Staying in a waterfall wonderland: discovering Lingnan culture at Guangzhou Garden Hotel

I still remember last December when I visited Guangzhou, stayed at the Guangzhou Garden Hotel, and explored Lingnan cultural spots like Chen Clan Academy and Yongqing Fang. The trip left me wanting more...

This December, the cold in Shanghai made me miss the warmth of Guangzhou again – those flavors and beautiful memories.

So, with my unlimited flight pass in hand, I made a spontaneous trip! I was incredibly excited to fly to Guangzhou for the weekend once more!

This time I chose to stay again at the Guangzhou Garden Hotel, a place I adore. It’s the only platinum five-star hotel in South China, with over thirty years of history. But what surprised me was how much it has changed since my last visit a year ago – I was genuinely amazed!

Let me, Grace, take you on a virtual tour again~

The location is fantastic, right at Taojin Station on Metro Line 5. You can see the hotel as soon as you exit the station. But this time I opted for the hotel’s airport pick‑up service, which was truly excellent. The drive from Baiyun Airport to the hotel took about 40 minutes.

Seeing the majestic exterior, I knew we had arrived at the Garden Hotel!

By the way, the hotel now offers a “Gold Medal Tour Guide” service – hotel guests can join for free and delve deeper into the hotel’s cultural heritage. Tours run daily at 10:00, 14:00 and 17:00; just remember to book in advance!

The hotel also thoughtfully provided a set of garden postcards and a hand‑drawn check‑in map. It’s so much fun – the map marks 25 popular photo spots around the hotel!

We followed the Gold Medal guide to explore the garden hotel. Stepping into the lobby, the first thing that caught my eye was the familiar large gilded mural themed on “Dream of the Red Chamber”. It depicts the daily lives of the Twelve Beauties of the Jia clan and the grandeur of the Grand View Garden. Said to be the hotel’s most representative cultural artwork, it took over 30 carvers more than seven months to complete, and 200,000 pieces of gold leaf (weighing 2 kg) were inlaid into the mural.

On the center of the ceiling, there is a coffered decoration of a “golden dragon sporting with a pearl”, made of vividly painted square columns and gilded wood‑carved coiling dragons. The design is inspired by the ceilings of ancient imperial palace roofs.

After checking in, I headed to the 16th floor. Just like last year, I chose an executive Cantonese‑rhyme room.

The room’s overall décor is Chinese style, but with cleverly integrated artistic elements that make the space feel minimalist, chic and fashionable. There’s a subtle, Western‑influenced flair within that classic Chinese essence. I absolutely love it – and it’s incredibly photogenic!

Pulling back the curtains, I could see the city streetscape outside.

I still remember taking photos in this bathtub last year – it feels as if that moment was just yesterday, hehe~

At noon, I headed to the hotel’s Waterfall restaurant for a Western lunch – salad, steak, pudding and more.

This restaurant had suddenly become an internet‑famous spot on social media this year, especially its afternoon tea. Everywhere you looked, there were stylish young women striking poses and taking photos.

We were lucky to get the best seat with a view, right next to the 4‑meter‑tall gilded statue of Liu Yuan. Seen as the hotel’s guardian spirit, it’s a replica of the one in Foshan’s Ancestral Temple and a symbol of Lingnan totem culture.

Outside the window, the waterfall cascades down.

The afternoon tea here is buffet‑style. We ordered a table full of Cantonese dim sum – utterly satisfying!

After eating, I strolled in the hotel’s back garden. A hotel with over 10,000 square meters of back garden right in the city center is a rarity! Grand murals, rockeries, flowing streams, waterfalls, pavilions, terraces and lush greenery… Walking through this Chinese‑style garden along the shaded paths was pure bliss…

In the evening, we dined at the hotel’s Japanese restaurant. Every dish was exquisitely presented and exceptionally delicious, with some particularly unique sauces. We had an appetizer platter, sashimi, grilled dishes, gold‑threaded eel cut rolls, baby carrot tempura, flambé king prawn with snowflake beef, black truffle and crab‑roe chicken fried rice, coconut daifuku and more.

The next morning, breakfast was again at the Waterfall restaurant. I truly love this place – every corner is filled with Instagram‑worthy details. The black‑and‑white floor tiles have a European vintage feel, and the breakfast buffet combines both Chinese and Western options. The selection is huge, and everything is delicious!

After breakfast, I wandered around the hotel. In the northeast part of the lobby, the spiral wooden staircase in ancient Greek Ionic style is simply breathtaking. If possible, you must wear a qipao here – the photo yield is 100%!

For lunch, I revisited the Chinese restaurant Peach Garden House, where I had dined the year before. The ambience is very Chinese, with murals of figures from the Three Kingdoms adorning the walls. Even the private rooms are named after Three Kingdoms characters, making you feel as if you’ve travelled back in time…

I noticed the menu had completely changed and was very different from last year. We ordered cold okra with sauce, Chinese yam with scallions, double‑crunchy blossoms, a nine‑grid platter, ginseng and aged tangerine peel soup, baked stuffed crab shell, pine‑needle stone‑grilled snowflake beef, port‑baked fish fillet balls, seafood and tea‑oil claypot rice with pea shoots, and cinnamon‑chocolate chiffon cake with light cream and mixed nuts…

Every dish had that distinct Guangzhou flavor paired with a Western‑style finesse. Not a single dud!

It’s perfect for family gatherings or business banquets. This is arguably the most unique creative Cantonese fusion cuisine I’ve ever tasted~

This time, I was determined to try every restaurant at the Guangzhou Garden Hotel. So before leaving, I squeezed in a warm‑winter afternoon tea at the Koi Bar. The retro wooden vanity‑box afternoon tea set was such a creative idea! At the Garden Hotel, you truly feel a pervasive Chinese cultural atmosphere, yet it never loses its sense of fashion. The seamless blend of East and West, with culture hidden in every corner, is the hotel’s greatest charm.

We sat by the floor‑to‑ceiling glass windows, the hotel’s back garden right behind us, sipping afternoon tea while admiring the garden view.

Inside the vintage vanity box, each drawer hid a different sweet treat – cakes, mousses and more. Every bite brought a lovely surprise, well worth the visit!

Guangzhou Garden Hotel

Address: No. 368 Huanshi East Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province (near Guangdong TV Station, World Trade Center)