A New Year’s Journey Across Time: Discover the Most Lingnan Culture in ‘Yangcheng’

Everyone holds a special expectation and affection for a city. Guangzhou is a city that makes you never want to leave, and one you’ll want to return to even after you’ve gone. It’s a leisurely and languid city where time seems to slow down, inviting visitors to feel as if they are overlapping the ancient and the modern, as though traveling through a thousand years.

Two months ago, Yangcheng (Guangzhou) welcomed a highly distinctive hotel—the Hilton Garden Inn Guangzhou Tianhe Dinglong, the first Hilton Garden Inn in Guangzhou under Hilton’s focused service brand, making its grand debut in the city. This Hilton Garden Inn, excellently located and brimming with Guangzhou charm, was developed by Guangzhou Dinglong International Hotel Co., Ltd. and is managed by Hilton.

The hotel’s design seamlessly integrates Lingnan regional cultural features. The circular gemstone-shaped fountain at the lobby entrance is a stunning sight, and stepping onto the phantom white granite reception area, crafted by a master, symbolizes attracting wealth and treasures. The hotel sits at the juncture of Tianhe, Baiyun, and Yuexiu districts. Its prime location makes it extremely convenient for business and leisure travelers, whether they want to enjoy shopping in Tianhe, explore the city’s sights, or head to the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center and other commercial and exhibition venues. It is an ideal choice for a stay in Yangcheng.

Entering the lobby, you’ll look up to see a design inspired by the traditional old Guangzhou ‘tanglong’ gate and a cloud ladder, symbolizing ‘rising step by step’.

The moment you push open the door of the family suite on the 15th floor, a warm, homely feeling greets you. It really feels like coming home. The interior design, rich in Lingnan characteristics, is thoughtfully crafted, with distinctive Lingnan elements combining modernity and elegance. The room’s feature wall uses Cantonese slang to form patterns of Guangzhou’s iconic architecture, complemented by the beautiful city flower, the kapok blossom. It allows you to take in Guangzhou’s scenery at a glance while guessing the meanings of the Cantonese words and slang, and engaging in fun Cantonese quizzes with the warm and friendly hotel staff, adding a delightful and uniquely Guangzhou experience to your stay.

Each guest room bathroom features calligraphy by a master, displaying a Cantonese saying with a Mandarin explanation, allowing out-of-town visitors to fully appreciate the charm and wit of Cantonese culture. The spacious 54-square-metre rooms are adorned with exquisitely crafted Lingnan-style furniture using natural bamboo joint craftsmanship, carefully selected amenities, and user-friendly smart technology. The rooms also feature the brand’s signature ergonomic desk and chair, mattresses that promote deep sleep, 200+ thread count cotton-rich bedding, and comfortable bath facilities, truly delivering an unprecedented level of comfort.

The Hilton Garden Inn Guangzhou Tianhe Dinglong really doesn’t feel like a hotel; it’s as familiar as coming home. From the choice of modern furniture to the Lingnan-inspired lighting, everything in the guest rooms strives to create the ultimate stay experience, allowing you to sense the world’s changes even in this cosy corner of life.

Flower Treasures Restaurant: Savour the Art of Taste

// Flower Treasures

The Flower Treasures all-day dining restaurant serves distinctive breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, as well as exquisite dinner and evening room service. The restaurant’s design is modern, simple yet refined, while incorporating unique Guangzhou touches, such as traditional Xiguan roof styles, 1980s-style ice room booths, and Lingnan encaustic tiles—fresh and unique. Together with an open kitchen and excellent natural light, every dining experience is elevated in elegance.

Here, you can taste classic dishes that bring together a variety of Chinese and Western flavours, letting guests experience the culinary reputation of ‘Eat in Guangzhou’ without leaving the hotel. An elegant, upscale dinner can be arranged here, with table settings that turn a banquet into a refined social affair. If you bring your family, you can order customised children’s meals—pasta, fries, rich tomato soup, and tempting steaks—all exquisite dishes, and you’ll experience attentive service throughout the meal.

Having a vitality-boosting breakfast in the restaurant feels like dining bathed in sunlight. Many Cantonese snacks and dim sum are available; for example, from the Chinese breakfast congee and noodles, you can add braised beef brisket to turn it into a bowl of authentic beef brisket noodles. The Hilton Garden Inn Guangzhou Tianhe Dinglong enjoys a very unique location, greeting the morning glow with guests at breakfast, and the sunshine lasts all the way through afternoon tea.

The gym is well-equipped and open 24 hours a day. Large floor-to-ceiling windows let in bright natural light and offer expansive outdoor views, making workouts a refreshing pleasure. The hotel also provides a self-service laundry room, ensuring every journey is comfortable and feels like a home away from home.

// Meetings & Events

The 140 sqm Dinglong Hall and the 74 sqm Garden Room can accommodate meetings for 36 in a classroom setup or 60 in theatre style, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows providing comfortable natural light. The 32 sqm Meeting Foyer is ideal for standing cocktail receptions or themed tea breaks. The venues are equipped with advanced meeting facilities and services, and free Wi-Fi covers the entire hotel, making it an ideal choice for conferences and social banquets.

// Canton Tower

Canton Tower, also known as the Guangzhou New TV Tower and affectionately called ‘Xiaomanyao’ (Slim Waist), is located near Chigang Pagoda on Yizhou Island in Haizhu District. The tower has witnessed Guangzhou’s transformations over the years: it has watched the stadium and the grand theatre being built, and seen the museum bustling with visitors, carrying memories of the city’s evolution.

Guangzhou’s largest comprehensive park. As one of the Eight Sights of Yangcheng, in addition to its natural beauty of hills and lakes and dense trees, it holds a grand flower exhibition every year that showcases Lingnan characteristics.

Next stop, Xiguan. When the wheels stop before the old houses of Xiguan, we seem to breathe in the scent of time.

Yongqing Fang. Located on Enning Road in Liwan District, Guangzhou’s most beautiful arcade street, it connects to the Shangxiajiu landmark shopping street to the east and the 5A scenic area of Shamian to the south. This area in the old Xiguan enclave is steeped in Guangzhou’s urban cultural heritage.

// Cantonese Opera Art Museum

The museum is laid out along the north and south banks of Liwan Creek, ultimately forming a courtyard arrangement with a central large water courtyard and six groups of side courtyards.

The Chen Clan Academy, commonly known as the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, is located on Zhongshan 7th Road in Guangzhou. Construction began in the 14th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1888). It was jointly funded by Chen clans from across Guangdong as an ancestral hall for the entire clan. This magnificent building now stands before me; its solid bricks, ancient doors and windows evoke a strong sense of history. This ancient structure, mellowed by time, tells the visitors who come to admire it a story of travels through time.

Perhaps, even after a thousand years, we can still touch the traces left by these traditional histories. Through the ages, we have inherited and protected these historic buildings of profound charm. They are the epitome of bygone eras, indelible symbols of history in our deepest memories.

As long as we are willing to find an outlet for life—an experience, a trip—we can discover small joys that make our lives even more beautiful.

In fact, just give yourself some time, step into a city, understand it, appreciate it, take time to feel it, and perhaps you’ll discover a beauty in this familiar city that you’ve never known before—just around the next corner.

Hilton Garden Inn Guangzhou Tianhe Dinglong

Address: No. 63 Guangzhou Avenue North, Tianhe District, Guangzhou

Transport: By bus routes 16, 46, 51A, 51, 56, 72, 85, 109, 110, 112, 136 etc. to Haojing Huayuan (Grand Garden) station; by Metro Line 6 to Tianpingjia station, then 8 minutes' walk to the hotel.