Canton Sculpture 广雕

Canton Enamel 广彩

Canton Embroidery 广绣

Herbal Tea 凉茶

Lychee 荔枝

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Canton Sculpture 广雕
Including Canton Ivory Carvings, Jade Sculpture, Wood Sculpture and Olive Sculpture. The ultimate piece of ivory sculpture is the sculpted ivory tusk (but many countries do not accept importing of such items). To be on the safe side, it is best to buy Jade sculpture, which has a history of 1000 years.

South Jade Carving Factory
The South Jade Carving Factory offers a variety of jade and jadeite products at reasonable prices.  The second floor offers a great live display where you can see pieces are carved by artisans that have been mastering the art for years.

Add: 15 Xiajiu Lu, Guangzhou
Tel: 020-81388040

Canton Enamel 广彩
Named after the city where it was first manufacture, Canton enamel is painted onto a cooper, ceramic and other earthenware pieces.  Originally, the technique was developed in Ligomes, France in the 17th century and brought to China by French missionaries. According to records, the earliest example of Canton enamel dates back to approximately 1740.

Although it has been applied to a wide variety of different pieces, The pieces that have become perhaps the most synonymous with the words "Canton enamel" are metals. Most pieces depicted “Courtyard life” in China, and decorated with elaborate floral borders. Vases, plates, cups and tea sets made out of cooper were the earliest pieces.  Once the artwork was completed, the pieces were heated to bond it firmly to the surface, creating a colorful piece that exudes color and liveliness.  As its popularity increased, artisans began to use other materials to meet the demand of this beautiful work.   Artisans began to use stoneware and porcelain.   Eventually, it began to be produced in other cities. 

Porcelain tea sets made during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are considered real art works. Today, they are classified into color palettes used in each piece.  Colors used included famille verte (greens), wucai (bright colors), and fencai (pale colors). Most Canton enamel pieces are generally created with famille rose (red colors), which tend to be opaque and translucent.  A Canton enamel using famille rose typically include red, peach, yellow, and opaque white.  The opaque color scheme tends to give Canton enamel a delicate quality not seen in other pieces from China. 

Collectors like to find pieces from the early eighteenth century since they tend to be tea sets, cups and plates.  Twentieth century pieces are far more commercialized; finding a unique piece is quite difficult, but you can still find beautiful trays, tea sets and other ornamental décor pieces. 

Canton Embroidery 广绣
Yue embroidery is the general term referring to the embroidery art in Guangdong Province, and it includes two main schools: one is Guang embroidery in areas with Guangzhou as its center, and the other Chao embroidery with Chaozhou as its representative. Canton Embroidery is one of the ‘Four Famous Chinese Embroideries’ in China.  These include Su Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery and Shu Embroidery. Developed fully during the Tang Dynasty, early Canton Embroidery used peacock feathers twisted together as the embroidering thread to stitch an ornament; horsetail was used to stitch the outline to make the work more expressive.  Canton embroidery designs are rich and complicated in content with bright colors and strong decorative effects. The embroidery is smooth and even. One type, gold and silver cushion embroidery, creates a magnificent three-dimensional effect. Canton embroidery most common designs include birds worshipping the sun, dragons and phoenixes. Yue embroidery includes the Guang and Chao branches, which have different stitching styles.

Herbal Tea 凉茶
Living in Guangzhou, you can never forget to try its special drink--The Herbal Tea, which is more popular than Coca Cola. In the hot Summer, a cup of tea will make you cool from inside and help maintain heath. Cantonese children grow up drinking mom's herbal tea; tea drinking is an essential part of their life, which continues to their golden age. Many Cantonese drink herbal tea once or twice a week as a preventative medicine.  Tea drinking reduces cold and headache occurrences, indigestion, arthritis and much more.  It is also used as a diuretic as well as a laxative. Any good TCM （Traditional Chinese Medicine）doctor can help you formulate your own unique herbal tea dosage, which you can buy from a pharmacy and prepare at home. Although visiting the TCM doctor is time consuming, it is far more effective than just purchasing it at a supermarket since it is catered to your body’s needs.

As an alternative, many go to purchase herbal tea from the drug store.  Usually this is a mass produced tea, but can still meet required needs. The most famous of these brands is probably Wang Laoji, which comes in a familiar red can or green carton. When it comes to tea, Guangzhou people are really spoilt since there is a plethora of specialty herbal-tea shops and stalls. These shops and stalls are easily identifiable by the big metal pots set up at the entrance, in which the tea is kept.

Lychee 荔枝
Refreshing juicy Lychee is one of the most popular fruits of Guangdong and boasts being one of the main local products of Dongguan. From the area, there are two famous kinds of Lychee: Dongguan Guiwei and Nomici. Guiwei is crispy, freshly sweet and delicious; Nomici is bigger in size and tastes slightly sweet with a hint of sourness. Every year, from the end of June to the middle of July, you can find both kinds of lychee.  Try both kinds to see which one best tickles your palette. 

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