Thanks to its unique natural and cultural advantages, Guangzhou has a profound cultural heritage and rich tourism resources since ancient times. Guangzhou has also been actively creating a tourist city business card and developing many comprehensive modern and traditional tourist attractions. Visiting Guangzhou is definitely one of the top three choices for domestic tourism.

Located on the bank of Baietan in the west of Guangzhou, there is a Shamian Island. This used to be a concession. Therefore, the island retains many beautiful European buildings. Coupled with carefully crafted greening and sculptures, it has become one of Guangzhou's best tourist and resting places. The whole Shamian is like a paradise in a busy city. When you walk in, you want to spend a quiet day, take photos, drink coffee, and enjoy the tranquility. This year, we have also undergone in-depth renovation to make the sand surface more beautiful!

Walking along the river, you will find a building with Lingnan characteristics. The whole building is 6 stories high. From a distance, I think it is a museum. When I get closer, I am surprised. It turns out to be a restaurant named "Taoranxuan". Look at the inscription on the plaque-Wow, it was actually written by Li Xiongcai, a master of the Lingnan Painting School. This buff is a bit strong and aroused my great interest to go in and explore the mystery!

Tao Ranxuan is truly like a Lingnan Cultural Museum. When you walk into the lobby, you can see a dazzling array of collections, all of which are priceless and authentic. Famous paintings, antiques, guqin, furniture, etc. are all very exquisite. When you go up to the 6th floor, you can see the spectacular river view of White Goose Pond in the hall. Holding a banquet here is high-end and high-class.

The entire restaurant has an antique environment, which is very suitable for taking antique photos. Taoranxuan also provides private room services, providing customers with a super safe and quiet dining environment. The decoration of each private room is naturally mostly elegant objects such as antique calligraphy and painting, giving a first-class dining experience.

I am also very satisfied with the restaurant's products and services. The dishes are exquisite and delicious. No wonder this place has won the Michelin Plate Award for two consecutive years. The waiter was attentive and enthusiastic, and also affectionately asked us about our ordering preferences and recommended many dishes for us.

Although it is a Cantonese restaurant, its products are not rigidly adhered to tradition. For example, this lovely and exquisite Beef Buns and Cuttlefish Sauce Pho are innovative Cantonese dishes that cannot be tasted elsewhere. They taste very good. You may want to come here to taste the delicious food when visiting Shamian.

In addition to Shamian Store, Taoranxuan also has another store on Ersha Island. Ersha Island Store also has a first-line river view, and the private rooms are more atmospheric.

Shamian is known as the "Grand View Garden" of European architecture. It has hundreds of European-style historical buildings and enjoys the reputation of "open-air architectural museum". It is one of the tourist attractions that must "check in" for tourism in Guangzhou. Shamian is the earliest in Lingnan area to adopt a typical Western city planning model. The main roads of the island are Central Green Shadow Avenue (Shamian Street) and Riverside Ring Road (Shamian South Street, Shamian North Street) and the longitudinal roads running through the north and south form a grid-like street texture and spatial form. The southern part of the island is a pedestrian path, garden and sports ground along the embankment. The area is not large, so the play time can be arranged for 2 hours.

Recommended main attractions:

Today, there are more than 150 European-style buildings on Shamian Island, of which 42 are outstanding neo-Baroque, imitation Gothic, coupon gallery, neoclassical and combination of Chinese and Western styles, each with its own characteristics. Therefore, when tourists come to Shamian, they like to take photos wherever they go!

But Le Wanjun still tells you about the landmark attractions in Shameian that must be checked in. They are a microcosm of Shameian history and a precipitation of Shameian culture.

When you come to Shamian, you can see the trees. Walking on Shamian Street, you can see vibrant figures of plants everywhere. The sun casts the shadows of the trees on the floor, full of quaint charm.

camphor tree is the tree species with the largest number of sand faces. It can reflect Western characteristics: there are many banyan trees in Guangzhou, and most of Shamian Island are camphor trees introduced from the West. The oldest tree is already over 300 years old.

Shamian is one of the best places to take photos in Guangzhou. Every day, you can see many couples taking pictures here. Among the many buildings, the church is the choice most for newcomers.

Shamian Church of England

Shamian Church is a church established by the Anglican Church in the British Concession of Shamian, Guangzhou for foreigners to worship. It was built in 1864 and has a Romanesque style. Almost all couples in Guangzhou have been there, and the imitation Gothic yellow exterior wall is quite romantic and literary, so everyone who comes to Shamian must stand at the door and take a photo.

Our Lady Catholic Church of Lourdes

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church belongs to a building in the French Concession. It was formerly known as the Shamian Catholic Church. It is named because of the original building on the south side of the garden of the church, where the statue of the Lady of Lourdes is housed. It was established by members of the French Consulate in Guangzhou to live their religious life.

In addition to looking at exotic buildings with European customs, copper sculptures are also a highlight of Shamian Island. Walking on the quiet road, you can see copper sculptures with various images on both sides. They are like historical stories, standing quietly on the sand surface, people coming and going couldn't help but read through the photos. The sculptures are all works with characters themed by Lingnan folk customs.

No. 50-52 on the north side of Shamian Street, there is a single-family two-story Western-style building with black iron doors, the exterior walls are painted with fresh Tiffany green, lush trees, and green eyes, as if people are in a foreign country.

No wonder Starbucks, which is known as one of the most beautiful cafes in Guangzhou, is very popular. Some people even say that you must come here to sign in to Shamian.

There will be relatively few tourists in the afternoon in Shamian, and the best time to take photos during the day is from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The slanting sunlight shines through hundreds of century-old trees and gently shines on old houses. It is most suitable for taking photos of buildings and portraits. Focusing on details, such as the combination of yellow old walls or cylindrical doors, will make the photos look very art.

Recently, the "decoration" of the sand surface has finally been completed. The newly renovated sand surface has newly added lighting works to the entire building complex. At night, colorful lights bring these old buildings back to life. The overall shooting will be more impactful than during the day, so it's also great to bring a tripod at night to shoot a series of night movies.