Published : 2024-08-21
What needs to be done for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA)?
In Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Development Plan), mentions seven major tasks.
This series examines achievements across seven areas, spotlighting living circle construction in the GBA cities in this article.
Yongqing Fang, Guangzhou
Yongqing Fang, located on Enning Road, Xiguan, Liwan District, Guangzhou, is a large historical and cultural block revitalised from an old street, and has become a popular tourist destination in Guangzhou since its opening in 2016.
In 2018, when President Xi Jinping toured Guangzhou in the south, he visited and inspected this place, affirming its historical and cultural status, which made Yongqing Fang even more famous and a must-visit "check-in" spot. In 2022, Yongqing Fang was selected for the first list of national-level tourist and leisure blocks.
Yongqing Fang is considered a good place to experience Lingnan culture.
Enning Road, where it is located, was the economic centre of southern China during the late Qing dynasty. It preserves Guangzhou's longest, oldest, and most complete "qilou" street, featuring buildings such as late-Qing dynasty bungalows with blue bricks and green tiles, white arched bridges, and Sihe courtyard pavilions.
The block also features Guangzhou's first Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) street, showcasing the charm of Xiguan's "Three Carvings, One Colour, One Embroidery" (ivory carving, jade carving, Guangcai porcelain, and Guangxu embroidery); in the Cantonese Opera Art Museum, the glorious stories of the Cantonese opera troupes and famous actors of Enning Road from the past are preserved.
The Development Plan proposes to strengthen cultural confidence and jointly promote the inheritance and development of fine traditional Chinese culture; it supports the promotion of Lingnan culture represented by Cantonese opera, dragon boat, martial arts, lion dance, etc., to highlight its unique cultural charm.
Over the years, the Greater Bay Area has actively revitalised historical culture and architecture under the principle of "restoring relics to their original state", and many have been selected as national-level tourist and leisure blocks.
Apart from Yongqing Fang, the thousand-year-old ancient town of Shuidong Street in Huizhou, Sun Wen Xi Road Tourist and Leisure Block in Zhongshan, Nantou Ancient City in Shenzhen and Nanfeng Ancient Kiln in Foshan have also been selected as "national-level tourist and leisure blocks", showcasing the charm of the humanistic Greater Bay Area.
Read more: GBA at a Glance｜Understand Guangzhou in 5 figures
"Greater Bay Area No. 1" cruise ship
Docked at the Shekou Cruise Home Port in Shenzhen, "Greater Bay Area No. 1" officially set sail in 2020.
As the first luxury catamaran in the bay area, it integrates multiple functions, featuring sightseeing halls, an atrium, retail shops, upscale restaurants, multi-purpose rooms, and a theatre.
It is not only China's first hybrid diesel-electric catamaran but also uniquely houses an exhibition hall showcasing Shenzhen's remarkable achievements since the reform and opening-up, making it a dazzling maritime landmark in the Greater Bay Area.
Since its launch, "Greater Bay Area No. 1" has established several sightseeing routes, including those covering the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Shenzhen Bay, and Qianhai. Key attractions along the way include the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Lingding Island, Shekou Home Port, Shenzhen Bay Bridge, and Mawan Intelligent Port.
Ahead of the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, "Greater Bay Area No. 1" specially designed a route, allowing passengers to be among the first to admire the grandeur of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge and capture the stunning seascape.
"Greater Bay Area No. 1" serves as a microcosm of the development of cruise tourism in the region.
The Development Plan calls for advancing tourism in the Greater Bay Area by leveraging its unique advantages and Hong Kong’s status as an international shipping hub. It aims to create a diverse tourism system encompassing cultural heritage, leisure holidays, wellness, and cruise and yacht travel.
China currently boasts eight major luxury cruise home ports, three of which are located in the Greater Bay Area: Guangzhou Nansha International Cruise Home Port, Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Home Port, and Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. A cluster of cruise home ports has now taken shape in the bay area.
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong have developed three major "coastal cruise new towns". Travel between these three ports takes just three hours, and from each "new town", passengers can access destinations such as Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
A globally unique "3-hour cruise economic circle" is now emerging.
Qushuiwan Food Street in Shunde, Foshan
Located in the OCT Harbour PLUS in Daliang Subdistrict, Shunde, Foshan, the Qushuiwan Food Street is a new landmark in the city where tourism meets gastronomy.
It is home to numerous renowned restaurants, including Shunfeng Mountain Villa, celebrated for its authentic Cantonese cuisine; Zhuroupo Private Kitchen, specialising in traditional Shunde dishes; Dongzao Fish Head Hot Pot, known for its Sichuan and Chongqing flavours; and the time-honoured Shunde Fishing Village.
As the saying goes: "Eat in Guangzhou, find chefs in Fengcheng". "Fengcheng" is another name for Daliang, Shunde, in Foshan.
This place has been renowned for producing chefs for generations, earning it the reputation of the "Hometown of Chinese Chefs", and Foshan's "Fengcheng cuisine" is also one of the four major types of Cantonese cuisine, alongside Guangzhou cuisine, Chaoshan cuisine, and Hakka cuisine.
Shunde's famous dishes are countless; there are Shunde steamed fish, Chencun rice noodles, deep-fried wontons, Daliang meat rolls, Jun'an steamed pig, and also stir-fried milk, double-skin milk, ginger milk curd, Daliang Bengsha, chicken biscuits and so on, which are not only delicious but also part of a long-standing culinary culture.
Shunde hosts an annual food festival, actively creating a grand culinary and cultural event that integrates elements of "Food +", "Tourism +", "Culture +", and "Interaction +".
It is also one of the regions with the highest concentration of master chefs in the country, having cultivated 43 "Chinese Culinary Masters" and 27 "Renowned Chinese Chefs".
Additionally, 11 local snacks, including double-layer milk custard, have been included in the list of "Famous Chinese Snacks". Thirty-six restaurants, such as Shunfeng Mountain Villa and Jufu Mountain Villa, are honoured as "Famous Chinese Restaurants".
Many chefs working in restaurants across Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macao, and even Southeast Asia hail from Shunde.
The Outline Development Plan explicitly supports Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, and Foshan (Shunde) in promoting their distinctive culinary cultures and jointly building a world-class food city.
As of 2023, among the "Cities of Gastronomy" designated by UNESCO, ten cities in China have been selected, including two Greater Bay Area cities: Foshan and Macao.
Within this, Shunde in Foshan is the first place in Guangdong and the second in the country to receive this honour.
