Dongguan

Get around

Unlike other Pearl River Delta cities, Dongguan is a very car-centric city — its car ownership is only slightly less than Shenzhen. Public transportation is therefore less developed than other cities, if not rarely used by car-owning locals.

See

Dongguan has an exhibition center in Dongguan city, which hosts many exhibitions and conferences. There is also a sports center for locals. If you only have a day and want to stay in one area, you might start at Jin'aozhou Pagoda (), go east and see Keyuan Garden (), and then walk along Dongcheng Avenue () for shopping and food. It is not too far to bar street, where you can check out some pretty hopping clubs.

Do

Most four star hotels will have various "foot" massages and sauna services for upwards of ¥150. Saunas and foot massage parlors might be brothels.

Buy

Dongguan is well known for its Huanghe Fashion Town located in the Humen District along Renming Road, Renyi Road, Jinglong Road and Yinglong Road. The district houses one of China's largest clothing and textile wholesale markets, which extends over an area of about one square kilometre. Many of the products sold there are exported to Hong Kong and the rest of the world. Everybody can enjoy low wholesale prices, even when buying in small quantities.

Eat

Dongguan is known for its Chinese sausages ( làcháng in Mandarin, laahpchéung in Cantonese), lychees ( lìzhī in Mandarin, laihjī in Cantonese) and roasted goose ( shāo'é in Mandarin, sīungó in Cantonese).

Most 5-star hotels offer buffets, these are around ¥30-60 for breakfast, ¥100-200 for lunch, and ¥100-300 for dinner.

There are many expat-oriented western restaurants in the bar area, particularly on Dongcheng East road. Expect to pay the prices a bit higher than is typical for China, however (but generally cheaper than Hong Kong).

Smaller Chinese restaurants are the likely choice if you wanna be more on a budget - if (not unusually for mainland China) you can manage the lack of the English menus and limited English skills of the staff.

Drink

The most popular bars are on or around "Bar Street" (Jiǔbājiē) in Dongcheng. However, like many parts of China, various kinds of services are popular, including prostitution. One should be careful with local girls if they seem to be getting too friendly if you are not looking for such services. Beware of your drink, it is not unheard of foreigners being drugged and robbed. Beer at supermarkets should not cost more than ¥4 a bottle for Tsingtao. Red wine costs from ¥10 a bottle.

Sleep

thumb|An old cannon at Weiyuan Fort

Stay safe

As anywhere, be careful. However, be more careful in Dongguan because the city is known to have a relatively high crime rate. Violent crime is more common here than in nearby cities; you can be robbed by thieves riding on motorcycles, especially in less populated areas, and despite the city government's total ban on motorcycles. Beware of and stay away from pyramid schemes, as they are known to operate in the city and use coercion. Prostitution was widespread for years, with many men from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and especially Hong Kong flocking here on the weekends. But after a major government crackdown that began in 2014, the industry has diminished. Do not gamble. You will end up in jail and liable to detention for 15 days if you are caught, so save it for Macau. Lastly, a lot of the police force is corrupt, but since the government is still watching over them, they are discreet. So if a police officer tries to get money from you, calmly ask to see a superior.

Go next

Guangzhou Hong Kong Huizhou Shenzhen