The Diaspora Coast
Two days from the Guangzhou → Xiamen route, showing how ROAM turns a lesser-known stop into part of a coherent journey.
Days 3–4 · Kaiping
The Diaolou are the reason to come here: fortified village houses rising from the rice fields, combining Cantonese building traditions with architectural influences brought home by overseas Chinese communities.
Kaiping works best as a landscape rather than a checklist. Move between the scattered tower villages during the cooler morning, then spend the later part of the day around Chikan and its riverside streets.
Exact route strategy: The main Diaolou clusters are spread well outside Kaiping town, so arrange a driver or guide rather than trying to piece the day together stop by stop. Start at Zili Village around 7:30 AM while mist still sits over the paddies, continue through the other tower clusters, then return towards Chikan for the riverside in the late afternoon.
What to Eat
Chikan Town
The riverside town is the natural place to stop for a Cantonese village lunch: steamed fish, stir-fried water spinach with garlic and braised pork with preserved mustard greens.
Around the Villages
Look for simple dishes built around the local countryside and river fish. The point here is not a famous restaurant — it is eating something that belongs to the villages you have just spent the morning exploring.
A different side of southern China
Historic merchant neighbourhoods, Shamian Island and the food culture of a city shaped by centuries of trade.
Diaolou villages, Chikan’s riverside streets and the architecture created by Guangdong’s overseas communities.
Lingnan heritage, the Ancestral Temple and a more contemporary side of the Pearl River Delta.
The remaining route, with the complete day-by-day breakdown included in the full pack.
Bilingual Address Card
Every stop includes a Chinese address you can show directly to a driver, keeping transfers simple even when you do not speak Chinese.
Dixi Road, Chikan Town, Kaiping, Guangdong Province
The Chinese Digital Kit
Every ROAM Route Pack includes the 19-page Chinese Digital Kit: practical guidance for payments, connectivity, trains, transport and the digital tools that make independent travel in China easier.
Fifteen nights. Seven stops. A different way through southern China.
Guangzhou → Kaiping → Foshan → Shenzhen → Chaozhou → Shantou → Xiamen. Day-by-day planning, hotel recommendations, rail logistics, bilingual address cards and the Chinese Digital Kit included.