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Guangzhou as Recommended by Liu, a Native of Guangzhou

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Recommended Tourist Attractions in Guangzhou
A city where you can experience a thousand years of history and the city of ‘dried goods’

Liu Guangzhou is a city lined with modern buildings, but the most famous downtown area is undoubtedly “Beijing Road”. Like Ginza in Tokyo and Nanjing East Road in Shanghai, it is bustling with people even on weekdays, and you can enjoy shopping.

However, this Beijing Road is not just a modern downtown area. There is a place where the street of the pedestrian paradise is paved with glass. Many people will be peering through the glass, so I think you will notice it immediately. What is there is the “Thousand-year Ancient Road Ruins”. It is said that these are the traces of roads from the Tang Dynasty more than a thousand years ago to the Republican period. Looking at these groups of ruins, you can feel that this street has been prosperous since ancient times.

In 2014, it was news that a wooden ship from the Qing Dynasty was discovered at the southern end of Beijing Road. There may still be valuable historical traces left underground in Beijing Road. It is a valuable street where you can feel the eternal history while enjoying the modern cityscape. When you visit Guangzhou, I want you to first go there and peek through the glass on the street.

Liu And there is a street called “Yide Road” that is not well known to tourists. There are many specialty stores for dried goods, and it is said that it has not changed at all in the last 20 to 30 years, so it might be worth visiting if you want to experience the “old Guangzhou”.

Chinese cuisine uses a lot of various types of dried goods such as abalone, sea cucumber, and scallops, but this street not only has Chinese products, but also dried goods from all over the world, making it one of the leading dried goods specialty streets in China. You can catch a glimpse of the depth of Chinese cuisine from the dried goods lined up in a row.

Along this Yide Road, during the Ming Dynasty, the southern city wall of Guangzhou was built, and during the Qing Dynasty, the “Liangguang Governor’s Mansion”, where the governor who oversees Guangdong Province and Guangxi Province lives, was set up, making it an interesting city historically as well.

Also, at the end of Yide Road, there is a Gothic-style Catholic cathedral called “Sacred Heart Cathedral”. It is a beautiful stone building nearly 60 meters high built in the 19th century, and you can also enjoy the atmosphere of Europe, including the surrounding buildings, so it might be worth extending your visit to there as well.

　
Recommended Gourmet in Guangzhou
Fish Dish ‘Jian Feng’ and the Dim Sum Shop Loved by Locals

Liu As the saying goes, “Food is in Guangzhou.” Guangzhou is a food paradise, and Cantonese cuisine, one of the representative types of Chinese cuisine, has spread worldwide, including to Japan. Everything you eat is delicious, but what I want to introduce is “Jian Feng,” which is not well known to everyone. You put a whole fish in a large pot, seal it with a lid, and bake it. Then, you pour sauce over the fish that has been baked just right and eat it. Various fish are used as ingredients, but I understand that for “Jian Feng” using the flounder called “Duo Bao Yu” in China is a standard. The simple umami of the fish and the sweet and spicy sauce are the best. Please try it if you see it on the restaurant menu.

Liu And speaking of Guangzhou, it’s “Early Tea.” In Japan, “Yum Cha,” where you eat dim sum such as shumai and buns, is known, but in Guangzhou, the food culture of enjoying dim sum while drinking tea for breakfast, “Early Tea,” remains. You can stay in the store from morning to around noon, but recently, there are many stores that offer lunch and dinner to match the lifestyle. Also, chain stores are increasing, but the recommended ones are still the stores that have been loved by the locals for a long time. In Guangzhou, there are Early tea shops all over the city, and the people in the neighborhood become regulars and visit with their families. If you ask a person in Guangzhou, “Which store is good?” they will all say, “The store near my house is the best!” However, unfortunately, swallowed by the wave of commercialization and consumer culture, the number of independent stores run by individuals has been decreasing in recent years, and due to the impact of Corona, many stores have closed. If you find a long-established store loved by the locals near your hotel, please go in.

　
Things to Know About Guangzhou Before Your Business Trip
Open-minded Guangzhou people, but badmouthing their ‘food’ is taboo!?

Liu This might be my personal impression, but Guangzhou in China might be similar to Osaka in Japan. The local Cantonese dialect here is like a completely different language from the official language commonly used in China. However, Chinese people have had many opportunities to come into contact with Cantonese through Hong Kong movies and pop songs since the old days. I think it’s similar to how Japanese people know the Kansai dialect through comedy shows.

Also, during the Qing Dynasty, China had a closed-door policy like the Edo Shogunate in Japan, but there was a time when Guangzhou became the only window for foreign trade, like Dejima in Japan, so foreign trade was active.

The period when European culture came in was early, and I feel that it is an open-minded city that is tolerant of different cultures. I also think there is a largeness unique to the southern region. Even in terms of business manners, I don’t hear much about the severity of banquets like in Beijing. At banquets and such, isn’t it good if we can enjoy each others company to the extent that we don’t lose our manners?

Even such open-minded Guangzhou people might get angry at badmouthing ‘Guangzhou food’. If you are someone who has the attitude of ‘Food is in Guangzhou’, there is a risk of getting into a verbal fight, so everyone, please be careful (laughs)!

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Recommendations from Mr. Yu, originally from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

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What kind of place is the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region? 

Yu  The name “Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region” may not be very familiar to Japanese people. It is located in the southernmost part of China’s coastal area and borders Vietnam. The Zhuang people have the largest population among China’s ethnic minorities and are referred to as “Zhuang” in China. While it faces the sea, the inland area is mostly mountainous, and each region has its own unique language and customs, making it a culture with a lot of diversity.

　
Recommended tourist spots in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
You must visit the landscape painting “Guilin” and the beautiful beach of “Silver Sand”

Yu  Guilin is a must-see. The Lijiang River flowing through the northern part forms a beautiful landscape with mountains created by karst topography, reminiscent of the landscape paintings that Japanese people imagine. It is registered as a World Heritage site and is popular as a global tourist destination. It is also shown on the Chinese 20 yuan bill, so please check it out. In Guilin city, the ‘Elephant Trunk Hill’ at the confluence of the Lijiang and Taohua rivers is shaped like a giant elephant and has become a symbol. Please don’t miss it. Also, the spectacular view from Yangshuo County in the south of Guilin is exceptional. It has been said from old times that “Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven” (Guilin shanshui jia tianxia), and it continues with “Yangshuo’s landscape is the best in Guilin” (Yangshuo shanshui jia Guilin). The entire town is surrounded by interesting looking rocks, and you can enjoy walking around the town while looking at the scenery.

Yu  There is a recommended tourist spot in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region that is not yet known in Japan, ‘Silver Beach’. This is a sea. It is a beach resort with a white sandy beach that continues for more than 20 kilometers, but the sand has a feature. The sand that forms the beach is natural fine silica sand, and it shines silver when the sunlight hits it. The transparent shine of quartz may be close to this image. Many people visit to seek the beauty of the silver beach, and you can stay in a cottage, enjoy seafood and marine sports. In China, Hainan Island is a popular beach resort like Okinawa in Japan, but it is very crowded, so from that point of view, Silver Beach could be said to be a hidden gem.

　
Recommended Gourmet food in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
The recommended gourmet food has a strong smell! But it’s addictive snail rice noodles

Yu  The favorite food of the people in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is rice noodles. The consumption of rice noodles is said to be one of the highest in China. Among those rice noodles, the one I recommend is the gourmet snail rice noodle “Luosifen” from my hometown of Liuzhou City. It is made with a broth from snails, but it has a unique strong smell. The source of the smell is not the snails, but the pickled bamboo shoots used as ingredients. There are even cases, true or not, of foreign students cooking these rice noodles and being reported to the police because of the smell. But the taste is so deliciously spicy and sour that it’s addictive, and it’s a popular dish. It’s also sold as cup noodles, so you might be able to get it at a Chinese food specialty store in Japan, but it might be a good idea to close the windows before eating it out of consideration for your neighbors. Not only snail rice noodles, but the rice noodles in Guangxi also have a rich variety depending on the region. Please come to the local area and try it.

By the way, in the cities of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, there are still many stalls that serve food on the street. Eating at a stall is nostalgic and fun, but some shops have poor hygiene conditions, and there seem to be cases of food poisoning. It’s also important to get a local person to tell you about a reliable shop.

　
Things to Know About the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region A hub for EV cars and abundant mineral resources, also the southern gateway of China

Yu  Yu: The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is an area of interest from a business perspective. My hometown is Liuzhou City in the northern part of the autonomous region, where the automobile industry is thriving, and it is widely known as a production base for EV cars. Especially, the production volume of small EV cars is high, and initiatives such as car sharing are being carried out in the city, and the creation of a new society utilizing EV cars is progressing.

From an industrial perspective, Guangxi is blessed with mineral resources, and the reserves of tin, manganese, titanium, and bauxite are among the highest in China. Also, the production of rosin, a natural resin that can be collected from pine trees, is becoming popular.

Guangxi has been a place where the Han people have also migrated since ancient times, and the proportion of the Han people in the population of the autonomous region is about 60%. The history of coexistence between ethnic minorities such as the Zhuang people and the Han people is long, and I think they have a knack for interacting with different cultures. It is located at the southern end of the coastal area of China, and it is close to the ASEAN countries, so the development as a base for maritime logistics is also progressing, and I expect that the strengths of the people of Guangxi will be utilized.

I hope that many people will visit the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where you can enjoy beautiful natural scenery, unique delicious food, and the culture of ethnic minorities.