Chaozhou

Chaozhou is an ancient cultural city in easternmost Guangdong and a heartland of Chaoshan civilization, with its own opera, dialect and refined crafts. Its old town is famous for the Guangji Bridge, a Song-dynasty pontoon-and-pier bridge that opens to let boats through, and for a long street of stone memorial archways. The Kaiyuan Temple and Han Wengong Temple reflect over a thousand years of history. Chaozhou is celebrated for its gastronomy, from springy beef balls and braised goose to the meticulous ritual of gongfu tea. Warm, humid and coastal, and served by high-speed rail and a shared airport, it is a living museum of southern tradition.