Guangzhou Art Museum

Guangzhou has a number of thinly disguised propaganda venues posing as museums, but this is not one of them. In fact this is a thoroughly new generation of attraction that is a world away from the Peasant Movement Institute and the Mausoleum of the Revolutionary Martyrs. Among the nine permanent galleries, four are dedicated to local artists from the Cantonese school of painting called Ling-nan that first emerged in the late 1800s. Look for exquisite scrolls featuring rural scenes and pastel blossoms. Another gallery contains a first-class collection of Tibetanthangkas(religious icon tapestries) donated by a Hong Kong collector. Take a break by the relaxing fish ponds where huge schools of brightly colored koi carp vie for your attention.