Zhujiang New Town and CBD, the best areas to stay in Guangzhou
Zhujiang New Town
The area of Zhujiang New Town is fast becoming one of the most highly-celebrated areas in the city, which intends to give Guangzhou that “wow” factor to locals, Chinese people in general as well as people from all over the world. Here, you will see the most modern buildings that this Chinese city has offered to the world with its high-rise structures and ultra high-technology colourful lasers that are blasted on to these magnificent giants. This stretch of area has been joined onto the CBD and new shops, accommodation and restaurants are popping up every day.
One of the main highlights of the area include the pedestrianised park, Haixin Sha Tourist Park, which was developed for the 2010’s Asian Games and provides a great escape from the crazy and busy city life that is usually ever present. The park has many features like amazingly detailed and sculptured bushes and hedges as well as quirky benches, various types of trees and flowers and little bandstands, which get used regularly by events like drama productions, dances and concerts. Along either side of the park, you will notice some of the most luxurious hotels as they are all dotted along the promenade and offer some of the best customer service, rooms and views in the city. If you would like to see more new and already legendary status buildings, then head to the river where you will be greeted by some of the grandest of achievements in architecture. This includes the biggest and most impressive museum in the city, which is Guangdong Museum and this houses Guangzhou’s history, culture, nature and science and there are no less than 160,000 relics to check out.
There are also exhibitions on ceramics and paintings from past dynasties as well as national treasures and sea trade objects along with being home to Sun Yat University astronomical observatory. Another classic building is the Guangzhou Opera House, which was beautifully designed by world famous architect, Zaha Hadid, who came up with the idea of two gigantic stones with plated glass that makes it look like a shark. The Opera House has two theatres with one being considerably bigger than the other, though the smaller one is a rotating stage but none the less host various events, which include Chinese dance, drama, musicals and opera.
Another particularly famous landmark is the Canton Tower, which is hard to miss due to it being the tallest structure in the country and has an observation deck that gives some of the most spectacular vista in the city along with various and luxurious restaurants, not to mention experiencing the Bubble Tram, which takes you for a spin around the rooftop. Also, there are places where you can shop for goodies like clothes, souvenirs, food as well as a photo centre and cinema complex. There are many other places to shop with many small ones found on the majority of the streets and there are huge shopping malls including Zhengjia Plaza, where you will find fashion stores next to video game shops.
For restaurants and pubs, the street to be on is Huajiu, where there are bars and eateries all along the strip, which serve globally-known beers as well as local ones and cuisines from all over the world.
CBD
The CBD is just to the north of Zhujiang New Town and looks relatively the same with amazingly tall buildings that generally belong to corporate companies or are hotels. This area is another brilliant place to stay with one of the major highlights of the area being the river, where you can go on a Pearl River night cruise and this offers some of the finest wining and dining, whilst taking in the picturesque Guangzhou skyline. As well as a night cruise, you can also do this in the day, which is remarkably cheaper and gives you a different tour of the city. Other things to do and see in the CBD include the various shopping malls like Tee Mall, which is one of the most popular places to shop due to its diverse range of products on sale and hosts a great range of restaurants. There are also a few small parks, where you can sit and relax and Tianhe Road is the place to be at night as there are plenty of restaurants, pubs and clubs with only a minority of them closing early.
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