Lingnan Herbal Soup & Food Citywalk

Guangzhou is the city that turned 'food as medicine' into a daily ritual. Start at the Qingping herbal medicine market in Liwan — one of China's first eight national herbal wholesale markets, established in 1979, where locals still buy the dried herbs that go into every pot of slow-cooked soup. Then follow the cooling-tea trail of Shangxiajiu and Beijing Road: liang cha is a national intangible cultural heritage, born in the Thirteen Hongs in 1828 with Wong Lo Kat. Finish at the Chen Liji Herbal Medicine Museum, a pharmacy founded in 1600 — 69 years older than Beijing's Tongrentang — and sit down to a bowl of the slow-cooked soup that defines Cantonese wellness.

Highlights

• ●Qingping herbal medicine market — one of China's first eight national herbal markets (est. 1979)
• ●Liang cha (cooling tea) — a national intangible cultural heritage, born 1828 in the Thirteen Hongs
• ●Chen Liji Herbal Medicine Museum — founded 1600, 69 years older than Tongrentang
• ●A bowl of lao huo tang (slow-cooked Cantonese soup) — food as medicine in its purest form
• ●Shangxiajiu & Beijing Road — the historic food streets of old Canton

What's included

• English-speaking TCM-trained guide
• Guided walk through the Qingping herbal market
• Cooling-tea tasting (2–3 traditional brews)
• Entry to the Chen Liji Herbal Medicine Museum
• A bowl of slow-cooked medicinal soup

Itinerary

1. 09:00

   Qingping herbal market

   Wander the stalls where Cantonese families have bought soup herbs since 1979.

2. 10:30

   Cooling-tea trail

   Taste traditional liang cha along Shangxiajiu and Beijing Road and learn what each brew balances.

3. 11:30

   Chen Liji Herbal Medicine Museum

   Visit Guangdong's first TCM-industry museum, founded in 1600 and still running today.

4. 12:30

   Medicinal soup lunch

   Sit down to a bowl of lao huo tang and learn the seasonal logic behind Cantonese soup.

Common questions