Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, is one of Chinas main industrial centers, covering an area of 7,434 square kilometers, and with a population of over 6 million.

Guangzhou stands at the confluence of the East River, West River and North River, with its land sloping from north-east to south-west, and an alluvial plain in the south and south-west parts. It adjoins the South China Sea, and is crisscross with rivers and streams. It has south subtropical marine climate with an annual average temperature of 21.8 degree Celsius, rainfall of 1694 millimeters, and a frost-free period of 345 days. Its abundant in agricultural and aquatic resources. Its mineral resources include coal, salt, copper, iron, zinc, lead and limestone.

Guangzhous industry covers machinery, shipbuilding, textiles, sugar-refinery, household electrical appliances, computers, petrochemicals, light industrial products for daily use, rubber products and garments. The Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone situated in Huangpu has already taken shape.

Guangzhou has advanced agriculture, abounding in rice, sugarcanes, fruits, freshwater fish and oil crops. Guangzhou is communication hub of Guangdong Province, with railways and highways radiating in all directions, and convenient inland-water, coastal and ocean transport. Huangpu is the biggest seaport in the South, ranking fifth in volume of freight handled in China. Its airport stands also in the forefront in passenger transport.

Guangzhou is South Chinas biggest national-and-foreign-oriented city with flourishing commerce, and Chinas chief foreign trade center as well. Its also Chinas famous historical and cultural city. The city with long summer and no winter is always green with flowers in bloom all the year round, hence reputed as "Flower City".

Its scenic spots and historical sites include Guangxiao Temple, Liurong Temple and White Clouds Mountain scenic area etc.

Efforts are being made to build Guangzhou into an international metropolis functioning primarily as the biggest financial, high-tech and light industrial, as well as communication and transport center in South China.

Recommended Scenic Spots

Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Guangzhou

As a famous commemorative structure of Chinese revolution built in 1931, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was designed by the well-known architect of modern China Lu Yanzhi, who was also the designer of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. The building complex is composed of the arch over the gateway, the auditorium and the stoteyed buildings on its east side and west side. The auditorium is octagonal in the shape of the palace hall.

Guangzhou Art Museum

Guangzhou has a number of thinly disguised propaganda venues posing as museums, but this is not one of them. In fact this is a thoroughly new generation of attraction that is a world away from the Peasant Movement Institute and the Mausoleum of the Revolutionary Martyrs. Among the nine permanent galleries, four are dedicated to local artists from the Cantonese school of painting called Ling-nan that first emerged in the late 1800s. Look for exquisite scrolls featuring rural scenes and pastel blossoms. Another gallery contains a first-class collection of Tibetan thangkas (religious icon tapestries) donated by a Hong Kong collector. Take a break by the relaxing fish ponds where huge schools of brightly colored koi carp vie for your attention.

Liurong Temple (Six-Banyan Temple)

Built in 1598 during the Ming Dynasty, Jiaxiu Tower is located on the Aoji Rock (the rock which looks like a huge turtle according to legend) on the Nanming River in the southern part of Guiyang City. It is renowned for its layout such as the three-story tower 20 meters high with three carved eaves supported by a stone pillar and atop which is formed by diminishing size as four directions mount up. Located in water, right of the Guanyin temple and the Cuiwei tower; left of the Haibi pavilion, the Jiaxiu Tower is connected with two banks by the Fuyu Bridge (Floating Jade Bridge). All of these make Jiaxiu Tower spectacular.
There are many antithetical couplets carved or written on the Jiaxiu Tower by ancient people. Among them, the most famous couplet written by Liu Yushang in the Qing Dynasty has 87 words in the first line and the second line respectively can compare in beauty with the Big Guan Tower in Kunming. Jiaxiu Tower is a famous wooden tower in Guiyang and is regarded as the symbol of the city.