Things to Do in Guangzhou: 5 Top Attractions (2026 Guide)

Guangzhou is one of the world's most-visited cities, and the volume of attractions can be overwhelming on a first trip. We've narrowed the field to 5 sights that consistently reward the time and ticket price — each entry below links to a full visitor guide with verified opening hours, current pricing, and the practical tips that don't make it into the official site's FAQ. Bookmark this page as your starting point.

Top 5 attractions in Guangzhou

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Guangzhou)

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is an octagonal memorial hall and theatre at 299 Dongfeng Middle Road in Guangzhou's Yuexiu District. Guangzhou residents and overseas Chinese paid for it, and it was completed in 1931 in memory of Sun Yat-sen. The park is open 06:00-22:00 and the main building 09:00-17:30. A full ticket costs ¥10 and a half-price ticket ¥5. Hours can change when the hall hosts performances or meetings.

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Guangdong Museum (Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou)

Guangdong Museum is the provincial museum of Guangdong, housed in a lacquer-box-shaped building at No. 2 Zhujiang East Road in Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe District, next to the Guangzhou Opera House. Admission is free, but every visitor, including children, must book a timed, real-name slot through the museum's official WeChat account, which releases tickets at 22:00. It is open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00-17:00 with last entry at 16:00, and closed on Mondays except public holidays.

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Guangzhou Opera House

Guangzhou Opera House (广州大剧院) is the Zaha Hadid-designed performing arts centre on Zhujiang West Road in Zhujiang New Town, opened on 9 May 2010 and known for its 'double pebble' granite-and-glass forms. The interior can be seen only on a guided visit (Chinese-language guide, ¥15 full price) run in batches at 10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:00, closed Mondays, with real-name advance booking at least five working days ahead; on working days a ¥100 per-batch guide fee applies. Performance tickets are sold separately via the official website, the 'Guangzhou Opera House Butler' WeChat account, phone, the box office and authorised agents.

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Chimelong Safari Park (Panyu, Guangzhou)

Chimelong Safari Park is a large wildlife theme park in Panyu District, Guangzhou, run by the Chimelong Group, which opened on 26 December 1997. The park says it keeps more than 20,000 animals of over 500 species, which visitors see from the sightseeing train, from their own car in the drive-through Safari on Wheels area, from the cable car, or on foot. It is home to the world's only surviving giant panda triplets and the largest koala population outside Australia.

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Nanyue King Museum (Tomb Site) – Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King

The Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King is now the King's Tomb site of the Nanyue King Museum (南越王博物院), a national first-class archaeological site museum at 867 Jiefang North Road, Yuexiu District, built around the 2,100-year-old stone tomb of King Zhao Mo. It is open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00-17:30 (last entry and ticket collection 17:00), is closed on Mondays except national public holidays, and charges ¥10 (¥5 half price). Every visitor must book a real-name ticket in advance through the museum's WeChat account '南越王博物院'; the lower tomb chamber needs a separate free booking.

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Planning your visit to Guangzhou

Most of these attractions are clustered in walkable districts. Pair two or three per day, rather than trying to sprint between them — opening-hour overlap and ticket-window queues make a tight schedule riskier than it looks on a map. The individual guides linked above each call out the best time of day to visit and which nearby sights are worth bundling.