Due to the fact that it isn't in a direct line between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and because the land is fragmented by streams, inlets and canals, the western side of the Pearl River Delta is less completely developed than its counterpart across the river, and there are more nooks and crannies to explore. There's no single expressway covering the 155km between Guangzhou and Zhuhai, rather a mesh of roads which you can follow more or less directly south between sights. Buses to Shunde , Jiangmen and Zhuhai leave from the Liuhua and long-distance bus stations in Guangzhou.

Twenty-five kilometres southwest of Guangzhou and today a satellite suburb of the city, historically FOSHAN (Buddha's Hill) is very much a town in its own right, with a recorded history dating back to 628 AD when the town won its name after the excavation of three statues, earlier enshrined and forgotten by a wandering monk. Along with the nearby village of Shiwan , Foshan became famous for its ceramics, silk, metalwork and woodcarving - a reputation it still enjoys - and the splendour of its temples , two of which survive on Zumiao Lu , a kilometre-long street shaded by office buildings and set in the heart of what was once the old town centre. Towards the northern end is Renshou Si (Benevolent Longevity Temple), a former Ming monastery whose southern wing, graced by a short seven-storey pagoda, is still consecrated. The rest has been cleaned out and turned into the Foshan Folk Arts Studio , a good place to look for souvenir papier-mâché masks, chops, paper cuts - which you can watch being made - and superb multicoloured screenprints based on papercut designs. At New Year, the side halls are also full of giant dragons, fish and phoenixes constructed from wire and coloured crepe paper for festival celebrations.

Foshan's architectural masterpiece, however, is Zu Miao, the Ancestral Temple (daily 8.30am-8pm; ¥10), down at the southern end of Zumiao Lu. Founded in 1080 as a metallurgist's guild temple, the complex was progressively expanded until the mid-Qing, and today its buildings comprise a museum of classic temple architecture. Ahead and to the left of the entrance is an elevated garden fronted by some locally made Opium War cannons - sadly for the Chinese, poor casting techniques and a lack of rifling made these innacurate and liable to explode. Nearby stand some magnificent glazed roof tile assemblies of frolicking lions and characters from local tales, all made in Shiwan for temple restorations in the 1830s. Walk through the gate here and the temple's main hall is on the left, its interior completely filled by massive, minutely carved wooden screens, oversized guardian gods leaning threateningly out from the walls, metal armour, weapons and incense burners. Less ostentatious is the wooden roof, ingeniously constructed from mortice and tenon joints. At the back stands a three-tonne statue of Beidi , God of the North, who in local lore controlled low-lying Guangdong's flood-prone waters - hence this shrine to snare his good will. At Foshan, he became even more popular when his presence apparently prevented the Ming rebel Huang Xiaoyang from capturing the city.

Opposite the hall are a pond and some elaborate masonry forming the Lingying archway , similar to those at Shexian in Anhui Province. Foshan is considered the birthplace of Cantonese Opera , and past the archway you'll find the highly decorative Wanfu stage , built in 1685 for autumnal opera performances given to thank the Divine Emperor for his bountiful harvests.