Jieyang Travel Notes: Slow-paced Moments in an Ancient City Alive with Local Flavor

For this Chaozhou-Shantou trip, I opted for the understated charm of Jieyang. I stayed at the Shuchen Hotel near Jieyang's ancient city, booking a tatami room with a lovely ambiance. The spotless wooden floors and minimalist Japanese-inspired design made the space feel remarkably open, while the Chaozhou-style tea set on the table hinted at the city's warm hospitality. Breakfast at the hotel's first-floor restaurant was a delightful surprise—the buffet spread was impressive: crystal-clear rice noodle soup bobbing with tender beef balls, the unforgettable Chaozhou rice rolls, Cantonese dim sum, and unexpectedly, a Japanese food station tucked around the corner. After breakfast, I set out on foot to explore Jieyang's ancient city. The hotel's prime location quickly became apparent—within a few hundred meters stood the centuries-old Jinxian Gate, the Jieyang Confucian Temple (one of Guangdong's three great academies), the arcade-lined Zhongshan Road, the City God Temple, and Shuangfeng Temple. The compact layout made it easy to cover all these spots in just two to three hours. Zhongshan Road's arcades had a nostalgic, cinematic quality, with elderly neighbors chatting over tea in the alleys and children playing tag at the lane entrances, brimming with local life. The stone steps of Jinxian Gate gleamed from years of wear, and elderly men often gathered under its archway to play chess with palm-leaf fans in hand. Inside the red walls of Jieyang Confucian Temple, golden phoenix tree petals floated on the Pan Pool, while young women in Hanfu posed for photos by the Lingxing Gate. The City God Temple was the biggest surprise—instead of crowds of tourists, locals moved naturally through the space, from grandmothers carrying grocery baskets to offer incense to young people praying for blessings. For dinner, I chose the Sanliang Seafood Hotpot restaurant downstairs. The menu was diverse, with dishes priced by plate. We opted for a clear broth base and loaded up on seafood, frog legs, beef, and greens. The meal was hearty, and the bill came out a third cheaper than expected. An evening stroll around West Lake revealed neon lights shimmering on the water. On the way back, the night market at Confucian Temple Square was in full swing. A queue formed in front of a cart selling herbal jelly, where the vendor deftly scooped glossy black paste and dusted it with brown sugar. At the next stall, candied taro had just been fried, its sugar glaze glistening like snow under the lights. Back in the tatami room, I scrolled through photos on my phone: Chaozhou-style rice noodles and rolls, the Confucian Temple's upturned eaves in sunlight, steam rising from night market stalls... Jieyang's charm lies in its effortless blend of contrasts—trendy cafés under ancient arcades, a 24-hour McDonald's beside a centuries-old temple, much like my room where a Japanese tatami coexisted with a Chaozhou tea set, all framed by the city's unending hum of life outside the window. Here, history isn't confined to museums; it's the floral shirts drying under arcades, the tea leaves swirling in grandfathers' cups, the aroma of rice porridge stalls lingering late into the night. The Shuchen Hotel proved an ideal vantage point—offering modern comfort while placing the city's authentic pulse right at the doorstep.