Baiyun international airport lies 6km and a ¥40 taxi-ride north of the city centre - there's also an airport bus to the CAAC offices on Huanshi Dong Lu for ¥8. Nobody is too sure when, but eventually the airport will also be on Guangzhou's north-south metro line.

 

The city has two major train stations. At the northern end of Renmin Lu, Guangzhou train station is definitely the most daunting place to arrive in town, the vast square outside perpetually seething with passengers, hawkers and hustlers. A few trains from Shenzhen wind up here, as do main-line services from all over the country, particularly from central, northern and western destinations. This is another eventual north-south metro stop, but for the moment you'll be reliant on a bus into town from the western side of the square: #5 and #31 will take you down to the waterfront near Shamian Island, while #272 heads east along Huanshi Dong Lu to the new and giant Guangzhou East train station , 5km east in Tianhe. This is where most trains from Shenzhen terminate, along with express trains from Kowloon , and the majority of central and eastern traffic - due to increase considerably once the line into Fujian and the east coast is completed in 2001. A taxi to the centre will cost ¥30-40, or catch the east-west metro from inside the station.

The main long-distance bus station is just west of Guangzhou train station on Huanshi Xi Lu, with the Liuhua depot opposite handling short-range traffic, mostly from northern and western Guangdong. A variety of services from central and western China also use the East bus station on Baiyun Lu or the West bus station on Huangsha Lu - neither is far out, but taxis are your best bet on arrival for reaching accommodation.

Boats from Haikou put in at Zhoutouzui wharf , across the Pearl River in Honan. Taxi and minibus drivers will be waiting; alternatively, a short walk straight out of Zhoutouzui's gates brings you to Gongye Lu , where you can pick up bus #31 heading north across Renmin Bridge, past Shamian Island and up Renmin Lu to Guangzhou train station. With little luggage, it's an easy thirty minutes on foot from the wharf to Shamian, if that's where you're planning to stay. Ferries from Hong Kong arrive at least a forty-minute taxi ride south of Guangzhou, either at Panyu or Nanhai (Pingzhou); not very convenient, given the alternatives. Arriving down the Xi River from Wuzhou and Zhaoqing lands you at Dashatou wharf , on Yanjiang Lu in southeastern Guangzhou. The most useful buses from here are #7 up to Guangzhou train station and #57 to Liuersan Lu.