Canton Tower rises at the meeting point of Guangzhou’s new central city axis and the Pearl River landscape corridor, across the water from Haixinsha Island and Zhujiang New Town. The Haizhu District government identifies it at 222 Yuejiang West Road and says it opened to the public in 2010. A 2025 report from the city’s international portal marks the tower’s fifteenth anniversary and gives its total height as 600 metres. Those details place the building in the recent transformation of Guangzhou’s skyline, rather than in the much older history of the city’s trading streets and river port.
The tower’s profile has become a recognizable part of the city’s image. The Guangzhou government says its design was created by Dutch architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit; local residents gave the twisting form the nickname “Xiaomanyao,” commonly translated as “Slim Waist.” That label describes the visible silhouette, while the engineering and observation spaces make the tower a working visitor attraction as well as a landmark. For a first-time traveler, it provides a high vantage point from which to understand how the central axis, the Pearl River and newer commercial districts meet.
