Once again, thanks for replies. I'm getting the message that Guangzhou is not very attractive. Is there any other place in the Pearl River delta, perhaps reachable by ferry from Hong Kong, that might be interesting?

I'd spend more time in Xi'an. There's a lot more there than just the terra cotta warriors. There's the oldest functioning mosque in China, the only completely intact city wall, a couple of interesting pagodas and a great museum. Just walking around the Muslim section is very interesting. Also, the cuisine in Xi'an is interesting and there are many good local restaurants to sample. We spent 10 days there and didn't exhaust everything.

When I was in Guangzhou 4-5 years ago, I seem to remember a pretty nice zoo and opera house. The town itself I remember as being rundown, dirty, narrow roads, and wall to wall traffic. Perhaps it has changed.

There are sections of Guangzhou like that, but there are also other sections that are as new and modern as any big city in China.

^^

I don't know about 10 days but otherwise this advice is spot on

+1

It actually has changed quite a bit, mostly due to the Asian Games though. Not as dirty as it was before. Like Beijing for the Olympics, or Shanghai for the World Expo.

Tell us a bit about what interest you in visiting a place. Sight-seeing, shopping, local markets, restaurants, high-tech mart....? Experts here can point you in the right direction.
My recent 2 visits to GZ had removed a lot of my previous biased opinion (similar to many opined here) about this city. I didn't go there for sights. I went there for shopping and medicine markets and food. Not disappointed. Stayed at the Westin. A super hotel. Planning another trip next year to do the same. BTW, a cruise at night is not too bad either. Pick the right time to go when pollution is less would be advised, if possible. As for safety, I did not notice any difference here or in Shanghai, or Beijing. I used the normal precaution.
If high-tech mart sounds interesting to you, go visit Shenzhen. Food is great too.

Our interests are touristic, such as temples, palaces, city streets, architecture, other monuments, natural scenery, cultural sites, etc. No shopping or high tech stores; local markets only for the context or perhaps some small items such as spices we can take home.

We are also interested in restaurants, but past visits to China have not been very successful in that regard as we do not speak Chinese and are not used to the styles and ingredients used there. Since nearly everything is chopped up, even pointing doesn't do much good. And warm beer is not the way we have it here in Brasil.

I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese food myself, but feel compelled to opine that Xi'an has many great dining options.

Just say you want it "bing (de)". The waiter will understand and you will get cold beer. I dislike warm beer very much, but never had problems to get cold beer anywhere in China.

As it happens I love Chinese food, in a place like San Francisco, New York, Vancouver ... Anywhere I can read the menu and the food that comes to the table seems to correspond to what's written on the menu to a certain extent. Even Hong Kong is fine, although not in all restaurants. There seems to be a distinction between Chinese food for Westerners and Chinese food for Chinese. I can't pretend to know what it is -- technique, spices and other ingredients such as cooking oils, whatever it is it just doesn't amount to tasty food for me.

As for the beer, thanks for the phrase, which I will memorize. I just wonder what the tones are. I am alway afraid about trying phrase books in China because with the wrong tone I might wind up saying something insulting.

China's food like in many other countries varies a lot by region/town. Sichuanese food uses far different ingredients, flavors and cooking methods than does say the Northeastern Cusine or Shanghainese cuisine or stuff one finds in HK. They are worlds apart. Best to do a basic internet search which will have specialties in the cities where you will go along with Chinese characters of them that you can point to. The other thing I have done (though not in China) is to literally walk around the restaurant and see what people are eating. No one will care seriously. If you see a certain dish or two that appear a number of times, its probably the place's specialty and may be worth trying. Otherwise if something looks good, note it and when the waitress come, literally go and point at it. I know this may seem long winded and odd, but it works.

The other thing I cannot fail to mention and emphasize for those who don't speak Mandarin or have Mandarin speaking company is to not worry and play CHARADES. People might laugh and giggle but it won't be mean spirited and you bet that you will get your beer cold. Be creative with it. It's how I survived my first few months in China.

I remember going to a supermarket and wanting hand sanitizer. Not being able to read, I located the right aisle where there were a few salespeople. I picked up (mistakenly) handsoap. I went to the sales-team who were amused at seeing an Indian guy and I pointed at the bottle. I then mimed turning on faucets, rinsing my hands, using soap, rinsing and then drying my hands. The sales team smiled (well more like laughed!) and nodded.

I then pointed to the bottle, pretended to squeeze out the liquid, scrub my hands and then just flashed my hands (as if to say "it's dry, no towel needed").

Two of the salesgirls immediately got it and went on a full sprint to bring back a few brands. I just chose one, said thanks and left.

The entire transaction took no more than 30 seconds, far easier and more effiecient than wandering around aisles trying to figure it out on my own.

In the --not so distant-- past, when beer was served on airplanes in economy class, it was always warm.

I don't recall which airline I was -- it might have been Hainan -- but I was served warm beer just this past June. I asked if they had cold beer and they said, "No."