A Trip to Guangzhou and Shunde

Depart from Wuhan to Guangzhou South, then transfer to a city rail train to Shunde. The train from Wuhan to Guangzhou South can only be taken from Wuhan Station in Qingshan. The ticket is around 470 yuan, and the transfer city rail ticket is 10 yuan. It takes four and a half hours from Wuhan to Guangzhou South, then just ten minutes from Guangzhou South to Shunde. After arriving in Shunde, take a bus to the city center. Once out of the station, go to City Rail Bus Stop A and take bus 314 to 清晖园 stop. I recommend staying near 清晖园 on 华盖步行街. Remember to book your room in advance—rooms there are tight (I didn't book ahead and ended up in a pretty lousy hotel). If you set off around noon, you'll probably reach 清晖园 by around 4:30 pm. The bus ride to 清晖园 is 17 stops. In Shunde, you need to press the bell to get off the bus—be sure to press it, or the driver might not stop. After arriving at 清晖园, drop your stuff at the hotel first, then you can head out for the evening. I suggest starting with 华盖步行街 and the shop 民信老铺. Try their local specialties: double-skin milk and fried milk. If you like sweet things, get the red bean double-skin milk; if you're not into sweets, go for the steamed egg double-skin milk (but honestly, they’re both very sweet—I almost couldn’t take it (~.~)). You can also just order one double-skin milk for two people (though sharing one might only work for couples or besties—even though I'm a single dog). I also strongly recommend the original pot coconut stewed milk (I didn’t get to try it because I arrived too late). That’s their signature dish. There’s also a black sesame paste dessert that looks like a jelly roll—I forget the name - - but I’ll include a photo below for you to check out. By the way, don't go to 民信 in the morning—it's super busy then and you'll have to queue. I went around 6 pm. On 华盖步行街 there's also 细妹牛杂—the flavor is amazing. A bowl for 30 yuan is enough for two people. The beef and offal are incredibly crispy, almost melt-in-your-mouth. Across from 细妹 there’s 龙眼炸猪肉, also quite tasty; a meal for two will cost around 50–60 yuan. Next to it, there’s a stall selling duck intestines—15 kuai for 30 skewers. I was confused why others were selling 10 kuai for 30 skewers while this one was so expensive, but after trying it I realized this duck intestine stall is a hidden gem. Basically, that first day of eating is enough—after all, you need to rest early on the first day.

For the second day, start with morning tea. Where to go? I recommend 龙的酒楼. It’s not far from 华盖步行街, just a few kilometers. By the way, for short distances in Shunde you don't need a cab—use Alipay’s Hello Bike, they have e-bikes (electric scooters) with a starting fee of 2 yuan. Once at the restaurant, find a seat—don’t order too much, just enough to be 80% full. I ordered the crystal shrimp dumpling king, crab roe siu mai, and Chencun steamed ribs with rice noodle. I can’t recommend the shrimp dumpling king enough—two whole big shrimp in a delicious sauce, truly generous. These three dishes cost about 63 yuan, including the tea charge. A local custom: no matter where you eat, they’ll ask what tea you want, and it costs a few yuan—that’s the local way. After breakfast tea, cycle back to 华盖步行街 because the first attraction is 清晖园. 清晖园 is not big, entry is 15 yuan, but the scenery inside is really lovely—I can’t describe it, you have to experience it yourself. After 清晖园, it’s about lunchtime. I had lunch at the main branch of 珍宝酒楼 in Lunjiao—make sure to check carefully, as there are many branches, but I recommend the main one for the best taste. I had four dishes: Cantonese roast goose (a bit sweet, order only half portion), black bean sauce chicken feet—this was the best dish I’ve ever had, so good it blew me away, no exaggeration, the best chicken feet I've ever eaten; turnip cake (since you should try Guangzhou-style dim sum, and I’m not big on sweets, this was a good choice); and a dish called East Star Grouper shrimp dumplings—not only beautiful but also adorable, I almost couldn’t bear to eat it, yet it tasted fantastic—I don’t know what the chef was thinking. Note: 珍宝楼 stops lunch service at 2 pm, so if you’re not there by 1 pm, better reschedule. To get from 华盖步行街 to 珍宝楼, I suggest taking a taxi or bus—don’t rely on navigation if you’re using an e-bike, I got lost for an hour because of all the narrow lanes and overpasses. Those e-bikes can go on bridges, but for safety, better not ride one on a bridge. After lunch, head back to 华盖步行街 or your hotel for a short rest, then gear up for afternoon tea. Around 3 pm, go buy Lunjiao cake from 欢姐伦教糕 on 华盖步行街. Don’t go to the wrong shop—this one is inside the pedestrian street, not the one opposite 清晖园. I recommend the mixed pack: four pieces, two white sugar and two brown sugar, for 10 yuan. You can take it away. And then the key: after buying something to eat, you need something to drink. So head to 金榜欢记牛乳 for their superb milk and milk custard—tastes like childhood. The shop is hard to find, tucked in a small alley within 华盖街. For navigation, use the built-in map on an iPhone—after being fooled by Baidu and Tencent maps, I discovered this magic tool, super reliable. So that’s breakfast tea, lunch, and afternoon tea covered. Now, dinner. I recommend 臻记饭店. Their congee hot pot is incredible, but the downside is the restaurant is far—take a car. From 清晖园, take bus 314 to 永丰市场, then walk about 300 meters, and you’ll spot it easily. I ordered a 268 yuan set meal with scallops, Arctic surf clams, mantis shrimp, and lots of other seafood, plus a portion of fresh beef (58 or 68 yuan, I can’t recall exactly). My friend and I spent 350 yuan in total, not bad. Before going, I read tips saying this place is a bit pricey, estimating 400–500 for two, but we barely finished what we had. Friendly warning: the seafood here is very fresh, so the flavor can be strong—if you’re not used to it, think twice. I arrived at 5 pm, right when they opened, and started eating immediately. Go early because it’s far and the place gets busy; the queue at night is long. I spent two hours on this meal—took so long mainly because there was so much food. After this, the day ended.

The third day—where to? Actually, I already headed out the previous night to the next destination: 逢简水乡. As this place is a bit far from Shunde, I took a taxi, costing 63 yuan and about 40 minutes. So I suggest going right after dinner at 臻记, which means you can check out of your hotel on 华盖步行街. I checked out in the morning after visiting 清晖园, because I could go back and rest—my hotel had a promotion where you could get a 2-hour late checkout by following their official account, so plan accordingly. Most accommodations in 逢简水乡 are guesthouses; book one day ahead. I stayed at 城外简居, a guesthouse I’d recommend—the room was spacious, with a living room, and it felt like home. The owner was very warm; just tell them what you need and they’ll arrange it. Visit 逢简水乡 in the evening because the night view is stunningly beautiful—perfect for young ladies to take photos. Guys, be careful: if you don’t take good pictures, those ladies will pound your chest with their little fists! The night view is gorgeous, but don’t think the visit ends there—there’s still daytime. In the morning, 逢简水乡 has a different charm. If it’s not peak season, shops open around 9:30 am. I went out at about 8:30 to see the water town in the morning. It’s not big—you can finish exploring it in about an hour. In the morning, you can take a boat ride along the waterways to see the scenery. I didn’t, because I’m frugal; I walked everywhere. After another morning stroll, it was time for breakfast. I picked a shop on a whim—forgive me, I forgot the name. All I remember is a sign outside that said “wonton noodles” so I went in. – I wonder if any of you can find this shop and tell me its name. Though I forgot, every shop in the water town is delicious. I had wonton noodles with fish balls, thick noodles with fish balls. The guesthouse owner recommended a place called 私厨, but I didn’t have time to try it. Since the owner recommended it, it must be good—in Guangzhou, if a food place isn’t good, it won’t last long. After breakfast, I took a bus back to Guangzhou. I’d wanted to stay two days in the water town, but had to shorten the trip. From 逢简水乡 to the Shunde city rail station takes about one and a half hours. First, take bus 383 from the water town to 杏坛客运站, then transfer to K391 to 顺风城轨车站. By the way, when leaving the water town, I took the little path on the right side of the bridge, and passed a black sesame paste shop run by an old lady—the taste was great, very nostalgic, I recommend trying it. It’s handmade daily by a sweet old lady. So why did I go to Guangzhou? I hadn’t planned to visit Guangzhou, but then I thought, if I didn’t check in at 广州塔 (Canton Tower), I’d be missing out. So I changed my plans—mainly because I didn’t have enough vacation days, otherwise I wouldn’t have rushed the itinerary (hmph). I arrived at Guangzhou South around 3:30 pm. I recommend staying near 上下九步行街; there are many guesthouses. Search around—since it’s downtown, guesthouses can’t compare to those in 逢简水乡; most rooms are quite small. I stayed in a small one called 朴宿喜度民宿 (near Changshou Road metro station). I won’t bore you with directions from Guangzhou South—just use navigation; downtown navigation is reliable, so you can use Baidu or Tencent maps. After dropping luggage, we head to 广州塔. Take the metro. Guangzhou doesn’t have those e-bikes—I had a blast zipping around Shunde on them for two days, so it took some adjusting in Guangzhou. Go early to 广州塔; if you head out around 5 pm like I did, congratulations, you’ll get a free experience of Guangzhou’s evening rush hour—you’ll be squeezed into a paper-cutout person. But trains come every 2 minutes, so if you can’t squeeze on, just wait for the next. Metro route: Line 1 towards Guangzhou East, get off at Tiyu Xilu, then transfer to Line 3 towards Panyu Square, get off at 广州塔, exit A. Look up and you’ll see the tower.

Once there, buy tickets first. I recommend the river-and-tower combo ticket; you have to buy it at the ticket office in the commercial street below the tower, not at the outside ticket booths. It costs 228 yuan, including entry to 广州塔 and a night cruise on the Pearl River. I suggest going up the tower around 5 pm and staying about two hours—though there’s no time limit, you just enjoy the view and take photos, so once you’ve taken enough, you can come down. The river cruise lasts about an hour. My combo ticket included an open-air third-floor deck on the boat, but you don’t really need that; a second-floor ticket is fine—you can still go stand on the third floor for photos. I thought a second-floor ticket meant no access to the third, but that’s not the case -.- You can arrange your time for the tower and cruise as you like. If you go up the tower early, you can see the transition from daytime to nighttime Guangzhou—two very different feelings.

At this point, you might wonder: why am I only talking about the tower and not Guangzhou food? Because honestly, every restaurant I tried in Guangzhou tasted good, so I don’t need to single one out. I ate at a place below the tower called 赏点. Why there? Because their chicken feet tasted almost exactly like the ones at 珍宝楼—I just had to gush about chicken feet again. Seriously, so good. The main dish was black bean sauce chicken feet (there’s another kind I really wanted but my friend said no, so… helpless). I recommend their mango pomelo sago drink—incredibly delicious, ladies must try it. There was also a dish called, I think, golden steamed rice rolls or something—sorry, I forgot the name -.- but I have a photo, so you can check it out. And their rice noodle rolls: you can’t visit Guangzhou without trying rice noodle rolls, but this shop’s skin was thick, not my favorite. I spent around 150 yuan here. After this meal, the day’s itinerary could end. You could also go to a dai pai dong (street-side food stall) in Guangzhou, but after the cruise it was already 10:30 pm and my friend wasn’t hungry, so we skipped it—a small regret, so I can’t recommend a good one.

Last day! I was heading home, so I slept in until 10 am—not too late. Staying on 上下九步行街, all the sights were about 3 km away, so no rush. There are tons of food options, but I’d point you to 荔银肠粉. I ordered dry-fried beef rice noodles (a Guangzhou specialty), and my friend had wonton noodles—he seemed to fall in love with wonton noodles, I don’t know why—plus a portion of rice noodle rolls. I was determined to find good rice noodle rolls, and this shop didn’t disappoint: tasty, skin not too thick, I had the shrimp rice noodle roll. Breakfast cost around 80 yuan maybe? I can’t remember, my friend paid, so I didn’t pay attention. After breakfast, stroll around 上下九步行街—it’s a bit like the old Hanzheng Street in Wuhan (I’m from Wuhan), selling everything. If you want to shop, check it out; I won’t go into detail. After the street, head to 沙面街. 沙面 is a nice place with old buildings—seeing them made me nostalgic for childhood friends I haven’t contacted in years. 沙面 is great for photos, so guys, be careful. There’s 沙面堂, but I don’t think you can enter; maybe during gatherings? I couldn’t get in, so I can’t say. Since that didn’t work, we went to 露得圣母堂—this one you can enter, but it’s small. Be quiet when visiting, as people may be praying inside. Just look, take photos, and leave silently. After this chapel, you’ve basically seen 沙面. There’s also a cultural relic museum, but it was under maintenance when I went, so no luck. After 沙面, if you still want photos, you can go to 石心大教堂, but it wasn’t open when I got there, so I just snapped a couple of pics outside and left. I’ve seen online that other travelers have been inside, but I don’t know the opening hours. All these attractions were free. Next, I went to 中山纪念馆. This one is a bit far—you can take a bus, or if not in a hurry, hop on a shared bike; it took me about 15 minutes. Entry is 10 yuan. Inside, it’s mostly historical exhibits, including the marriage oath of Mr. Sun and Ms. Song, said to be the original. There are performances twice daily, at 10 am and 3 pm, but I missed them because I had to head home in the afternoon. Visiting the memorial hall takes about 45 minutes. After this, my Guangzhou–Shunde trip ended. Overall, four days felt a bit short; you could stretch it to five or six days for a more relaxed pace. There’s so much more to eat and see in Guangzhou that I missed—like Guangzhou Restaurant is also a must-check-in spot. I hope this guide helps fellow travelers who love food and exploring! ~