So you have made it as far as Hong Kong, but are curious as to what lies across the border in China. If you have a few extra days to spare during your visit to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, there are several easy links to the mainland that will give you a slice of China. With the ever expanding high speed rail network from Hong Kong, here are the top three side trips to check out.
Read more about Hong Kong
- Top List of Hong Kong Restaurants
- Discovering Hong Kong’s Green Outdoors
- Review of Hong Kong’s pre-paid SIM card one2free
Where to stay in Hong Kong?
- For something on the luxurious end, St. Regis Hong Kong is pretty amazing. Otherwise, a great hidden gem of a budget property is the Homy Residence. Make sure to read the best place to stay in Hong Kong guide.
3 of the best side trips from Hong Kong
1. Guangzhou
Why go there?
It is a wonder why Guangzhou is not overrun with tourists, but that becomes part of the attraction itself. Guangzhou is a beautiful and modern city. Think Hong Kong on steroids (and a lot cleaner!). Set around the Pearl River, what Guangzhou lacks in must see sights it more than makes up for in authentic culture and food. With an abundance of top hotels, shopping malls and restaurants you go there to Eat, Sleep and Shop. And the best part is, you can do this without bumping into another foreigner the whole day!
Highlights:
Food – This is a foodies paradise. Chinese food never tasted so good. Think the best Dim Sum you have ever had, and that is just the start! With the Haizhu private food tour, go off the tourist path and try a variety of mouth-watering foods of old and new
Bicycle – Rent a bicycle and join the locals for a casual ride along the pearl river
Shopping – Designer malls or flea markets. Guangzhou has something for everyone
How to get there?
Guangzhou is an easy 2 hour train trip from downtown Hong Kong.
2. Hot Springs
Hot Springs in China?? No I am not crazy. China has amazing hot springs that rival those in Japan. Qingxin Hot Springs are located near Qingyuan city, only 20 minutes by bullet train or 1 hour by car from Guangzhou. Set in beautiful gardens, there are more pools than you can count. Just make sure you give yourself enough time as you won’t want to leave. And the best part, unlike Japan, there is no naked bathing, so you can relax and enjoy the springs with your friends and family.
Costs: From 110 RMB
3. Guilin
Set around the Li River and surrounded by karst mountains, the scenery of Guilin is simply stunning. Take a stroll around the lakes to absorb the setting, or if you are more energetic, climb the stairs to summit one of the several nearby peaks. Guilin is also a perfect base for day trips to explore neighbouring villages.
After a hard day of sightseeing, enjoy some local Guangxi cuisine. With influences from both Vietnamese and Cantonese food, the food in Guilin can be an adventure in itself.
How to get there?
Guilin is now connected to Guangzhou by a new bullet train that only opened at the end of December 2014. It only takes 2.5 hours to go from Guangzhou to Guilin!
What you should read next
Travel Resources For Your Next Trip
If you’re in the process of planning your trip and putting together your itinerary, these are genuinely the best resources that the Going Awesome Places team stands by 100%.
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Vacation Rentals: Your first instinct will be to check Airbnb but we always recommend checking VRBO as well if you’re looking for a vacation rental (now eligible for One Key).
Tours and Activities: When planning our trips, we always check both Viator and GetYourGuide to at least see what’s out there in the destination that we’re going to. They often have different offerings and prices so check both.
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If you need more help planning your trip, make sure to check out our Travel Toolbox where we highlight all of the gear, resources, and tools we use when traveling.
Great post! I have been to Guanzhou and love it! It looks like I may have missed out on a few more places that were within easy reach but I guess thats another reason to go back.
There’s always an endless number of reasons to go back to a place right? When were you last in Guangzhou?
Thanks for the post! We actually live in Guangzhou and want to go to those hot springs – so thanks!
** However, I believe the 72 hour visa information that you have quoted is not completely accurate.
The 72 hour visa is only good for flights into China where you have a long stop-over (up to 72 hours) and you have an onward ticket to another country outside of China. Also, only certain airports within China participate in the program (although it is expanding). So I don’t believe you can take the train from HK with the 72 hour visa.
** But you can book tours with an official travel agent in Hong Kong that will include a special visa exemption — but it only let’s you visit certain areas of the mainland and you must go on a guided tour. For more details, you can check out a post here: https://www.peanutsorpretzels.com/how-to-get-a-visa-for-china/
Thanks for the tips – now off to find those hot springs!
Liz
Hi Liz, Thanks for that, we were mislead by the visa on arrival office at Guangzhou East station. The post has been updated.
Note that you still however can enter China at some entry points with some passports and obtain a tourist visa on arrival. I have done this myself for a tourist visa on an Australian passport at Shenzen airport. Travel agencies and other visa processing groups wont advertise this as it is not in their interest, but call up Shenzen airport and they will happily do it for you (or at least they did about 3 years ago!)
I thought the 72 hour transit visa was only for connecting flights I.e. flying from Hong Kong to say seoul with a Chinese layover. I don’t think you can just fly rt to China without a visa. I could be wrong but that was my understanding.
Hi Katrina,
Thanks. We have updated the comments regarding the 72 hour visa. Note that as I described above, we have personally entered China by obtaining Visa on Arrival (tourist visa) using Australian passports. This was around 3 years ago and rules may have changed. Back then it was possible, but only government officials and not CITS etc will tell you this. We did have problems trying to board our flight to China as they didn’t believe it was possible, but we did it.