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Chaozhou: the walled town, the bridge, the woodcarving

The draw is the old town. Within about one square kilometre, Guangji Bridge, Kaiyuan Temple, the Jilue Huang Ancestral Hall and the Xu Prince-Consort Mansion — four national-level monuments — are all within walking distance. Outside the walls there are the Han Yu Shrine across the river, Longhu Old Village and the Congxi Ancestral Hall in Chao’an, and Daoyun Tower in Raoping.

The spots, at a glance

Names link to the Chinese entry pages, where the history, the people and the craft are set out section by section. This English page is the index edition: the status, one line on what it is, and a suggested time.

Spot	Status	In one line	Time
Guangji Bridge 广济桥	National, 3rd batch	Beam, pontoon and arch in one; the middle stretch of eighteen shuttle boats opens for passing craft	1 hr
Kaiyuan Temple 潮州开元寺	National, 5th batch	The largest ancient temple in east Guangdong: a Tang stone pillar, a Song bell, a Yuan censer, a Ming pagoda, each in its own place	1.5–2 hr
Jilue Huang Ancestral Hall 己略黄公祠	National, 5th batch	A late-Qing private shrine whose beam frames carry the densest gold-lacquer woodcarving in the region	1–2 hr
Xu Prince-Consort Mansion 许驸马府	National, 4th batch	A Northern Song official residence, three halls and a rear block, its timber frame set on stone footings against the damp	45 min
Bijia Mountain Kiln Sites 笔架山潮州窑遗址	National, 5th batch	Fired from the Tang, at their peak under the Song; a four-li belt of kilns once called the village of a hundred kilns	1 hr + travel
Old-Town Vernacular Houses 潮州老城古民居建筑群	National, 7th batch	Fourteen houses across three historic quarters, Ming, Qing and Republican side by side	2 hr on foot
Paifang Street 牌坊街	Historic district	Stone memorial arches line Taiping Road, with Nanyang-style arcades behind them	1–2 hr
Han Yu Shrine 韩文公祠	National, 6th batch	The earliest shrine to Han Yu, moved to this site in the Southern Song; forty steles set into the walls	1–1.5 hr
Congxi Ancestral Hall 从熙公祠	National, 6th batch	Built by the emigrant leader Chen Xunian; a carved stone gateway and the ten-centimetre stone ox-rope	45 min + travel
Longhu Old Village 龙湖古寨	Old village	Founded in the Southern Song, walled in the Ming: three streets, six lanes, ancestral halls and studies throughout	2 hr + travel
Daoyun Tower 道韵楼	National, 6th batch	China’s largest regular octagonal tulou, built by three generations of the Huang family over a century	Half day incl. travel
Phoenix Mountain 凤凰山	—	The core district of Fenghuang dancong tea, with a tarn near the summit; the road up is all bends	Half day incl. travel
West Lake 潮州西湖	—	The old moat turned into a lake, one of the eight views; Hanbi Tower inside was the 1927 command post of the Red regime in Chaozhou	1–1.5 hr

Times are this site’s own estimate, not an official figure. Status follows the national and provincial monument lists.

What to eat

• Hand-pounded beef balls：Leg meat is cut along the grain, then pounded with two iron rods, one in each hand, in the same direction for about an hour. The paste is squeezed into quail-egg-sized balls, rested in water, then boiled in that water.
• Oyster omelette：Oysters, lean pork, spring onion and sweet-potato starch are spread in a pan and turned until both sides set; egg is poured over, and it comes off the heat crisp outside, soft within. Coriander and pepper on top, fish sauce to dip.
• Duck-hen dumplings：Glutinous rice dough around mung-bean paste, sesame or taro; dropped into sweet soup, they float when done, like white ducks on water — hence the name.
• Spring rolls：A descendant of the ancient five-spice plate: a thin batter skin wrapped around shredded pork, egg, mung bean, shiitake and bamboo shoot, then deep-fried.
• Braised goose：Lion-head geese, each shop with its own master stock; meat, liver, feet and wings plated separately.
• Kway chap and kway teow：Both from rice batter: kway chap comes under braised gravy with braised intestines and pork; kway teow goes in soup or into the wok.
• Gongfu tea：Phoenix tea, brewed to the old rules — high pour, low pour, skim the foam, rinse the lid, a round for the guests, a count for the cups. Smell first, then look, then sip.

Getting there, and where to stay

• Stay inside the old town: Paifang Street to Kaiyuan Temple is under a kilometre, and four national monuments are walkable from there.
• Chaoshan railway station is at Shaxi in Chao’an, about ten kilometres from the old town.
• Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport (SWA) is at Denggang in Rongcheng district, Jieyang, about twenty kilometres from the old town.
• Chaozhou station, at Fengxi in Chao’an, is on the conventional line and has few services.

The Chinese page of this city carries the full detail: the eight views, routes by interest, and the entries each spot links to.