Guangzhou: China's most open-minded city?

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Sweet and sour pork, chow mein, wonton noodles – any of these sound familiar?

If you've ever eaten Chinese food outside of China, chances are what you had was Cantonese cuisine. Indeed, over the past 200 years, the Cantonese have in a way become representative of China to the outside world.

With over 14 million residents, Guangzhou is more populous than Greece. /CGTN Photo

A window into China

Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is China's third largest city and one of its wealthiest. Naturally, it occupies the best spot at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta.

Isolated from the rest of the country by mountains, the Cantonese grew up looking further afield. By the mid-18th century, Canton had become one of the world's greatest ports and a crucial terminus on the Maritime Silk Road.

For the many foreign merchants sailing to China, Canton was quite literally their first port of call.

Shamian Island, popular with tourists and locals alike. /CGTN Photo

On Shamian Island, fiberglass skyscrapers are replaced by colonial-style European mansions and cobbled boulevards.

After the Opium Wars, the island was leased to the British and all foreign merchants were relocated here. Today, the former foreign enclave offers a fascinating glimpse into Guangzhou’s past as a trading center of the world.

Ceramic sculptures on the ridges of the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall. /CGTN Photo

Family ties

Though many Canton merchants got rich off trading with the West, they never forgot their roots.

Whenever anyone made it big, they were sure to build an ancestral hall. The exquisite artwork found in the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is a testament to this: Delicate woodwork and masterful stone carvings adorn the eaves, windows and walls of the complex.

Covered in auspicious motifs, they showed off the family's wealth and influence, the original bling if you like.

You are what you eat

As the running joke goes, "The Cantonese eat anything that flies except planes, anything with legs except tables, and anything that swims except submarines."

To see this in action, head down to the local wet market where the fresh produce includes live scorpion, snake, toad and crocodile.

However, the Cantonese aren't just open-minded when it comes to food – this mentality extends to all aspects of their lives, which in turn has helped Guangzhou become one of China's most eclectic, progressive and influential cities.

Fresh crocodile tails. /CGTN Photo

(Explore Guangzhou with Travelogue host Tianran He in the third episode of our epic 10-part series, "The Pearl River: Mouth to Source". It broadcasts on CGTN on Sunday, November 19 at 7:30 a.m. (Beijing Time). Rebroadcast times: Sundays 4:30 p.m., Mondays 2:00 a.m. and Thursdays 1:30 p.m..)