tofu, Paitan arrowroot, Paitan white tea, Zhengguo cured meats, Zhengguo Huangtang pickled vegetables, Zhengguo wontons, laifen noodles

Route 3: Ethereal Spots for the Soul

Path: He Xiangu Scenic Area (family temple, Xiangu Well, rooftop immortals' peaches, Millennium Immortal Vine, Xiangu Pagoda, Bell Tower) → Xiaolou Renshi Scenic Area (boating and lotus picking on Eight Immortals Lake, Shizu Xianshan Lychee Garden, Baode Ancestral Hall)

Food picks: Xiaolou winter gourd banquet, Zengcheng cabbage heart banquet

Route 4: Retreat & Hot Spring Tour

Path: Baishui Xianpu Scenic Area → Dafengmen Scenic Area → Wellness Hot Spring Tour (Forest Sea Hot Spring Resort, Sanying Hot Spring Resort, Xiangjiang Health Valley, Gaotan Hot Spring Resort, etc.)

Food picks: Paitan roast chicken, Baishuizhai sweet potatoes

Route 5: Natural Oxygen Bar Eco Tour

Menghuabu Village → Jiaoshiling Forest Park → Lihu Lake → Zengjiang Gallery → Fengtai Viewing → Shitan Dragon Boat Scene

Food picks: Licheng lychee banquet, Shitan clam soup, Shitan whole-beef banquet

Route 6: Lingnan Flavor Leisure Tour

Path: Erlongshan Scenic Area → Zhongxin Cui Taishi Temple → Kengbei Ancient Architectural Complex → Cui Yuzhi Memorial Hall

Food picks: Zhucun chicken rice, Zhongxin Hakka baked goose

Route 7: Leisurely Greenway Cycling Tour

Path: Licheng Street section (south) → Paitan Town section (north) → Zengjiang Street section (east)

Food picks: Licheng lychee banquet, Paitan roast chicken, Licheng lychee banquet

Route 8: Charming Zengcheng Culture Tour

Path: She Ethnic Folk Culture Village → 1978 Film Town → Zengjiang Gallery → Lihu Lake

Food picks: She ethnic loquat wine, lychees, mountain pit snails

Route 9: Rustic Charm Tour

Path: Baishui Xianpu Scenic Area → Shangjiubei Village in Paitan Town → Deng Village in Paitan Town → Xiaolou Renshi Scenic Area

Food picks: Xiaolou winter gourd banquet, Zengcheng cabbage heart banquet

1. Three groups advised against traveling: the elderly with certain conditions, chronic disease patients, pregnant women, and high-risk individuals are not recommended to travel;

2. Suggest nearby off-peak trips, avoid popular attractions or peak times, and skip recreational activities in enclosed spaces.

3. Practice precautions en route: wear a mask throughout, maintain hand hygiene, and keep tickets safe for possible tracing;

4. During travel, maintain precautions: queue orderly in scenic spots, keep social distance, choose hotels with good hygiene, and if symptoms like fever, dry cough, fatigue appear, seek immediate medical attention at a nearby facility.

Travelogue Contents

1. Zengcheng Baishuizhai Scenic Area

2. 1978 Culture & Creative Industrial Park

3. Zengjiang Gallery

4. Zhengguo Wontons

5. Hong Kong Hei Kee Typhoon Shelter Spicy Crab

6. Jiang'ao Station Lingnan Renjia

7. Guangzhou Yunshuijian Hotel

8. Guangzhou Muji Yunxi Shanju

9. Forest Sea Hot Spring Resort

10. Tips: Travel Information

Hotel Index