Guangzhou Disney Travel Agents Near Me

Overview

Introduction

Guangzhou, China, provides a nice bridge to the outside world. It is located 80 mi/130 km northwest of Hong Kong and 1,200 mi/1,900 km south of Beijing.

Guangzhou hosted the 16th Asian Games in November 2010 and used the major sporting event to reinvigorate its image. An entire minicity, the New Pearl River City, was created east of downtown and features scores of hotels, tourism sites and cultural venues linked by an enhanced subway system to the purpose-built Asian Games stadiums in the south.

Designed like a twisting candelabra, the Canton Tower dominates the skyline. On the opposite bank of the broad Pearl River is Zaha Hadid's dazzlingly futuristic Guangzhou Opera House. A vast provincial museum opened in 2010, and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie designed a 27-hole golf course, club and resort, Imperial Springs, in the hills fringing the city.

Guangzhou's massive urban revamp also drove the hotel scene, with a number of hotels added. Avoid travel to Guangzhou in the second half of both April and October, when all hotels are booked for the Chinese Import and Export Commodities Fair, China's largest international trade show, also known as the Canton Fair.

History

Formerly known as Canton, Guangzhou sits on China's southern coast at the mouth of the Pearl River. From the mid-18th century, Guangzhou became China's shipping hub. It remained the only port permitted to trade with foreign nations until the Opium War in 1840, which opened up—and largely created—the eastern port city of Shanghai.

The Opium War also gave foreign powers greater access to Guangzhou, as it was one of the five Treaty Ports spanning China's coast. The resulting legacy is a fine collection of late 19th- and early-20th century architecture.