Quick stop-over in Guangzhou with kids

Guangzhou with kids? Yes you can! Have a read below on how we did it.

We wanted to combine our visit to Hong Kong with a trip to the famous sceneries of Guilin, and looking at the air fares quickly realised that traveling by land would save a fair bit of money with the added bonus of getting to see the third largest city in China, as well as to try the famous Chinese bullet trains on the newly opened Guangzhou-Guyiang rail line.

Guangzhou may not be on the bucket list of most family travelers, but we had a great day in the city – and would have been happy to spend a few more days in the area. Considering that we had one laryngitis patient, a 15 degree drop in temperature overnight forced us to spend some of our precious time on shopping for warm clothes, and the dreary weather blocked the views to the famous Canton Tower.

Despite these slight setbacks we dove into the efficient metro system of the city, wearing all the clothes we had with us. Our first stop was the Chen Clan Ancestral house – a beautiful old shrine sandwiched between modern houses. It is right next to a metro stop and super easy to get to.

Guangzhou Chen Clan Academy

Guangzhou Chen Clan Academy

We then had an ambitious plan to check out the jade market and Shangxia Jiu Lu Pedestrian street. The kids were not having any of it. So, after a quick stroll we hopped into a taxi to get lunch and a break at Shamian Island.

Sitting in a taxi through the city is fascinating: this city of 14 million is a never-ending maze of skyscrapers, massive Soviet style apartment blocks (some being demolished to make way for new developments) and a few old buildings squeezed in by all the concrete and neon signs. Shopping centres and Western brands rub shoulders with hole-in-the-wall eateries and workshops. From one corner you can buy goat heads and in the next you have spanking new public buildings representing cutting edge modern architecture.

Shamian Island is a quiet neighbourhood that looks more like Paris – it was the concessions area for the foreign powers in the olden times and has been beautifully restored. The wide promenade by the Pearl River is a great place to let the kids let off some steam, and there is a small playground near the waterfront.

On the way back to the Huangsha metro stop we passed by a busy medicine market selling stuff like dried seahorses, herbs, and well, variety of things I’ve never seen before.

Guangzhou Market

Guangzhou Market

We really wanted to see the dinosaur skeletons in Guangdong Museum but didn’t know they have last admission an hour before closing time. We then headed over to the Four Seasons nearby in the hopes of getting a view of the famous Canton Tower in their swanky 100th floor bar. But this really was not our day: we were politely told that kids are not allowed in the bar. They let us have a peek inside but the weather was so bad we could only see clouds – not a great loss then. If you are traveling sans children though, I can only imagine that this is the place to enjoy the views in Guangzhou.

We had planned to treat Guangzhou as only a transit between Hong Kong and Guilin, but I wish we had another day – and better weather, and luck to explore the city. We only saw Canton Tower from a distance on our way to the train station thanks to the fog, didn’t make it to the museum and only scratched the surface on exploring the old streets in the Liwan District. And shopping, well, never a priority when traveling with kids, but apparently there are bargains to be had in the many wholesale markets in this city built on trade. I am not saying one should start planning a holiday to Guangzhou alone but if I had a chance to stop over again or go on a business trip there, I wouldn’t say no.

Guangzhou

Getting around Guangzhou with kids

Getting around the city is easy: the metro is clean and efficient and the taxis run on meters. Have your hotel write down the places where you want to visit in a day – the drivers don’t speak English.

Getting to Guangzhou from Hong Kong is a breeze. Buy your tickets online, make your way to Hung Hom Station, go through security and passport control and get on the train. The train takes about two hours. If you board the train hungry, freshly cooked chicken legs were sold during the journey – apparently tasty since they seemed to be doing a roaring trade.

In Guangzhou we stayed at Oakwood Premier and found it a great choice for families. Read the review here.



10 Responses

  1. Guangzhou is great! You should definitely come back exactly because nobody is coming here for a holiday. You can still find traditional chinese (cantonese culture). Liwan district has some of the most famous cantonese restaurants in the world, and just across from Shamian Island there is the largest fish wholesale market in southern china, where you can buy everything from prawns to live crocodiles.
    There are also a lot of childrens playgrounds around, but you need to check with a local.

    1. The fish market sounds fascinating! We would love to go back one day and indeed, hire a guide to show all the hidden gems!

  2. I am going to GuangZhou with my toddler in Dec. We were advised against it due to the safety reason. It was mentioned that its not a safe city for kids. Should I be worried? We will be staying at Oakwood too. Any insights are greatly appreciated.

    1. Hi there! We had no reason to think it was more dangerous than any big metropolis. We took taxis and the metro, and walked around as you would in the areas of interest to tourists and didn’t have any issues to do with safety – more so with our lack of language skills =). I walked across the street to the shopping centres nearby alone and the streets were busy even at night – the area near the hotel seemed normal business type area with a lot of pedestrians. I have not traveled extensively in China but I am under the impression it is fairly safe, the risks being mostly pick pockets and tourist scams. I don’t know what you are referring to as “not safe for kids” but we didn’t get warned by anyone and saw other families out and about in most places we went to. Perhaps approach your embassy, look for bloggers or expat groups in Facebook in Guangzhou for more accurate information? Have a good trip!

      1. Thank you so much for your reply. It was greatly appreciated. I was told that there were a lot of child kidnapping and tricky people that goes out of their way to harm us. So I was pretty surprised and relieved when I saw your review and reply. ??

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