China · Guangdong
Where to Stay in Chaozhou, Guangdong
Chaozhou is an ancient city on the Han River in eastern Guangdong, China, the heartland of Teochew culture, famed for its old bridge and walled town.
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Where to stay in Chaozhou
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Where you stay in Chaozhou turns on the old walled city or the newer town. The lanes within the walls keep the bridge, the temple, and the tea houses within a walk, and staying in the old city suits anyone here for its heritage. The Han runs past the walls.
Old gates guard the lanes. Out in the newer districts and toward the hills, the city gives way to wide roads and tea country. A room in the new town trades the old lanes for hotels, easy roads, and the drive up to the tea hills.
Green terraces climb the slopes. Stay in the old city for the bridge, or in the town for the roads. The walls lie a short way in.
About Chaozhou
Chaozhou is the old Teochew city of the Han River.
What is Chaozhou known for?
Behind its ancient walls on the river in eastern Guangdong, it kept the ways of the Teochew people almost intact, and it holds the famous Guangji bridge with its floating middle span, a great Tang-era temple, the shrine to the exiled poet Han Yu, and the Teochew arts of opera and tea. The wide river runs past the walls. Old gates guard the town.
What are the main landmarks in Chaozhou?
The Guangji bridge is the wonder of Chaozhou. The ancient bridge over the Han River, its two stone halves joined by a line of boats that swing open for ships, crosses to the walled city, the emblem of the town, over the water. A Tang temple stands within.
The old Kaiyuan temple keeps its halls and its worshippers in the heart of the town, while the city gate, the shrine of Han Yu, and the old ancestral halls mark the streets of Chaozhou.
What is the history of Chaozhou?
Chaozhou was long the great city of the eastern coast. A walled city rose on the Han River in the old dynasties, far from the capital, and it grew into the heart of the Teochew people, with their own tongue, their opera, and their fine cooking. A poet was banished here.
In the Tang dynasty the great writer Han Yu was exiled to Chaozhou, and he did so much good in his short stay that the river and a hill were named for him. The city kept its old face through the centuries. Behind its walls Chaozhou held its temples, its ancestral halls, and the famous bridge over the Han, a bridge whose middle span was a line of boats that opened for the ships.
The Teochew went out to the world. In later ages the people of Chaozhou sailed south to trade and settle across the seas, carrying their tea and their tongue abroad, but the old city kept its walls and its bridge. The river still runs past the gates.
Chaozhou keeps its walls and its bridge on the Han.
Where is Chaozhou?
Chaozhou lies in the far east of Guangdong in China, on the Han River near the sea. The old city stands on the west bank of the wide river where it runs down through green hills toward the coast, with terraced tea hills rising behind and the delta country spreading south. Green hills rise behind the town.
The river runs south to the sea.
What is the climate of Chaozhou?
Chaozhou has a warm, wet subtropical climate. Hot humid summers and mild winters cross the river country, with heavy rain in the summer monsoon and the odd typhoon off the sea. The heat hangs damp over the river.
Tea stays green on the hills year round.
More cities in Guangdong
Updated August 2026