Guangdong

The first thing you should buy before your departure from Guangdong is the inkstone made in Zhaoqing, which is referred to as one of the Four Best Inkstones in China, (the other three are the She Inkstone, the Taohe Inkstone and the Chengni Inkstone). It is also among the Chinese Four Treasures of the Study (Wenfang sibao), along with the Xuan paper (Xuanzhi), Hui ink (Huimo) and Hu brush(Hubi).

Guangdong embroidery is another gift to bring home. Most renowned for its beautiful patterns and exquisite crafts, it is one of the "Best Four Embroidery in China".Other local specialities includes leather products, porcelain, carvings and folding fans.

Shenzhen abounds in the "Three Yellow" fattened chicken in Longgang, litchis in Nantou, peaches in Nanshan, sand pears in Shiyan, the golden tortoise" mandarin and so on. More than 90 varieties of valuable animals live and breed locally, including the tiger-skin streak frog, boas, rhesus monkeys, zibets and etc, which are wild animals under state protection.

litchis in Nantou

peaches in Nanshan	sand pears	rhesus	golden tortoise

Guangzhou

Products: paddy rice, potato, wheat, corn, jowar, silk, sugarcane, earthnut and hemp
Tropical or Subtropical Fruits: banana, cirtrus, lichee, and pineapple

paddy rice	potato	wheat	sugarcane

hemp	banana	pineapple

1)Yue Embroidery

It is also called Cantonese Embroidery for it is produced in Guangdong province. It is said that it was created by a minority people in the middle and at the end of the Ming Dynasty. A variety of threads are used, including thread twisted from the peacock quill and down thread from the horsetail. The whole piece is bright in color with gold thread as the contour for embroidering complicated patterns, looking splendid. Such themes are usually employed as A Hundred Birds Displaying Homage to The Phoenix, marine products and melons.

2)Conghua lychee

Conghua was also home to lychee. The lychees tasted toothsome, fresh, and soft, and they were a flagship fruit out of other fruits. Bai Juyi, a famous Chinese poet in the Tang Dynasty, praised lychee highly in his poems: the lychee 's shells are like red thin silks, its layers purple silk fabrics, its pulp white snow, and its sweet juices sweet wine." In general, lychee trees bore fruit once every 4 or 5 years. And 10-year old trees would bear 50 kilograms of fruits each, while 30-year old ones could have fruits weighing over 150 kilograms each.

3)Shahe Rice Noodle

Shahe Rice Noodle is a popular flavor snack in Guangzhou. It originated from Shahe Town, hence the name. It enjoys a long history. The noodle is white, thin but tenacious. There are many ways of cooking, such as saute dry noodle, saute wet noodle, cooking with soup, etc. Sometimes, the vegetable juice and fruit juice are added when cooking, which make the noodle more colorful and even more different in taste.

4)Sauté Field Snail

Field snail is different from stone snail. It is featured by thin shell and thick meat. Fried with a kind of fragrant purple herb, there will be an authentic flavor which is hot, fragrant, and sweet. This authentic flavor is preferred not only by southern Chinese but also by foreign friends. They often gather together around a table tasting saute field Snails with Purple Herb at small restaurants or in luxurious hotels. If such flavorings like pepper, scallion or garlic, black bean sauce, and salt are added it would taste better.

5)Sampan Porridge
In the western suburbs of ancient Guangzhou, Litchi trees were planted along the riversides. It was called Litchi Gulf, It was one of the eight sightseeing spots of Ancient Guangzhou named "Night View of Litchi Gulf". At dusk in summer, many people of letters and refined scholars and travelers would lounge here and enjoyed the view by the sampans, which some of them were especially engaged in supplying "sampan porridge". If travelers on the bank or on the other sampans wanted to buy the porridge the peddler on the sampan would bring it to them. By and by, even the restaurants on the bank began to sell sampan porridge.
The ingredients of sampan porridge are shrimps and fish slices jellyfish, fried peanuts, green bean rolls, scallions and ginger. The porridge is boiled the moment before eating. When it is cooked, a fragrant smell and hot steam will fill the nostrils. Now in Guangzhou people can taste this special porridge either in small restaurants or in Five-Star hotels such as White Swan Hotel.

6)Fried Radish Cake
Fried radish cake is the favorite pastry of Guangzhou natives. It is made of glutinous rice powder and shredded radish. To mix the glutinous rice powder and the cooked shredded radish into a paste, then add shelled shrimps, cured meat, lard, pepper powder, soy sauce, gourmet powder, salt and steam it. Families usually make this cake in the spring festival, while teahouses provide it all the year round. It will taste better if the radish cake is fried for a few minutes.

7)Moon Cake
　　Guangdong-style moon cake is the choicest one in the Mid-Autumn Festival. The rind of the moon cake is thin and soft with a golden color. It is beautifully shaped with clear and exquisite pattern. There are two different tastes: salty and sweet. The different fillings include: lotus seed, almond, olive kernel, peach kernel, green bean, sesame, salty egg, roast goose, dried mushrooms, ice meat, sweet wax gourd, shelled shrimps, etc.
Lianxiang Restaurant, Guangzhou Restaurant, Taotaoju Restaurant, Quxiang Cookhouse, etc, are the representatives of producing Guangdong-style moon cakes. The most famous moon cakes are "Taotaojusang Moon Cake" made by Taotaoju Restaurant and "Lotus Moon Cake" made by Lianxianglou Restaurant, etc.

8) Shixia Longan

Longan is a perennial evergreen arbor plant, blooming in spring and yielding fruits in summer. Fruits are ball-shaped with shells of light yellow or brown. Its flesh is white and transparent, with plenty of juice and sweet flavor, Longan is one of Lingnan's delicate fruits. Dried longan plus its shell is a kind of medicine for calming and nutritious effects.
Originated from China, longan has a plantation history of over 2,000 years. Now it is widely planted in Guangzhou's Baiyun District, Haizhu District, Zengcheng,, Panyu and Huadu. Longan species include Wryuan, Shixia, Shuiyan, and Yuanyan, etc. Shixia's longan planted at Xiaozhou Village of Haizhu District, is the best of its kind. The Shixia Longan is big, high yield and sweet flavor like honey. It was said that the oldest longan tree was grown out of stone crevices. Squeezed by big stones, the roots had no way but plunging deeply into soil and suck the quintessence of the earth. Because of this, its fruits were particularly tasteful, and the longan tree was named as Shixia (stone squeezing).

9)Papaya

With nicknames of Pan Papaya and longevity fruit, papaya is one of Lingnan's four famous fruits being usually called as "the king of Lingnan's fruits".
Papaya was originally planted in Mexico, and was introduced to China in the 17th century. It has now been planted in every corner of Guangdong Province, mainly around Guangzhou's outskirts. Good papaya species in Guangzhou include Lingnanzhong, Shuizhong and Thailand's Ted Flesh, among which the Liangnanzhong is of the best quality. Lingnanzhong's papayas are full and ellipse-shaped, featuring thick flesh, few seeds and a flavor of osmanthus fragrance. Papaya fruits are big, weighing six to seven kilograms. Its fruits can be tasted freshly with delicate flavors and rich nutrition. Cooked with crystal sugar, papaya is also effective in some throat-related diseases. Unripe papaya can be boiled in as a kind of vegetable or salted to make 'salty and sour papaya'

10)Pineapple

Pineapple was originally planted in Brazil and was introduced into China in the 16th century. With over 70 species, pineapple is one of Lingnan's four famous fruits.
Pineapple bears fruits three times each year. Those bearing fruits in June and August are of the best quality. The most tasteful pineapple should be fresh, good-shaped, 80% ripe and with solid skin. Three common species include Shenwan, Bali and Shalaoyue. The Tangxin pineapple cultivated by Guangzhou's farmer is the best of all.
Tangxin pineapple belongs to Shalaoyue species, also named as Hawaii, weighing 2-3 kilograms each, with big and shallow fruit eyes. Its fruit is edible with its skin peeled off. Featuring soft flesh and full juice, mild sweetness and sour, Tangxin pineapple is an excellent species which can either be tasted freshly or made into tinned fruits.The Huangdeng pineapple, planted at Huangdeng Village of Guangzhou's Huangpu District, is among the best featuring thick flesh, much juice, sweetness and fragrance, etc.

11)Carambola (Star Fruit)

Carambola is one of Lingnan's delicate fruits. Its shape is peculiar and its color is verdure or bright orange color. Its skin is as thin as plastic and its flesh crispy and slippery with plenty of juice, which is sweet, sour, and tasteful. Carambola consists of 10% sugar, rich vitamin and C. Main species include juedu sweet carambola (flat top), Juedu sweet carambola (pointed top) and sour carambola, The best known species is produced at Huadi of Fangcun District.

12)Guava
Originally planted in America, the guava has been introduced to Guangzhou for over 200 years. Now, it is mainly planted in Haizhu District, Panyu and Zengcheng. Its species includes Jinhong, Gongfenhong, Zaoshouri, Chushihong, Qiyueshou, etc. Most guavas are gourd-shaped and in cyan or light yellow. Its flesh is delicate, fragrant and sweet, with unique flavor. The guava can be eaten freshly or made into tinned fruit or soft packing drink. The better one is the Datang guava.