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Prefecture-level city in Guangdong, China

Shantou

Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census and an administrative area of 2,248.39 square kilometres (868.11 sq mi).

Shantou
Shantou · Wikimedia Commons (see file page)
The place

Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census and an administrative area of 2,248.39 square kilometres (868.11 sq mi). However, its built-up area is much bigger with 12,543,024 inhabitants including Rongcheng and Jiedong districts, Jiexi county and Puning city in Jieyang plus all of Chaozhou city largely conurbated. This is de facto the 5th built-up area in mainland China between Hangzhou-Shaoxing, Xi'an-Xianyang and Tianjin.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What is there

Worth seeing in and around Shantou

5 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

  1. 01
    Roman Catholic Diocese of Shantou

    The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shantou/Swatow, Chinese: 汕頭) is a diocese located in the city of Shantou in the ecclesiastical province of Guangzhou in China.

    2.3 km · diocese of the Catholic Church in China · Wikipedia
  2. 02
    Shantou University

    Shantou University is a university under the provincial Project 211 program in Shantou, Guangdong. It was founded in 1981 with the approval of the State Council.

    8.7 km · university in Shantou, China · Wikipedia
  3. 03
    Saint Joseph's Cathedral

    St. Joseph's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shantou, located at 133 Waima Road, Shantou, Guangdong, China.

    900 m · building in China · Wikipedia
  4. 04
    Queshi Bridge

    The Queshi Bridge, in Shantou, China, is among the world's longest bridges. Its long span of 518 metres ranks it among the largest cable-stayed bridges in the world.

    2.5 km · bridge in People's Republic of China · Wikipedia
  5. 05
    Shantou Bay Bridge

    The Shantou Bay Bridge is a suspension bridge located in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China. Built in 1995, it has a main span of 452 metres.

    6.9 km · bridge in Guangdong, China · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

See

What Wikivoyage says to see

  1. 01
    Shantou Museum
  2. 02
    Shantou Founding Museum
  3. 03
    Longyan South Road
  4. 04
    Pagoda Mountain
  5. 05
    Stone Fort Park

From Wikivoyage: Shantou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Do

Things to do

Taste seafood. Shantou is famous for its fresh and delicious seafood. Don't miss the opportunity to taste local seafood dishes at seafood markets or restaurants, such as Chaoshan-style beef hotpot (潮汕牛肉火锅) and Chaoshan-style claypot congee (潮汕式粘土锅粥). Visit seaside attractions. Shantou offers beautiful seaside scenery, including Seaside Park, Nan'ao Island (南澳岛), and Chenghai Jinshan (澄海金山).

From Wikivoyage: Shantou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Eat

Where to eat

There is lots of local food available which is also famous in China, including beef balls (牛肉丸), oyster omelette (蚝烙, Oh Lua in Teochew), seafood, etc. Lianhua Vegetarian Restaurant (莲花素食府 Lianhua Sushi Fu), Haibin Road, Dayang Group Building, west wing, +86 754 8520098. Vegetarian chain restaurant also found in Chaozhou and Jieyang.

From Wikivoyage: Shantou, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Go there

Getting to Shantou

Airports
Jieyang Chaoshan (SWA), 29 km · Xiamen Gaoqi (XMN), 198 km · Quanzhou Jinjiang (JJN), 251 km
Stations
Shantou Railway Station, 7.4 km · Port of Shantou, 7.1 km
  • Xiamen → Shantou
    190 km · quickest by road, 3h 38m · ¥95–125
  • Quanzhou → Shantou
    260 km · quickest by road, 4h 38m · ¥120–165
  • Shenzhen → Shantou
    282 km · quickest by road, 4h 43m · ¥130–170
  • From anywhere
    The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
    Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

Not yet researched

No local-transport research exists yet for Shantou

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Shantou. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

The nearest places where the work is done
  1. 01
    Kinmen (Quemoy)TW

    10 ways of moving, 12 sources

    211 km
  2. 02
    Matsu IslandsTW

    9 ways of moving, 34 sources

    457 km
  3. 03
    Orchid Island (Lanyu)TW

    10 ways of moving, 31 sources

    519 km
  4. 04
    Taketomi and the Yaeyama islandsJP

    12 ways of moving, 17 sources

    761 km
  5. 05
    Zamami and the Kerama IslandsJP

    12 ways of moving, 19 sources

    1,118 km

If you know how people move in Shantou – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.

Around it

Next door to Shantou

Shantou is 34 km from Chaozhou, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.