After we published the posts about Bali and West Java, many people asked us, how we flew to Indonesia from Dublin and where we stopped on the way. Usually when we travel to different continents and there is always an option to lay over somewhere cool, so we are going out and trying to find some interesting places (exactly what we’ve done during our trip to Kenya, we stopped over in Ethiopia). This time, we had 12 hours layover each way in Guangzhou and we would like to share with you what you can do there!

First of all, what you need to know is that if you fly through China to your next final destination and you will either stop in Guangzhou, Shanghai or Beijing etc.. you can get a free 24 hours transit visa ans specifically in Guangzhou you even have the possibility to get a free night of hotel & shuttle ride from the airport to the hotel!

Pretty cool, right?!  In our case we only got the transfer visa at the transfer desk (make sure to hold a passport with a 6 months validity minimum and the ticket to you’re the next destination). Once you get the stamp, you can leave the airport and discover the city!:D

Now that you know all about the administrative stuffs, let us share with you the main things to do in Guangzhou during your layover.

Take a Metro

The fastest way to get to the city center is Guangzhou Metro. The underground opened in 1997 with 5 station in operation. Right now, 15 lines are running and over 257 stations. There is something over 10 million users daily. It’s crazy that we were one of them and we can tell that it was quite busy at some stations.

Enjoy Chinese food

As you know guys, we absolutely love Asian food, no matter where we are traveling to Australia or San Francisco, we always visit Chinatown districts and taste some of the best asian food on the spot. This time we couldn’t skip the real chinese food experience but as  it looked like Chinatown restaurants everywhere, we have to confess that it was quite difficult to choose lol. There were restaurants everywhere with delicious smells coming from every corners!  Finally, we were more attracted to one of these and decided to try Dimsum…Yep, going to China and not eating Dimsum wouldn’t have been possible, it’s like coming to Dublin and not taking at least a sip of Guinness!  (just make sure that you received menu with pictures or menu with English subtitles as otherwise it can take a long time before you order your first meal :).

Then, on the way back to Guangzhou from Bali, before our flight and we tried street food!

Take a picture in a front of Canton Tower

You probably think what’s that?!  This is a formally Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing tower located in Haizhu District. The building is 604 meters tall and is now a symbol of the city. The tower is the fourth-tallest freestanding skyscraper in the world. When it gets dark in the evening, the building changes colours and it is really cool to hang out or eat while witnessing the beautiful show of lights.

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If you have a time, you can get to the top and see the panorama of the city or if you have a less time (like us) you can walk around and take a picture.

Try the Bubble tea

The origin of Bubble Tea come from Taiwan in late 80’s, then came to China in the beginning of 90’s and became really popular around the world (especially in Chinatown areas). We first time tried bubble tea in Toronto, Canada. This drink is refreshing so perfect for warm days or if you don’t want to drink hot tea. There are 2 categories of bubble tea bases: herbal teas and milk teas. We are usually taking a herbal teas but if you have never tried the milk ones, give it a go you might like it. Both types of bubble teas come with the choice of green, black or oolong tea. Then you have the option to add ice or/and sugar. Last but not the least the tea is served with bubbles inside (hence the name bubble tea obviously 🙂 with different flavours. So delicious!

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Walk around the streets

The city is a mix of high tech and traditional Chinese architecture. It’s really cool & super safe to walk around Guangzhou. You can walk around sky scrapers in the main street, but if you turn in some street, you can find the monument or traditional houses.

How about you Guys? Have you ever visited the city? Let us know your experience below.

Travel Tips:

  • If you want buy something or pay for in Guangzhou, download WeChat or Alipay (many places don’t accept payments by card)
  • Take some euro or dollars and exchange money at the airport (everyone accepts cash)
  • The ticket machine at the metro station doesn’t accept credit and debit cards (they accept cash or the pay apps above)
  • The ATM machine at the airport only allow have limited transactions (you cannot take max 20.000 CNY).