Two days in Chaoshan: Chaozhou old city and the Shantou old town

Two days, two cities, one day each and one crossing. You see the bridge and the arcades, which suits a weekend.

Route at a glance

Trip facts and effort

Suggested time2 day

Base One night in Chaozhou and one in Shantou; one cross-city leg

Walking Moderate: 6 to 9 km a day, one main cluster per day

Transport load No early start, no climbing, no boats; the cross-city drive is about an hour

Depends on Cross-city departures and the last one; whether Guangji Bridge is open that day

Main risk Guangji Bridge stops ticket checks, or shuttling between the two cities burns an hour each way

Most likely to go wrong Shuttling back and forth between the cities

Good for A first visit with one night to spare

Elders and children Fine: do not crowd the change of base, leave time to pack

Distances and effort are this site’s estimates on level ground; steps and hill paths count separately. Cross-city legs assume the default base and route order, and exclude transfers to and from Chaoshan. Live conditions follow the official word that day.

Route flow

Day one · Chaozhou (in at Chaoshan station, Shaxi)

Day 1Chaoshan station (Shaxi)express bus 30 minGuangji Bridgewalk 10 minPaifang Streetwalk 5 minKaiyuan Templewalk 8 minJilue Huang Hallwalk 12 minXu Prince-Consort Residencewalk 15 minChaozhou West Lake (evening)

Day two · Shantou (out of the Chaozhou old city, ending at Queshi for the return)

Day 2the Chaozhou old citycross-city 45—60 minXiaogongyuan arcadeswalk 20 minXidi Parkferry 10 minQueshi scenic areadrive 40 minReturn

Arriving and leaving by Shantou station, or coming from southern Fujian, swap the two days: Shantou first, Chaozhou second. Still one crossing, no shuttling.

Time budget

Item	Two days	Notes
Net sightseeing	7—8 hours	A full day in Chaozhou runs about 5 hours; Xiaogongyuan and Xidi in Shantou a little over 2
Travel	about 1.5 hours	One cross-city leg of 45—60 min; the rest is walking in town
Eating and rest	3—4 hours	Lunch and dinner each day, plus one sit-down break in the afternoon
Buffer	1—2 hours	Half an hour to an hour a day; the full second-day option adds 2—3 hours at Queshi
Total	13—15 hours	About 20 hours out over two days; the rest is the night and the station runs

Details and tailoring

Transport and time

Walk inside each city; Chaozhou to Shantou by intercity bus or ride-hailing takes 45—60 minutes including getting in and out, the two centres being 40 km apart by road. Do not put this leg in the evening rush, and add 20—30 minutes if the bridge is busy. In Shantou cross the water by ferry, ten minutes, quicker than going round by bridge. The first day is a full day in Chaozhou; the second is half a day in Shantou, keeping the other half free for contingencies or the journey home. In Chaozhou the four stops sit on one line and take about five hours; in Shantou, Xiaogongyuan plus Xidi take a little over two hours, and Queshi adds another two to three.

Party and stamina: what to drop

Timings below are per day and are estimates. What you drop becomes somewhere to sit, not another stop.

Driving　Do the crossing first thing on the first morning, not in the evening. Chaozhou to Shantou is 40 km: in evening rush and rain it can take ninety minutes; the same road on a quiet morning takes forty.
With elders　The four protected sites in Chaozhou are fifteen minutes apart at most, but the streets are stone-paved and hard on pushchairs and wheelchairs; the Xu Residence and Jilue Huang Hall have high thresholds and need a hand. Skip the climb at Queshi and sit on the seaside promenade below instead.
With children　Give the second day to the ferry and the promenade below Queshi; children usually prefer the boat to the ancestral halls. Check the last sailing before boarding, and do not work out the return on the island.
Food first　On the Chaozhou day put braised goose at noon; on the Shantou day set aside late congee at night; drop one sight each day.

Main line and optional stops

Guangji Bridge, Paifang Street and Xiaogongyuan are the main line. Chen Cihong Residence stands at Longdu in Chenghai, twenty kilometres east of the city, ninety minutes round trip: drop it if time is tight; if you want the mansion but not the ninety minutes, cut Queshi instead. West Lake and the Han Wengong Shrine are optional.

What to eat on the way

Chaozhou: kueh noodles in the morning, braised goose at noon, dinner back around Paifang Street. Shantou: late congee with raw-marinated seafood, and a delicate stomach does better with plain congee and pickles. Shantou has its own food page: What to eat in Shantou.

Risks and checks

If you have a train the second day, cut Shantou to Xiaogongyuan and Xidi and skip Queshi.
If the ferry stops running, go by road round the bridge and allow twenty minutes more.
If Chen Cihong Residence is closed or under repair, go back into the city and take a museum in the port area rather than waiting there.

Three things to check again before setting off (live information; the official word of the day governs): whether buses and ride-hailing run as usual on the day you cross; the last cable car up Queshi and the time Guangji Bridge stops admission; whether both nights are in the same district. If you have a train to catch, take the lighter version on day two.

Entries

Guangji Bridge, Paifang Street, Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple, Jilue Huang Hall, Xu Prince-Consort Residence, Xiaogongyuan port area, Chen Cihong Residence, Queshi.

Sources

Distances, drive times, fares and hours here share their source with the overview page and are listed in the sources of the Chaoshan travel guide, checked 19 October 2026. The stops themselves follow the sources on their entry pages.

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