This time, I spent a week in Xiguan, Guangzhou, staying at Yuting PLUS Hotel (Guangzhou Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street Hualinsi Subway Station). The most intuitive feeling was that its surroundings and transportation configuration completely hit all the pain points of traveling in the old city area. You don't have to take detours in maze like alleys, just lift your foot and get into the arcade fireworks, which is a rare "zero hassle" landing spot in the upper and lower nine districts.
The hotel's location can be regarded as the golden hub of Xiguan's core area. From Exit C of Hualin Temple Subway Station on Line 8, walk 200 meters along the flat sidewalk to reach the hotel's main entrance. There is no need to walk through the intricate alleys of urban villages, and it is completely effortless to carry a suitcase filled with souvenirs. Line 8 connects Shamian, Yongqingfang, Haizhu Square and other core old city points here. Take three stops east to the Pearl River New City, four stops south to Pazhou Convention and Exhibition Center, and it only takes 45 minutes to go to Guangzhou South Station to transfer to Line 7. No matter you are visiting scenic spots, running business docking, or catching the high-speed railway on the return journey, you need not be afraid of traffic jams and accidents during peak hours.
If it's a self driving trip, it's more worry free. The hotel comes with a dedicated free parking lot, and the entrance and exit are on the side road next to Hualin Temple, so you don't have to spend half an hour searching for a parking spot on the narrow one-way street up and down. From here, it takes only 5 minutes to get on the Inner Ring Road, and you can quickly get on the main line to Huangsha Aquatic Products Market and Fangcun Tea Market. It saves at least 20 minutes of commuting time during rush hour compared to taking ground roads. Even to Baiyun Airport, taking the airport expressway is smooth and can arrive within an hour.
The most surprising thing is the density of food within walking distance, without having to travel across regions just to taste authentic Cantonese cuisine. Walking for 3 minutes at the main entrance of the hotel, you can find the old Zhusheng Noodle Store, which has been open for more than 40 years. It can stretch its muscles and teeth on the alkaline water surface. The shrimp Wonton is so fresh that its eyebrows fall off, and it can be satisfied for more than 10 yuan. In the alley, which is 5 minutes' walk away from the back door, there are authentic Jiang Bang Milk Shop, crisp Chen Tianji fish skin and pig Congee stall opened in the early morning. Even if you go to the night market and come back at 11:00 in the late night, you can have a hot snack by turning a corner, and you don't have to take a taxi in the late night to cross the district to find food.
The choices of daily humanistic clocking are even more abundant. You can walk 8 minutes to the core area of the arcade of Shangxiajiu, walk 15 minutes along Enning Road to Yongqingfang and the Museum of Cantonese Opera Art, and ride 10 minutes to share bicycles in the evening to Shamian Island to watch the century old Western architecture blowing the evening breeze of the the Pearl River. You don't need to rely on public transportation for a whole day's shopping trip. If you want to experience the daily life of Lao Guang, you can walk for 10 minutes to Hualin Jade Street. After strolling through the jade market, turn into the nearby old tea house and spend more than ten yuan to order a cup of lidded tea. You can sit down and leisurely pass the afternoon.
In the core area of Laoxiguan, where streets and alleys crisscross like Shangxiajiu, many hotels are either far away from the subway, taking more than ten minutes to walk around the alleys with luggage, or surrounded by internet famous shops. If you want to find authentic old shops, you have to spend half an hour searching for them. And Yuting PLUS Hotel (Guangzhou Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street Hualinsi Subway Station) just avoids these pain points. The dual subway covers the core points of Guangzhou, and within walking distance, it gathers the authentic Lao Guang flavor from morning tea to late night snacks. Whether you are visiting the old city for a deep tour or doing jade and clothing wholesale business in Xiguan, staying here can truly achieve zero hassle travel.Show more