Pearl of the Pearl River

An ancestral hall featuring colorful rooftop statues at the Chen clan's compound. Zhongshan No 4 Road, near the Nanyue Palace, hosts stores and workshops devoted to Cantonese handicrafts along qilou, walkways with traditional rooftops particular to the rainy region. Travelers can watch craftspeople work, buy their wares or simply learn about these traditional folk arts-and, consequently, Cantonese culture. The roughly 30,000 daily visitors, who stroll along the pedestrian street that intersects with Zhongshan No 4 Road, can see bricks from these ancient thoroughfares through glass panels in the ground. It has maintained its ancient function as a shopping area, and hosts what the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes as the world's oldest pharmacy.