Chaoshan · Culture · Travel
Chaoshan Travel Guide and Route Planning
Routes by days, adjusted by how you travel
Plan a route quickly
Choose the days first, then adjust by arrival, party and interest; or go straight to the six tiers below.
Once filled in, you can check festivals, opening arrangements and the travel notices for those dates. Festivals follow the lunar calendar, so the Gregorian date shifts year by year: go by the official notice for that year.
One sight from each city
Linked city and place pages are in simplified Chinese.
Jieyang for temples, Chaozhou for embroidery and wood, Shantou for food and the ferry
JieyangCity God Temple and Confucian school
The City God Temple is dense with gold-lacquered carving; the Confucian school runs from the Lingxing Gate to the Dacheng Hall. Both are in the old city, ten minutes apart.
Jieyang old city (Chinese)Half-day route
ChaozhouEmbroidery and woodcarving
Cai-mei panels coil figures in gold thread; shrine beams are carved all over with opera scenes. One needle, one chisel, both inside this square kilometre of the prefectural city.
Chaozhou old city (Chinese)Jilue Huang Shrine
ShantouFood and the ferry
Fish rice, raw-cured seafood, kway teow, from morning to night. The ferry crosses the inner bay in ten minutes for one yuan.
Shantou old city (Chinese)Shantou guide
Layer 1 · Pick a route by daysAll six options →
Each of the six has its own day-by-day page: the order of stops, distances and estimated travel time, where to eat, and how to adjust when plans change. If you would rather not use the selector, go straight in.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 3.0; the author and licence for each are in the Sources section of the matching entry page.
Layer 2 · Practicalities and the pre-departure checkSee all →
Once the days are fixed, the guides below cover what you need. Schedules, weather, opening hours and booking rules change; check again before you travel on anything that decides your day.
How to read the information
Checked Traceable sources and a date checked.
Moving data Fares, schedules and opening hours change; check again before you go.
Site estimates Travel times, connections and pace are our own estimates, not a live promise.
Open, or sources disagree Where sources are thin or disagree, the difference stays, with no verdict forced.
Nine sights to start withAll sights →
On a first visit, these nine give you the three cities’ history, townscape and landscape. They are a way in, not a fixed order.
Guangji BridgeChaozhouSpans the Han River: a beam bridge, a pontoon bridge and an arch bridge in one
Paifang StreetChaozhouStone arches line Taiping Road, with Nanyang arcades on both sides
Kaiyuan TempleChaozhouFounded in the Tang; a Tang pillar, a Song bell, a Yuan censer and a Ming pagoda, each in its own place
XiaogongyuanShantouArcades ring a memorial pavilion, with five roads fanning out
QueshiShantouHill country on the south shore of the inner bay: forty-three peaks
Chen Cihong ResidenceShantouCalled the first overseas-Chinese mansion of Lingnan in Southern+ reporting
Jinxian GateJieyangThe gate tower of the Jieyang old city, built in 1621; the old eight views called it the watchtower horn at dawn
Jieyang Confucian TempleJieyangOne of the larger Confucian temples in Lingnan, founded in the Southern SongNo openly licensed photo yetHuangqi MountainJieyangThe hill north of town, 293 metresPhotos: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 / 3.0; the author and licence for each are in the Sources section of the matching entry page.
Layer 3 · The three cities and the features
The city guides cover history, the main sights and how to move through them; the features take one district or one interest further. What follows is a short orientation and the way in.
ChaozhouOld town, bridge and woodcarving; 9 national sites, 13 locations
ShantouArcades, overseas-Chinese mansions and islands; 6 national sites, 14 locations
JieyangConfucian temple, city god temple, hills and seafood; 4 national sites, 13 locationsJieyang old cityStart around Jinxian Gate and walk the old lanesFeatureLetters to GrandmaFilm locations across the three cities, for planning a cinema-themed tripPageWhat to eat in ShantouFood by district and street, to fit around a dayFeatureOne more page:God-parade calendar The lunar calendar of folk festivals, with representative places and viewing routes. It is organised by festival date, unlike the six routes here which are organised by days; if you plan to come for a festival, read that page alongside.
Distances, travel times, fares and opening hours belong with the feature and sight pages. For schedules, bookings and closures, check again before you go; the order to check them in is inThree minutes before you set off。
Sources and notes
Heritage listings The counts and the basis for them are set out city by city in each guide’s Sources and notes.
By topic Transport, fares, connections and rail times, seeGetting there and where to stay; festivals and crowds, seeWhen to come; opening hours and conflicting fares, seeWhere it goes wrong; review samples and platform limits, seeReviews elsewhere; location matches and box office, seeRoutes by interest andLetters to Grandma; evidence thresholds and where to re-check, seeHow to read this site。
Dates checked Fares, schedules and review data were checked or collected on 19 October 2026; box office is to 30 September 2026; holiday visitor figures follow the 2026 official basis. Different figures are updated at different times, so go by the source and date shown on each entry.
Where to go next
Days not settled Go back tothe selector above。
Days settled Open the half-day, one-day or multi-day page: seethe six routes。
Worried about schedules or closures SeeThree minutes before you set off。
Main city settled Open theChaozhou、Shantou orJieyang guide.
Here for film locations or food Go straight toLetters to Grandma orShantou food.
Want to know what this site is built on SeeSources、Open data andHow to read this site。
Home › Chaoshan travel guide and routes
Last revised: 31 October 2026