Usually for a typical one-day-trip in Guangzhou, it is suggested not to choose more than three spots to visit. No matter you have already well prepare for all the itinerary, there will be always something out of your plan, for instance, the notorious traffic jam. When the traffic won't be too optimistic (all the streets will be overwhelmed with flocks of people), sometimes it'll be better to take the metro to where you want to visit, coz most of the tourist sites are conveniently accessible by metro.

It is suggest choose no more than three spots to the mid-west, namely, 1. Yuexiu Park, 2. Chen Family Temple, 3. Shamian Island (those marked with dark black lines and circles); if time permits, there are two more typical shopping spots in the same route, namely 4. Beijing Commercial Road and 5.Shangxiajiu Commercial Street, both situate in the western part of Guangzhou city (those marked with pink color).

Though the new Canton TV tower may also be on top of your most-wanna-be-there site list, it situates in the centre of GZ (marked with dark blue to the eastern part), which also in the new CBD of the city as the new landmark of GZ. With all the rainbow-coloured neon lights at night, it's just like a young lady with the most fair and slim figure standing out from the rest.  BUT it is strongly advised to go only with sufficient time, coz you'd risk much time on the way there rather than enjoying the uneasy destination. The same case for the Baiyun Mountain, which is a favorite for locals to do daily exercise with abundant time.

Hence, the below is what i would advise for a one-day trip in Guangzhou:

1. Firstly, if you arrive early in Guangzhou, you need to prepare something to eat before starting the trip, coz there is nothing good to eat before you reach the commercial places. Then you can either go downstairs to take the metro of Line3, then transfer to Line2, or just go outside of the airport to take a taxi and then directly reach Yuexiu Park. Spending 1 hour for the mountain climbing to admire the Sculpture of Five Goats symbolizing Canton, then you can head to next spot.

2. Secondly, here we are heading to the Chen Family Temple. Take the metro to Gongyuanqian station (it's where the Beijing Commercial Road lies)to transfer to Line1, get off at the station of Chen Clan Academy to spend around 2hrs there. It was a former Academic Institution which was exclusive only to the descendants of those with the Chinese family name "Chen", it's also where its name came from. As it was built during the period of 1888~1894, lots of renovations need to be taken place to preserve the cultural heritage, in 1988, Chinese government declared it one of the historic preservations, and transformed its former function of private institution into a public museum for the mass public to admire the ancient miracle of traditional architecture. Inside, you'll find all the masterpieces of incredible craftsmanship, such as the wood carving, stone carving, tilt carving, as well as the ceramic sculpture, painted sculpture, iron casting and so on.

3. At noon, you can take a taxi to Guangzhou Restaurant(广州酒家) in Shangxiajiu Commercial Street, founded in 1939, to enjoy the most authentic Cantonese Dim Sum there.The most recommended dim sum include: shrimp dumplings, honey- BBQ- pork bums, varied-stuffed rice roll, etc..you will have no resist for the delicious food here at all!!

4. After the lunch, take a cab to Shamian Island, the former British and French Concession in Canton. As you may already know that the most prosperous parts of the former Canton, lie exactly in this west. One will definitely find the most delicious food and snacks around there, also the fascinating preserved local culture as well as the combined style of continental style with the local architectures. There are more than 150 European style construction, including a prominent number of buildings feature in new 42 baroque, imitation of gothic, new greco-roman and existent of traditional Chinese and western style building, being the most exotic emotional appeal of Guangzhou European complex. Till now, you can still find the former HSBC bank, and the French Catholic church still in its gothic style.

5. Finally, if there is still time, we can move to the famous TV tower, to enjoy the panorama of the whole city on top floor of the total height of 616 meters magnificent tower.

Voila, here comes the end of the day tour of GZ, do watch your time while you are enjoying the tour, always take it in mind. However, Guangzhou is a too big city for just a one-day trip to fully cover, maybe next time when you can have more sufficient time, you will enjoy it much better!

P.S. Here i attached a subway map to show you the approximate locations of where your destinations situate with notes, FYI. hope my info can be helpful for your trip.

Steph