Landmark
Canton Tower
Iconic 600-meter TV tower with observation decks, rotating restaurant, and spectacular city views.
9:30 AM - 10:30 PM
¥150-398 (varies by level)
Guangzhou's urban history reaches back to 214 BC, when the Qin dynasty incorporated the Lingnan region and established administrative control in the south. In 226, during the Three Kingdoms period, the name Guangzhou began to appear as an administrative region. By the Tang dynasty, the city had become one of China's most important maritime trade ports, linking the country with Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and beyond.
During the Song and Ming periods, Guangzhou continued to prosper through maritime trade, crafts, and regional commerce. In 1757, the Qing court restricted Western trade to Guangzhou through the Canton System, making the city China's main official gateway for foreign merchants for decades. The 1840s Opium War era changed that system, but it also fixed Guangzhou's role as a key site in China's modern encounter with the world.
In 1911, revolutionary movements connected to Sun Yat-sen and southern China helped reshape modern Chinese politics. After 1949, Guangzhou grew as a provincial capital and industrial center. Since 1957, the Canton Fair has become one of the city's defining institutions, and after China's reform and opening-up in 1978, Guangzhou became one of the engines of the Pearl River Delta's export economy and urban growth.
