Chaozhou Ancient City

Chaozhou is the heart of Teochew culture, whose language, opera, cuisine, embroidery, woodcarving and gongfu tea ceremony spread with emigrants across Southeast Asia and beyond. The old city keeps its wall, the Paifang Street of some twenty reconstructed memorial archways, and the Kaiyuan Temple founded in 738. Its landmark is the Guangji Bridge over the Han river, begun in 1171 and unusual in the world: fixed stone spans reach from each bank toward the middle, where the gap is closed by a row of eighteen wooden boats linked together, which are detached each evening and reconnected in the morning, a working pontoon section in a stone bridge.

What you actually see

• Guangji Bridge - stone spans closed by a removable line of linked boats.
• Paifang Street - a street of reconstructed memorial archways.
• Kaiyuan Temple - the Tang-founded monastery in the old city.
• The Teochew crafts - woodcarving, embroidery and gongfu tea culture.

When to go

October to April for the mildest weather; the bridge's boat section is disconnected in the evening and reconnected each morning, and there is a set schedule for the opening. Summer is hot and typhoon-prone.

Honest expectations

Many of the archways and parts of the old city are recent reconstruction. The bridge charges entry and the boat section is closed to walking at certain hours. English is limited across the city.

Nearby

Shantou lies south; Nan'ao Island is offshore.