Chaozhou AKA Teochew (潮州) was about 6 hours by bus away from Haifeng, a great place with rich culture, Chinese traditional architecture and yummy food. The older part of Chaozhou is still well-kept, it has ancient city walls, inside the walls, there's a large number of places of interests. It lies in the eastern point of Guangdong Province and people from there are well known for being very good at doing business, the Asia's richest man is from there. An old friend of mine from Chaozhou showed me around.
The thing that impressed me the most was the arch gates in Chaozhou, they all lined up from one end of the tourist street to the other. They were restored with concrete according to the originals which were made of wood. These gates were made for memorizing those who had made contribution to the development of Chaozhou in the past.
Guangji Bridge (广济桥) is one of the most famous bridges in China.
There were a lot of human forced tricycles on the streets for locals or tourists, they would take you anywhere at a small amount of money.
On the other side across the street from Guangji Bridge, there was a gate on the city wall for entering the ancient older part of Chaozhou and each side of the city wall has one. The traditional architecture and old houses inside the walls were very interesting to see.
Streets and houses.
Drinking tea is a big part of the local people's life, they only use 3 tea cups for 1 tea set no matter how many people are drinking at the same table together, they just rinse the cups with boiling water before they pour tea into it. The tea produced in Chaozhou called, Dancong Tea (单枞茶), is supposed to be the best local specialty.
My friend walked me through those tiny small streets among the old houses in front of which local vendors came out to sell their things, forming a market. The things they sold mostly were food.
The food and snacks in Chaozhou are national-wide famous, within Guangdong Province, people from nearby big cities like Guagnzhou, Shenzhen spend their weekends in Chaozhou all the time, mainly for their delicious food. I didn't get to eat much of their food because I needed to go to the next destination. There are so many different types and kinds of food in Chaozhou, you would be able to eat different food everyday for a month without having the same thing. Chaozhou is recommended if you are coming that way. A special big thank you to my friend, too.