Shantou

A wheel-spoke network of 1920s and 1930s qilou (arcaded shophouses) radiating from the central Sun Yat-sen Memorial Pavilion, built with overseas Teochew money. Restored facades, the former Nansheng Department Store, and the Shantou Port Opening Culture Exhibition Hall capture the city's treaty-port heyday.

Eating is Shantou's main event: local beef hotpot joints slice never-frozen yellow cattle by specific muscle cut for seconds-long dips in clear bone broth with satay sauce. Longyan South Road and nearby珠江 Road (Zhujiang Road) pack in late-night stalls serving raw marinated seafood, oyster omelets, and rice noodle

Linked to the mainland by a 9-kilometer sea bridge, this mountainous island offers a scenic 68-kilometer coastal ring road dotted with red-and-white lighthouses, wind farms, and fishing bays like Qing'ao Bay. It works best as a full-day self-drive or chartered-car loop with a seafood lunch stop.

A commuter passenger ferry that crosses Shantou's inner harbor between Guangchang Pier and Queshi Scenic Area in about 10 minutes. Locals and visitors pack the upper deck around dusk to watch the sun drop behind the harbor bridges and coastal hills.

Located in Chenghai District on the northern edge of Shantou, this sprawling early-20th-century compound was built by a wealthy Teochew rice merchant in Thailand. Its 506 rooms blend traditional Chaoshan courtyard layouts with imported European tiles, stained glass, and baroque plasterwork.

Famous beef hotpot restaurants see massive lines between 6pm and 8pm, and choice cuts like diaolong (ribeye cap) or wuhuazhi (shank) sell out fast. Aim for an early lunch around 11am or late afternoon around 4:30pm, or use WeChat mini-programs to pull a queue number remotely before you leave your hotel.

Shantou's shengyan (raw crabs, shrimp, and clams marinated in soy, garlic, cilantro, and liquor) is famously addictive, known locally as Chaoshan poison. If your stomach is not used to raw shellfish, sample just a piece or two alongside hot rice porridge rather than making a full meal of it.

Shantou Station is right in the city center, whereas Shantou South Station and Chaoshan Station are much farther out. Always check the exact station name on your rail ticket so you know whether you have a 15-minute taxi ride or a 50-minute transfer ahead of you.

Once you cross the bridge onto Nan'ao Island, public buses are slow and ride-hailing cars can be scarce around remote lighthouses in the late afternoon. If you do not have a Chinese driver's license to rent a car, arrange a round-trip chartered car for the day before crossing the bridge.