In 1987, a Song dynasty merchant ship was found off the Yangjiang coast. The "Nanhai No. 1" had been carrying 60,000 artifacts when it sank 800 years ago โ and it changed how historians understood China's maritime trade routes. This 5-day journey follows that coastline, combining world-class history with some of Guangdong's most unspoiled coastal scenery.
Transfer from Guangzhou (approx. 3 hours by high-speed rail). Check in to a coastal hotel in Yangjiang. Evening walk along the Hailing Island beach. Dinner: freshly caught seafood at a fisherman's village restaurant โ no menu, just whatever came in today's nets.
Visit the Maritime Silk Road Museum (ๆตทไธไธ็ปธไน่ทฏๅ็ฉ้ฆ) in Yangjiang โ one of China's most extraordinary museums, built around the actual excavation site of Nanhai No. 1. The ship is still being excavated inside the museum. Walk around the glass viewing platform and look down at porcelain, gold, and iron goods still emerging from the hull after eight centuries at sea.
Dawn wake-up for the morning fishing haul โ walk the tidal flat (่ตถๆตท) with local fishing families, collecting shellfish and crabs as the tide recedes. This is China's favorite childhood memory, and one of the most joyful experiences on any coast. Afternoon: rest on Hailing Island's Blue Bay beach โ consistently ranked among Guangdong's cleanest coastal beaches.
Day trip to Kaiping. The UNESCO-listed Diaolou towers โ fortress-residences built by returned Cantonese emigrants in the early 20th century โ rise from rice paddies in a style that mixes Renaissance, Baroque, and medieval battlements. Your guide explains the extraordinary story: why Cantonese villagers built European fortresses in the middle of Guangdong. Evening: return to Yangjiang, dinner of Taishan clay-pot eel rice.
Stop in Xinhui on the way back to Guangzhou. Xinhui aged tangerine peel (ๆฐไผ้็ฎ) is one of the most valuable ingredients in Cantonese cuisine โ some 10-year aged peel sells for more per gram than silver. Visit a tangerine orchard and a peel-aging facility. Stock up on the real thing. Transfer to Guangzhou for departure.
The Guangdong coast holds stories that no tour group has ever told properly. We will.