Shantou, China

Shantou is in the province of Guangdong, China. In Sept 2015, I found myself on JetStar with my wife, her sister and parents flying from Singapore to Shantou.

As my wife is a teochew, this was a trip back to her ancestral home. As expected, the whole plane was filled with teochew from Malaysia and Singapore.

Shantou is not known to be a tourist destination but being the teochew’s birth place, you can rest assured of good sea food and goose cooked the teochew way.

Good Food in Shantou

Famous Goose Shop – This shop which sells goose is probably one of the best in Shantou. Here are a few photos of the shop and the goose.

Famous Teochew Porridge Shop – this is apparently the biggest porridge shop in Shantou with lot of variety of dishes. It was completely packed when we had dinner there.

Accommodation in Shantou

Shantou is a tier 2 city in China. It has grown and modernised during the last ten years or so. I have stayed in two different hotels in Shantou, the older Regency Hotel and the newer (about a year old) Sheraton Hotel. Both are 5 stars and can be recommended with the Sheraton a lot more expensive but much classier.

Here is a photo of the Regency Hotel. Except for a Walmart opposite the hotel, there isn’t much to see or do around the hotel.

Sight-Seeing in Shantou

Although there isn’t much tourist attractions in Shantou, it doesn’t mean that there is absolutely nothing to do there. Here are a couple of my recommendations.

The old city – this part of Shantou consists of some very old shops and residences. Many of these old shops have been abandoned and are in disrepair. There is also a very old and beautiful temple here. The following photos will give you an idea of what to expect in this part of Shantou.

Nan’ao – Previously, the only way to get to this small island is by taking a boat. But recently, the bridge connecting to the island has been completed and it is now about an hour’s drive from Shantou City.

There are a few hotels in the island if you wish to stay for a night but we only went for a day trip by car. You can drive round the island and stopped at any place you think is scenic or interesting or you can climb to the top of the hill in the island to get a view of the whole island and the mainland (provided the sky is clear).

We did climb up the hill but the weather was very hazy on that day so we couldn’t see much when we were at the top of the hill. Still, it was an easy climb with very wide steps and the weather was cool. Here are a few photos I took while going up the hill.

Day Trip to Chenghai

Chenghai is just over an hour’s drive from Shantou. It is the actual ancestral home of my wife’s parents so it is only natural that we went there to have lunch with my in-laws’ relatives. And naturally, sea-food lunch again at a restaurant which is next to the jetty and the yatch club.

Chen Cihong Residences

In Chenghai, its also worth visiting the Chen Cihong Family Home. This family home was built many years ago by a rich overseas chinese. Although none of the present generation of the family are living there now, it is still maintained by the surviving family members. I am not sure how many rooms there are but I would estimate easily about a hundred rooms in the whole complex.

Chaozhou

Chaozhou is also another place worth visiting as it is quite near to Chenghai or Shantou. There is a very famous (unusual) bridge there. The day we visited, it was very hazy. Here are some photos of Chaozhou.

Air Asia just started flying to Shantou from Kuala Lumpur, so it is now more convenient for Malaysians who intend to travel to Shantou.

All images shot with a Nikon D810 + Nikkor 24-120mm f4g lens and processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.