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Andrew Sun

Shunde is a wonderful place to go if you like to eat.
Often hailed as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine, the Unesco-designated City of Gastronomy in southern China’s Pearl River Delta is a culinary paradise and a training ground for many top Chinese chefs.
Shunde – spelled Shun Tak in Cantonese – is officially a district of Foshan city but is administered independently and widely considered by locals as a separate city.
It is relatively lush and green for such a thriving area in the delta, having mostly resisted the urge to give up its agricultural plains for factories. Add to this its world-class culinary reputation and it is puzzling why it is not a bigger tourist draw, often overshadowed by larger nearby cities such as Zhongshan, Foshan and Dongguan.

I recently visited Shunde through Min Yuen Tong, one of Hong Kong’s oldest clan associations for people of Shunde heritage. Due to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2026, its mission is to promote welfare, education and charity back in its hometown.
Each spring and autumn, visits are arranged to see the progress of projects that the association is supporting, as well as to pay respects at ancestral halls and tomb shrines. My father and uncle both held key association positions in the past, so I was made a member and can join these biannual tours.
Of the numerous travel options from Hong Kong to Shunde, ferry is the most leisurely route. Unfortunately, there are only two sailings a day. While Shunde, with over 3 million people, is not exactly small, transport is just not as frequent as that to the delta’s larger metropolises.
One of the best places to stay for first-time visitors is the Daliang area, which is close to pedestrian shopping boulevards, historic parks, and lanes full of street food and dessert stalls.
The area’s biggest hotel is the New World Shunde Hotel, which has more than 170 rooms and suites. Although everything is a bit tired and dated, for a short stay it is fine.

Across the road, the Xiang Yun Sha Garden Hotel offers more boutique accommodation. A private laneway sequesters the entrance from the adjacent busy street and while the exterior resembles a converted Ming dynasty compound, the rooms are quite modern.
Nearby, Qinghui Garden is full of delicate pavilions and waterscapes. Outside runs Hua Gai Li Street, a popular strip lined with snack shops, eateries and tea cafes. There are also many dessert parlours that offer that most famous of Shunde specialities: double skin milk custard.
The west end of Hua Gai Li Street intersects with Huagai Road, a long commercial stretch decorated with colonnade and lanterns. The shopping could be more inspiring than its collection of souvenir, teen fashion and knock-off shoe stores, but it is always full of buzz and energy.
Worth noting on Huagai Road is a museum dedicated to the story of double skin milk custard, opened by dessert shop Minxin. Admission is free, but the displays are only in Chinese.
Minxin is to double skin milk custard what KFC is to fried chicken. But then again, in Shunde, it is very hard to find a shop serving a bad version of the dessert. That is mainly because of the creamy water buffalo milk that is produced in Shunde. Its 8 per cent fat content is much higher than cows’ milk, and Shunde uses its most famous asset very creatively in savoury dishes and sweet concoctions.

Double skin milk custard is produced by boiling buffalo milk and then pouring it into bowls to cool, which creates a residual skin on the surface. The cooled milk is strained off – leaving the milk skin behind – then mixed with sugar and egg whites. The mix is then poured back into the original bowls to be steamed. Left to set, the dessert develops a silky texture and sweet, rich mouthfeel.
These days, the custard is often flavoured with coconut or other juices and topped with sago and fruits. Another satisfying treat is ginger milk custard, using fresh ginger juice to curdle sweetened milk – no egg whites needed.
If the vibe on Huagai Road is too cheap and tacky, you can walk a little further to the village end of Jinbang Upper Street, with its narrow alleys and quaint shophouses offering local treats including, of course, double skin milk custard.
In between the duty visits, Min Yuen Tong members attend lunches and dinners with local benefactors and civic officials. These ceremonial banquets always feature fantastic local fare, such as char siu, roast goose, fried river shrimps, salt-baked chicken and steamed freshwater fish.
One lunch was held in a sprawling village eatery. Roughly translated as Big Luck Villa, it had its own walled entrance, landscaped koi pond and several dining halls of different sizes. The space also allowed for an expansive kitchen. I always enjoy seeing rows of charcoal hobs for boiling Cantonese soups.

One of the most interesting – and challenging – dishes served at Big Luck was pomelo skin braised with fish liver. It is a very Shunde thing to marry two inferior ingredients and transform them into a distinctive dish. With this one, so much fish flavour is absorbed into the soft pomelo pith that it might even be too intense for some.
More popular were the crispy milk rolls – a fried treat with buffalo milk custard in a light, crunchy batter. It was plated alongside some equally appetising fried fish-paste dumplings.
Another highlight meal was at the Big Happiness Canteen in the Beijiao area north of Daliang. This restaurant also occupied a very large space; behind the washrooms, I noticed they even had a farm to grow produce.

The biggest revelation of the meal was another intimidating-looking dish: a steamed bamboo tray of spare ribs, pork intestines and dace fish heads covered in black beans, Chinese preserved olives and green Sichuan peppers.
While the meat was fine, the real treasure was the Chencun flat noodles lining the bottom, which absorbed all the juices and flavour. There were few takers for the fish heads, but the sublime noodles were in high demand.
Two other food experiences stood out from the trip.
Instead of standard Chinese greens, several meals included an in-season vegetable called woad sprouts, or isatis root sprouts. Not common in Hong Kong, these unassuming greens are served simply blanched or in a light broth. They have a coriander-like freshness with an appealing note of anise.

Back at Xiang Yun Sha Garden Hotel’s restaurant for a dim sum lunch, we were treated to a surprising dessert plate of shiny black gelatinous blocks. It was assumed these were sesame rolls. Instead, they were turtle herbal jelly.
In traditional Chinese medicine, this jelly is prized for its cooling properties, but tastes extremely bitter. At the hotel, the harsh flavour was tempered with honey sweetness, which combined with the springy texture made it enjoyable and fun to eat.
On our last evening, after another requisite banquet, we worked off some of the calories with a walk around Daliang. We ended up at the original Minxin shop at 1 Dongle Road. For comparison’s sake, we thought: what’s one more bowl of dessert?
We ordered a double skin milk custard and a ginger juice milk custard for just 23 yuan (US$3.20). Both were smooth, delicious and not too sweet. The ginger milk noticeably had more spiciness, which we liked.
I would not say that Minxin is significantly better than other dessert shops. Still, we had no regrets for our gluttony.


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Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Food & Drink

A Unesco-designated City of Gastronomy, Shunde is hailed by many as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine and offers a lot more besides


A Unesco-designated City of Gastronomy, Shunde is hailed by many as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine and offers a lot more besides.


Why Shunde in China’s south is a Cantonese food heaven, with delicious dishes that amaze

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A Unesco-designated City of Gastronomy, Shunde is hailed by many as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine and offers a lot more besides

A Unesco-designated City of Gastronomy, Shunde is hailed by many as the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine and offers a lot more besides