2-Day Guangzhou & Kaiping Diaolou Excursion

Overview

A two-day programme that gives Guangzhou one day in the city and one day outside it. Day one covers the classic sights; day two drives west to the Kaiping Diaolou for a village walk among the UNESCO-listed towers. One hotel night included. A good introduction to Guangdong for groups with only two days.

Highlights

Day one: Yuexiu Park, the Nanyue King's tomb, Chen Clan Academy, Canton Tower
Day two: Kaiping Diaolou and a village walk, 130 km west
UNESCO-listed towers built in the 1920s and 1930s
One night in a 4-star Guangzhou hotel with breakfast
Private vehicle and guide for both days
Suitable as a first two days in Guangdong

Itinerary

Day 1History, Architecture & Nightscapes： Yuexiu Park ,Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, Shangxiajiu Pedestrain Street, Canton Tower

Morning — Yuexiu Park & Nanyue Tomb
Yuexiu Park is Guangzhou's largest green space, home to the iconic Five-Ram Statue and the Ming-era Zhenhai Tower, now a city museum with panoramic views. Nearby, the Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb Museum displays 2,000-year-old royal relics, including a jade burial suit and bronze vessels from a local kingdom.

Afternoon — Chen Clan Hall & Shangxiajiu
The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is a Qing-dynasty masterpiece adorned with intricate wood carvings and ceramic figurines, now showcasing Lingnan folk art. Continue to Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, where 19th-century arcade buildings shelter shops and snacks like rice-noodle rolls and ginger-milk pudding.

Evening — Canton Tower & Pearl River Cruise
Ascend the Canton Tower, among the world's tallest, for sunset and a glass-floored observation deck. Then glide along the Pearl River on a night cruise past the Guangzhou Opera House and Haixinsha Island, with live commentary from your guide.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 2Guangzhou Excursion: Kaiping Diaolou and Villages

Morning - Drive west to Kaiping (depart 08:00)
Leave Guangzhou and drive about two hours west into the Pearl River delta's hinterland. Kaiping was a source of emigration to Southeast Asia, the Americas and Australia, and the money sent home before the Second World War was spent on houses of a kind found nowhere else in China.

Late morning - The diaolou
The diaolou are multi-storey towers that combine Chinese domestic planning with European decorative detail - Roman columns, Islamic domes, Gothic arches - built as fortified homes during a period of banditry in the 1920s and 1930s. More than 1,800 survive across the county, and the four clusters inscribed by UNESCO in 2007 (Zili, Majianglong, Jinjiangli and Sanmenli) are the ones to see, along with the Li Garden.

Lunch
A local restaurant serving Kaiping dishes, including claypot rice and the region's preserved vegetables.

Afternoon - Villages and return
Walk one of the village clusters at a slow pace, then drive back to Guangzhou, arriving in the early evening.

Meals
Lunch

Accommodation
Day tour - no hotel night included.

Transport: Guangzhou to Kaiping and back (about 130 km each way)

Meals: Lunch

Booking Price

Group Size	Adult(Age:8-80) Price/p.p	Child(Age:4-7) Price/p.p	Infant(Age:0-3) Price/p.p
2 PAX	from $821	/	/
4 PAX	from $612	/	/
6 PAX	from $546	/	/
8 PAX	from $511	/	/
10 PAX	from $448	/	/
20 PAX	from $404	/	/
30 PAX	from $387	/	/

Includes

Meals as listed in the daily itinerary (breakfasts and lunches as shown)
Private air-conditioned vehicle with professional driver throughout
English-speaking local guide (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian or Japanese on request)
All entrance fees for the sites listed, including shuttle buses, eco-buses and cable cars where the site requires them
Local handling and coordination service throughout the programme
Bottled water (2 bottles per person per day) and audio headsets where group size requires them
Travel accident insurance for the duration of the tour

Excludes

International air tickets and any domestic flights not listed in the itinerary
China visa or visa-free entry documentation fees
Meals not specified in the daily itinerary and all beverages/alcohol
Tips for guides, drivers and hotel staff (suggested USD 8-12 per person per day)
Personal expenses: laundry, telephone, minibar, shopping
Optional activities and any item not listed under Price Includes
Single-room supplement if a traveller requires a room alone

Trip Notes

A two-day programme with one hotel night in Guangzhou, private vehicle and guide for both days. Day two drives about 130 km west to Kaiping and returns to Guangzhou the same evening.

Why are the Kaiping Diaolou on the UNESCO World Heritage list?

They are fortified multi-storey towers built in the 1920s and 1930s by emigrants who returned from North America and Australasia with money and with foreign architectural ideas. The result is concrete and brick towers with European domes, arches and cornices standing in rice fields beside traditional village houses. UNESCO lists them as an exceptional meeting of Chinese and Western building traditions.

How far is Kaiping from Guangzhou?

About 130 km west, which is a comfortable day trip by private vehicle with stops. We leave after breakfast and are back in Guangzhou for the evening. The drive is on expressway for most of the way, and the last stretch runs through the flat paddy and fish-pond landscape the towers were built in.

Which diaolou clusters do we visit?

We take you to one or two clusters rather than all of them, chosen for the condition of the towers and the light on your day. The towers are spread across several townships and seeing them all properly is a two-day job in itself. Your guide tells you which clusters you are getting and why before you set out.

Do we stay overnight in Kaiping?

No. The night is in a Guangzhou hotel and the Kaiping day is a round trip, which keeps you close to your onward flight or train. If you would rather sleep in the countryside and photograph the towers at dawn, we can convert day two into an overnight excursion and quote it separately.

Can the Kaiping day be added to a three-day Guangzhou tour?

Yes, and it is the most common addition we make to a three-day city programme. It gives the trip the countryside half it otherwise lacks, and the contrast between the treaty-port city and the emigrant villages is the reason most visitors find the towers so striking. Say so when you enquire and we will price it as a fourth day.

What is the best season for the diaolou?

Autumn and winter give the clearest light and the most comfortable walking; spring and summer are hotter and the fields are either flooded or deep green. The towers photograph well in any season, but the rice paddies around them change completely, so tell us your dates and we will describe what you will actually see.

Is the second day comfortable for older travellers?

Yes. The village walking is flat and short, and the towers are entered rather than climbed in most clusters. The main demand is the drive, which we break with a stop each way. If stairways are a problem for anyone in your party, tell us and we choose the clusters with ground-level access.

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2-Day Guangzhou Excursion: Kaiping Diaolou & City Highlights