Old-world charms still prevail in bustling, modern Guangzhou

In a series of weekly features, City Plus looks at destinations for weekend breaks out of Hong Kong and gives you a handy guide on what to expect, what to do and what to pay. This week, it is Guangzhou.

Why Guangzhou?

At first sight Guangzhou might seem just another ugly, urban sprawl, but it is one of the oldest cities in the mainland, teeming with a history of rebellions, uprisings and a culture that sets it apart from the rest of China.

Look behind the high-rises that dominate its skyline, and the factories and migrant worker dormitories that stretch out into the heavily polluted Guangdong hinterland, and you can catch a glimpse of ancient Canton - the tempestuous southern city that played a key part in the silk and tea trades and provided an exotic backdrop for the opium wars.

A glimpse, sadly, is about all you are likely to see these days. Modern Guangzhou has in the past 20 years seen some of the most explosive urban growth in China. It is the capital of a province that accounts for more than 12 per cent of the country's gross domestic product and a large proportion of China's billionaires and millionaires.

The city - smoggy, traffic-choked, chaotic, brash and raucous - retains something of the unruly, independent spirit that has for centuries made it a thorn in the side of imperial China - too wild to tame and too far away from Peking to control.