I'm not a fan of Guangzhou, I must admit, but I would spend half a day ambling around Shamian Dao, a sandbar that was allocated to foreigners for residence and trade and which (like many another foreign concession) grew into a proper island and the only part of the city with proper streets, sewerage, lighting, etc. The offices and residences of the 19th and early 20th century mostly still stand, some as hotels, others now homes to hundreds of Chinese families. There are foreigner-targeting cafes (and some foreign brand ones) and other businesses, including restaurants offering bad copies of Western foods. Some sections are car-free, which given that Guangzhou is absolute bedlam, is a major benefit. There are plenty of promenades with cross-river views.

Two sites elsewhere in the city worth a visit would be the Chen Clan Academy (Chén Jiā Cí) and the Museum of the Wetern Han Dynasty Mausoleum (Xā Hàn Nán Yuè Wáng Bówùguǎn). Many also head for the small Liù Róng Sì and its pagoda.

But actually I'd get out of teeming Guangzhou, and spend the day on a trip to Kaiping, 136km southwest and visiting the extraordinary collection of watchtowers in the countryside round about. Since these have now had the misfortune to be UNESCO World Heritage listed you'll find plenty of information on-line. You'll find pictures of multi-story ornate pseudo-European towers rising from otherwise typically bucolic rice paddies with well-preserved traditional villages clustered around them. There are frequent buses to Kaiping itself, from where you charter a taxi to take you round some of the 1883 surviving towers, the oldest mid-15th century fortified brick structure, but most dating from around the 1920s. Detailed recommendations can be supplied if this seems interesting.

Peter N-H
China