🇨🇳 Guangzhou 12-hour layover

A few days ago, I had the chance to have a layover in Guangzhou as I was flying two transit flights with China Southern Airlines. I landed in Guangzhou from Moscow at around 11am and had to take a flight to Singapore at 11pm. That gave me a solid half day to explore Guangzhou, which I actually think is a very good layover city!

Layover city explorations tend to be on the chill side as you would likely be tired in between flights. Initially I thought of heading to the city’s main attractions like Shamian Island, the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall or the Museum of the Nanyue King, but gave all that a miss because of fatigue as well as hot weather in summertime. So instead I simply had some good food, had a massage from a machine chair in a mall, went to see the iconic Canton Tower and walk along the Pearl River.

Guangzhou is a very convenient city to a layover for several reasons. First, Baiyun Airport is very spacious and modern with excellent lounges if you choose to use them. Second, there is a direct metro (Line 3) from the airport to the city centre. Third, there are a wide variety of things to do, whether you want to cram attractions or go to malls to relax especially when you tired and the weather is hot. Fourth, if you have Wechat/Alipay, payments through mobile are extremely convenient.

Honestly while I lived in China for 6 months before in Shanghai, I never actually considered travel to Guangzhou. But this layover is a pleasant accidental discovery!#china #guangzhou #layover

Post by je ne sais quoi | Jul 4, 2025