Western Guangdong Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

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Map of Western Guangdong

• 21.66182110.917831 Maoming
• 21.664110.63962 Huazhou
• 21.924444110.8422223 Gaozhou
• 21.85563111.962724 Yangjiang
• 21.196667110.4030565 Zhanjiang, former French colony and now a major sea port
• 20.91471110.080586 Leizhou , the city of stone dogs. The old capital of the region
• 20.32919110.171387 Xuwen , gateway to the island province of Hainan

• 21.015278110.3861111 Donghai Island, known for its long sea beach
• 20.90806110.588062 Naozhou Island, home to a sea turtle sanctuary

The area is home to multiple dialects that are closely related to Cantonese, though mutual intelligibility with standard Cantonese varies. While the dialect spoken in Zhanjiang should not pose too much of a challenge, the dialects spoken in Yangjiang and Huazhou can be rather tricky for speakers of standard Cantonese to understand. Nevertheless, most speakers of these dialects understand and speak standard Cantonese too. The local dialect in Leizhou is a variant of Min Chinese that is closely related to Hainanese, though not mutually intelligible.

As with elsewhere in China, Mandarin is the official language and spoken by most younger locals.

A fairly large number of "conventional" (overnight) trains arrive to Western Guangdong from all over China. Some terminate in Zhanjiang; other run the length of the Leizhou Peninsula, with stops at Leizhou and Xuwen, and then continue on a ferry to Hainan.

In the late 2018, high-speed train service started on the new line connecting Guangzhou South Station with Maoming and Zhanjiang West Station.

There is a fairly well served airport in Zhanjiang, connected by direct flights with China's main air hubs.