A 48-Hour Foodie Mission at Hilton Shunde, the World’s Culinary Capital

Shunde is a place that seems to enchant at the mere mention of its name—a culinary capital. For a seasoned traveler like me, food is indispensable. I've been to Macau, Yangzhou, and Chengdu, and this time I came to Shunde specifically. They say ‘Cantonese cuisine is in Guangzhou, but the finest flavors are in Shunde.’ I came to unlock the last of the gastronomic capitals.

Shunde is also a famous tourist destination in Guangdong, with Lingnan cultural features like Cantonese opera, lion dance performances, and renowned gardens. During holidays, people from all over come here to savor the food and admire the distinctive Lingnan architecture.

Beautiful scenery, exquisite snacks, local customs—the beauty of Shunde is revealed in every detail of this land, sketching a unique charm. Its multifaceted city stories attract countless travelers and gourmands on a culinary journey to Shunde.

Hilton Shunde Haijunda Hotel

When heading to a culinary capital like this, my first priority is picking a hotel I’ll love. The location and quality of the hotel make or break the trip. Only hotels with distinct styles can attract visitors and meet our needs. For this Shunde trip, I chose Hilton Shunde Haijunda Hotel, the first international five-star hotel in Ronggui. The Hilton brand needs no introduction—it’s my go-to choice when traveling.

Every corner of Hilton Shunde Haijunda is beautiful, especially the art pieces that deeply touched me. The hotel’s design is inspired by the Lingnan water town ambience, incorporating the delicate concept of ‘murmuring waters’ into its spaces. The style blends Lingnan traditional culture with abstract art. Various artworks by different artists are placed throughout the hotel, echoing the design theme. As soon as you enter, you’ll be greeted by a 6.5-meter-tall abstract oil painting by renowned German contemporary artist Michael Müller, titled ‘Mrs. Zuhu Cycling Along the Baobab Avenue in Search of Lost Mangoes’—worth several million yuan. It instantly immerses arriving guests in abstract art.

Stepping into the lobby, you’re welcomed with warm greetings and hospitality—the first delightful surprise of entering a world of beautiful light and shadow.

The front desk and lobby area are closely connected yet distinctly separated, offering guests a private and comfortable check-in space.

The staff told us that the hotel is directly connected to the Haijunda Mall, so shopping, leisure, and entertainment are just steps away. This is the convenient lifestyle that modern business travel should offer—allowing travelers to enjoy ultimate convenience in one stop and open a new home base for their stay.

The hotel has 337 comfortable guest rooms and suites, equipped with brand-standard amenities, including a spacious separate workspace, 55-inch HD LCD TV, Slumberland UK mattress, separate shower, and Crabtree & Evelyn® bath products. Here, I can enjoy my leisure time while taking in the charming city views.

The spacious layout, generous natural light, and soft, crisp bedding—plus the well-designed separation of wet and dry areas. Especially in the west-facing rooms, the afternoon sun streaming in makes it so warm and cozy that I didn’t want to leave.

The bedroom carpet features a blue-and-white dyed pattern, creating an overall fresh, elegant, and minimalist feel with a touch of vintage charm. The warm tones are very comfortable.

Crafting dreams of warmth, making them beautifully hazy, filling lovely sensations with infinite tender romance, and turning that romance into real coziness between half-asleep and awake.

The Bluetooth speaker is a JBL. Play your favorite tunes, take a bath, bask in the moonlight as if bathed by the bright moon, and feel the warmth of home. You’ll spend beautiful, unforgettable days here, enjoying stolen moments of relaxation.

Hilton Shunde Haijunda Hotel is an elegant harbor, embracing a vibrant urban lifestyle. Art, fashion, entertainment, and gastronomy quietly converge here, making you feel like you’ve found the true essence of life.

The hotel’s gym is a top pick for many. Located on the 5th floor, the 24-hour fitness center is equipped with state-of-the-art Italian Technogym equipment, helping guests stay active during their travels. The 250-square-meter outdoor heated standard pool is the perfect place to enjoy nature and soothe body and mind.

Lobby Lounge · Mrs. Zuhu Afternoon Tea

Settle in here, savor a pot of fine tea or a cup of aromatic coffee, and experience the hotel’s signature afternoon tea. Enjoy a leisurely and delightful break from the hustle and bustle.

The afternoon tea is designed in collaboration with the Mrs. Zuhu painting in the lobby, creating a unified artistic touch.

The hotel lobby lounge is elegantly serene. Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, with warm sunshine streaming in, you have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery outside. The pastries are dainty and tempting, making your mouth water. Sometimes, idling away time in comfort is a truly delightful thing.

I can’t remember where I heard this saying: Food is the most efficient vehicle for understanding a city and its people. So, every time I travel, the thing I love and do first is to seek out local delicacies.

The moment I arrived at Hilton Shunde Haijunda, I decided that for these days, I would be a true foodie.

Xi Yue Xuan Chinese Restaurant

As the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, food has long been a shining hallmark of Shunde’s city identity. Xi Yue Xuan Chinese Restaurant combines traditional culinary elements with modern presentation, selecting seasonal ingredients to create authentic Shunde flavors for guests.

For a foodie, the most important thing is to thoroughly savor the local specialties and let your taste buds have an unexpected romance.

Shrimp dumplings, dry-fried beef ho fun, taro-puff embroidered balls, Can’s brother braised goose, shrimp rice noodle rolls, radish pastries, Ronggui congee... there were so many delicious dishes, I couldn’t possibly finish them all in one sitting.

I especially liked the Ronggui congee, so fresh. The rich, flavorful meats and the smooth, velvety congee—someone said that the ultimate fragrance lies in the world of this congee within the city. The congee ingredients include: fish fillet, fish bones, fish belly, pork slices, pork belly, pig liver, pig tongue, pig heart, pork intestine, fish balls, meatballs, and beef.

Besides the main dining hall, the Hilton’s restaurant also has private rooms—some with superb views and super-luxurious settings. The delicacies here are too numerous to count; I couldn’t even list all the dish names in one breath.

Charcoal-grilled suckling pig pieces, special-flavor boat, salad giant grouper chunks, qilin giant grouper balls, lobster-fried milk, stir-fried giant grouper balls, candied giant grouper balls, crispy-skinned melon milk, braised goose with Chencun rice noodles, fish puffs with precious mushrooms, dace with leaf lettuce, salt-baked Yangshan chicken, five-blessing mung bean soup, lychee and longan.

I even jotted down every dish in my memo, from this giant grouper feast jointly prepared by two Hong Kong chefs. I was afraid that after eating, I’d remember the deliciousness but forget what they were called.

Each dish was generously portioned. The salt-baked Yangshan chicken had a ceremonial feel, and its preparation was time-consuming. Finally, it was served with a knock—a massage for the chicken—then the paper was broken open, gloves put on, and you tear into it. The aroma, carried by heat, hit your face instantly.

The lobster-fried milk had a more complex texture. It is said that Shunde people have developed every possible use for buffalo milk. Food essayist Shen Hongfei once remarked: ‘Shunde people’s deep affection for milk is rare not just in Lingnan but across the entire Han ethnicity.’

The pursuit of true flavors and the perfection of cooking methods are the essence of Shunde cuisine. I truly felt that at Xi Yue Xuan Chinese Restaurant in Hilton Shunde Haijunda.

Kitchen Art · All-Day Dining Restaurant

Kitchen Art All-Day Dining Restaurant offers an extensive selection of Chinese and Western buffet breakfasts and local specialties, as well as à la carte and buffet dinner services. The open kitchen allows diners to interact closely with the chefs and learn the stories behind Shunde’s cuisine.

With hundreds of dishes, the chefs frequently change the menu based on seasonal fresh ingredients. You can experience international cuisines and various flavors all at once—eat until you can barely walk out.

Life is like a buffet—you can get whatever you want, with exquisite pastries and a comfortable ambiance. From the dishes to the service and even the buffet table design, Kitchen Art elevated my experience from simply eating to eating well and gourmet.

In the rules of eating, flavor outweighs all. With their understanding of food, people seek inspiration for transformation through constant experimentation. All these imaginative transformations create astonishing flavors and elevate nutrition, forming something called culture, which is passed down.

Tasting Shunde – Wei Ke Dao

In the north, there’s the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast; in the south, the Nine Big Dishes Banquet, a grand representative of luxurious Cantonese feasts.

Each private room is themed with local cultural features—dragon boat room, kung fu room, etc.—offering an immersive dining experience, with each dish introduced to you along the way.

The Nine Big Dishes are: fish maw soup with sea whelk, ‘Happiness with Rice’ golden pig, Lingnan authentic chicken, fisherman-style steamed coral trout, treasure pot full of aroma, Guizhou-style braised eel, Shunde Pengong goose, Fengcheng stir-fried five delicacies, and Buddha’s delight.

Sunye Private Kitchen · Shunde Old House Art Space

Shunde has not only cuisine but also many intangible cultural heritages. In beautiful Lingnan, Daliang fish lanterns are a craft rich in water-town character, a tying art that flourished for over a hundred years from the mid-Qing dynasty, producing many skilled artisans.

To make a fish lantern, first a bamboo framework is tied into a fish shape, then covered with gauze, and the scales and fins are painted on, resulting in a lifelike creation.

Dragon and lion dances are a brilliant gem in Chinese culture. Here, you can also hand-paint your own original dragon head, expressing your feelings for Shunde through art.

Jinbang Street, Dingwen Milk Phoenix

Shunde’s snacks nearly all come from the grassroots, diverse in variety and unique in flavor. Arriving at Jinbang Street, the birthplace of Shunde double-skin milk, you absolutely must try it.

First, fresh milk is boiled and poured hot into a bowl; the heat causes a skin to form on the surface. After the milk has completely cooled, the skin is left at the bottom, and the milk is poured out. Add sugar and egg white, mix well, then pour it back into the bowl with the skin, making the skin float up again. Then steam it over heat, remove at the right time, and cool. A new skin forms, hence ‘double-skin milk.’

Double-skin milk has both the fragrance of milk and the taste of egg, sweet but not cloying. The heat and steaming time are crucial.

Cold-tossed crunchy fish skin is a classic example of refining coarse material, turning the ordinary into magic. The fish skin is crisp yet not fishy, fragrant, smooth, and full of fish flavor. I recommend pairing them together.

Ronggui Fisherman’s Wharf

As night falls, Shunde’s night scene is bustling and enchanting. The Fisherman’s Wharf is the best representation of the city’s youthful and vibrant nightlife.

The lighthouse lit up with colorful lights, the atmospheric streets and shops, attract waves of tourists. With its lively bustle and crowds, it’s a world for the young at night, offering a different side of Shunde’s nightlife.

Lobby Lounge

After a day of fun, returning to the hotel, you can sit back in the Lobby Lounge and enjoy a crafted cocktail. I really liked the ‘Aperol Light’—full of artistic vibes. Here, there’s no noise or crowding.

The night view makes your eyes dazzle; feeling the drink drip slowly, shallowly into the glass filled with colorful liquid, and sink down gently. The gentle waitstaff and handsome bartenders are the most beautiful ornaments here.

During travel, the hotel is not just a place to rest but a destination that carries life’s expectations.

Staying at Hilton Shunde Haijunda, I’m sure we all feel that when night falls, you can gaze down from your room at the vast glittering cityscape, the urban prosperity in full view. When you wake up in the morning, Shunde’s city vistas unfold before your eyes, with enchanting street scenes outside the window.

The hotel is situated in the tallest landmark building in the Haijunda commercial district of Ronggui, Shunde, the culinary capital. The location itself is a commercial and entertainment hub. It’s 5 km from Ronggui High-Speed Rail Station, a 5-km drive to the artsy Ronggui Fisherman’s Wharf, and accessible from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai airports (1.5-hour drive, with direct buses to Hong Kong).