Huangpu ancient village and old port

Huangpu ancient port and village was founded in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), it was the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road and the only treaty port until late Qing dynasty. If you are visiting or living in Guangzhou, Huangpu village is a must place to visit and experience Cantonese culture.

In 2020 I have a goal of visiting 12 new locations in Guangzhou, after living in the city for 10 years, I still have a lot to discover! I have visited Huangpu village before many years ago, so it doesn’t get to my 2020 list, but it’s still worth the visit every now and then!

While some parts of the village are busy and get a lot of tourists, namely those aroun the drop off point for the tourist bus, but there are many small alleys and family temples where you can roam in peace and quiet.

Best parts of visiting old villages are photographing the old architecture, observing locals in their daily tasks and trying out local snacks and treats. For my 4 year old daughter, she found the small playground and dressing up in traditional hanfu clothing to be the most enjoyable experiences for her.

As soon as my daughter saw this traditional sugar painter, she wanted to have a Peppa Pig suger painting on a stick! You could choose images from Chinese horoscope animals to popular cartoon images. It was quite interesting to see the painters skills in action!

The sugary treat doesn’t taste that good, so it’s best to just enjoy with your eyes!

Huangpu village has a great museum next to the old port, it showcases the history of the area and how trade was made back in the days. There are English translations for everything, making it easy to gain more knowledge.

I was happy to find out more information about Changzhou island, the island I’ve been living for seven years and which is just a short ferry trip away from the Huangpu village. Changzhou island was called the Island of Danes as it was the only port that Danish sailors were permitted to go ashore.

On the map above you see the ancient Huangpu village. The museum is located in front of the port, this area is also the busiest and has the restaurants and food stalls. For the kids there is a small local playground, enough fun for kindergarten aged kids.

On the right top corner you see the less busy entrance to the village (another entrance is near the museum in left lowner corner). I recommend you to walk through the village to see both the busy and the quiet parts of this interesting port village.

Address to the busy South entrance next to the museum and port: Pazhou Shiji Cun Zong Zhan 琶洲石基村总站(黄埔古港), this is the bus stop for the Tourist Bus 3 (旅游公交3线)

Address to the North entrance to the village: Huangpu Cun 黄埔村总站, bus stop for 137, 262 and Tourist Sightseeing Bus 1 (旅游观光1线)