Location: Shantou
Top Things to do in Shantou
Top Restaurants in Shantou
Countries
The 10 Best Things to Do in Shantou, China
Shantou, formerly romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,391,028 as of 2010 and an administrative area of 2,064 square kilometres (797 sq mi).
Restaurants in Shantou
1. Nan'ao
Overall Ratings
4 based on 67 reviews
Reviewed By GreenNerdy - Singapore, Singapore
Visited Nan'ao Island as part of our Shantou tour. Spend a night on the island (at Nan'ao Xin Tao resort).
Spent 40 minutes to get there by ferry. A bridge that will link the island to Mainland is still under construction. We visited some attractions on the island including the Song Well (a well dug by the Song's dynasty army), Qing Ao bay (清奧灣, renowned as the most beautiful beach in Guangdong province), and an old government office.
According to our tour guide, the island is also famous for its seafood too that Chinese from Mainland come over during weekends & public holiday for seafood. I think this is overrated. Choice of seafood is limited and it is costly, very pricey.
The adventurous can go hiking, jungle trekking and cycling around the island, which will give you a nice view of the scenery - I did not try as I travelled with my parents and grandmother.
Overall, I would say the island worth a visit if you have time to spare. If you want a holiday with nice beach & seafood, this is not the place (no offence). If you ever visit, try the local bananas ; )
Peace : )
2. Zhongshan Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 43 reviews
Reviewed By Andrew K - Singapore, Singapore
A nice park to take a morning stroll, as many locals gather here to exercise, practise their Chinese martial arts and even classical Chinese music performance with string and wind instruments. Beautiful Gardens adorn with blooming flowers and five small man made Islands as you enter through a magnificent Chinese architectural gateway.
3. Queshi Scenic Resort
Overall Ratings
4 based on 32 reviews
4. Chen Cihong Former residence
Overall Ratings
4 based on 16 reviews
Reviewed By HenryL34 - Hong Kong, China
It is a building with mixed western and chinese style. It has 506 rooms with a very modern building style at that time, espeically there are "bridges" between the corridors and coloured erial is used to make doorframe.
5. Stone Fort Park
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By Andrew_Alin - Greater Adelaide, Australia
This is an old fort with 18 replica cannons. At the time of our visit, the place was deserted. Couldn't find anyone to sell tickets, and didn't see anyone else inside either - don't think the place was closed though ...
Worth a brief visit if you're passing by, but don't need to go out of your way to look for it. Allow yourself about 20 minutes to see everything.
6. Shantou Nan'ao Island National Forest Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 19 reviews
Reviewed By Andrew_Alin - Greater Adelaide, Australia
For a chinese beach, this one was great.
Getting to the island can be a bit of a hassle though, as some other reviewers have mentioned, so be sure to plan ahead.
The island iS quite large, so if you plan to get around and explore, then be sure to get to the pier early.
7. Jufeng Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7 reviews
Reviewed By Khiam Yeong H - Singapore, Singapore
The temple is built in great traditional Chinese architecture so there lots to see in terms of architecture. However what makes this place interesting are the rock formation behind the temple. You probably could take at least half a day to wander amongst the formation. The formation are named, in Chinese. So those who understands will enjoy more. If not, just wander around and take in the scenery.
Oh finally, bring mosquito repellent and umbrellas if you plan to visit during summer.
8. Tian Tan Garden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8 reviews
9. Queshi Bridge
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 11 reviews
Reviewed By iamface - hong kong
go there at evening, take a short walking, it was quite relaxing and the sea view was good. the bridge also colourful at night. not bad
10. Chen Ci Hong Mansion
Overall Ratings
4 based on 7 reviews
Reviewed By BrotherDragon - Singapore
Being a Teochew (Chaozhou), visiting Swatow (Shantou), where most Teochews would have passed through as they ventured overseas in centuries passed, was something I had always aimed to do to reconnect with my roots. If one is not Teochew, there is probably little charm left to be experienced in Teochewland. Much of the old has made way for the ugly new. When one of my two travelling companions, proposed that we venture out of Swatow and visit the Chen Ci Hong mansion (陈慈黉故居) , which was built over 100 years ago, it wasn't a difficult decision to make.
This mansion stands in Qianmeicun in Chenghai (Tenghai in Teochew), about 10 km out of Swatow. There's a regular bus service running to the Chen Ci Hong mansion from the bus station that is next to the Shantou Overseas Chinese Hotel , No.41, Shanzhang Road, Shantou - Jinping. The bus fare was RMB 13 and the bus comfortable enough.
The mansion sits in the middle of farmland and fruit orchards. It was built by Chen (Tan in Teochew), who made his fortune in Siam (Thailand) and returned to build this stately home in his county. The mansion sits on over 25,000 sq m of land and has over 500 rooms.
Although all the original furnishings have unfortunately gone, the mansion is full of architectural and design surprises. While at first glance it looks like a very large southern Chinese structure of open courtyards, halls, corridors, rooms and curved roofs, upon closer look one can see how richly it is decorated and embellished. There are plenty of European tiles, mosaics and glass, Southeast Asian motifs and design, plus of course the Lingnan architecture and traditional Teochew folk designs. I will let the attached photos tell of their past splendor and beauty. How busy and bustling this place must have once been.
Traditional Chinese doors are still intact as is the opera stage, puppet theatre and Gardens. The nooks and crannies, plus a stroll on one of the roof tops give a bird eye's view of the spread of this property. This Mr Tan was truly a very wealthy tycoon.
There is a traditional Teochew dance called "double-bite goose" (双咬鹅) that is performed but we did not get to see it while there. However, if you take a stroll around the nearby village you can see the very large "lion head geese", which are raised for the famous Teochew dish of soy-braised goose meat.
In fact, walking around the villages is recommended to see how people still live there. Be prepared for some amount of rubbish and filth along the country lanes though. But this is the real thing.
To get back to Swatow, walk about 1 km to the main road to catch the return bus. Owing to the low number of visitors, return buses do not always turn in to pick up passengers from the mansion, the bus driver advised.
