Why Go
The Green Lung of Guangzhou
1. Hills in the city's reach
Baiyun Mountain is called the city's lung because it is a large block of forest right beside a dense city. It has long been a scenic destination: visitors came here before Panyu, the settlement that became Guangzhou, was founded, and its views were included in lists of Guangzhou's eight sights from the Song period.
Few of the historical sites on the mountain have survived, so the visit is mainly for the air, the walks and the view.
2. Cable car and paths
A cable car crosses the forest on the upper slopes, and the entrance areas are marked by a set of mushroom-shaped canopies. Stone steps and paved paths run up the slopes, and viewpoints look back across the city, with sunset the favoured time.
The mountain is also where the white cloud mountain minnow, now a popular aquarium fish, was found in the 1930s.
