The Guangdong Province Most Resembling Three Provinces, With Disconnected Dialects and Customs, and Beautiful Scenery Largely Unknown
Looking at contemporary China, the development of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is relatively balanced, especially Zhejiang, where each city has achieved good development, while Guangdong, although leading in economic terms nationwide, concentrates wealth primarily in the Pearl River Delta, with slower development speeds in the eastern and northern sides and the northern region.
Culturally, Guangdong is divided into three Min tribes: the Cantonese Min tribe, the Chaozhou Min tribe, and the Hakka Min tribe. These three tribes have significant differences in their customs and dialects, and in the past, communication between different tribes often failed due to the use of local dialects. From this perspective, Guangdong feels like three provinces. However, it has a very strong sense of openness, and the three Min tribes have harmoniously coexisted and shone in various aspects after a long period of historical integration.
Geographically, the Cantonese cultural zone is the largest, while the Chaozhou cultural zone is the smallest. However, the population distribution is the widest in the world, with all three places having excellent tourism resources. They lack popular tourist destinations, and many small attractions are not well-known, but they are definitely worth visiting.
The representative cities of the Cantonese cultural zone are Guangzhou.
Guangzhou is a city with a history of over two thousand years, and it is also one of the earliest coastal cities to open to the outside world. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Nanyue. It is home to numerous attractions, and the overall area is not large, reflecting the ancient history, such as the Nanyue Tombs and Nanyue Palace. Buildings along the Pearl River, such as Beijing Road, Shamian Island, and Jiangnan Road, have a distinct historical flavor, especially along Jiangnan Road, with landmarks like the Southern Weekly Building and the Post and Telecommunication Building.
I personally like Lilong in Lilong Lake Park, a classical garden that is small and exquisite, integrating Jiangnan garden style and Lingnan architectural features, and the overall effect is poetic and picturesque. When visiting, I feel particularly relaxed and the photos are beautiful.
The representative cities of the Chaozhou culture are Chaozhou. Many people might ask, ‘Why not Shantou?’ because Chaozhou has a longer history, and it served as a county seat for a longer period, and it has more historical sites.
Chaozhou is a millennium-old city, and the renowned Tang Dynasty writer Han Yu was exiled here, making a great contribution to Chaozhou. Han River and Han Mountain were named in his memory. The Han Culture Center was built to commemorate him. Chaozhou retains a rich ancient city atmosphere, with numerous historical buildings distributed around the city walls.
Chaozhou Kaiyuan Temple was built in the Tang Dynasty, and the gates have features of Tang and Song styles, and Guangji Bridge is one of the Four Ancient Bridges in China. Kaiyuan Temple and Xiliang Huang’s Ancestral Hall are notable for their carvings and inlaid porcelain.
Especially the stone carvings and golden lacquer wood carvings in Xiliang Huang’s Ancestral Hall are rich in layers and astonishingly skilled, lifelike and captivating, making visitors marvel at their artistry.
Meizhou has a large area, but due to its mountainous terrain, the population density is not as high as in the cities of Chaozhou.
Meizhou’s tourism resources mainly include humanistic and landscape tourism, with humanistic attractions being the most popular, such as Kezutide, Qixi Gu Yun, Ling Guang Temple, Yan Nan Fei, Ba Hou Ancient Town, and Tai An Lou.
When traveling to Meizhou, it is impossible to miss Dapeng County. This county retains a large number of ancient buildings, which fully display the architectural art, ingenuity, unity, and aesthetic taste of Hakka ancestors.
Ba Hou Ancient Town has produced many writers and merchants since ancient times, and it has built several mansions and gardens, striving for perfection in layout and details such as carved flowers and inlaid porcelain.
Tai An Lou is a courtyard house that reflects the living habits of Hakka people gathering together and living in unity.
