Detour: Guangzhou

ISLE MATTERS Shamian Island came into the world as drug runners' booty. Lead by the British, foreign traders in Canton, as Guangzhou was called, had been banking opium-trade profits for almost half a century—and going to war to preserve them—when in 1860 they extracted Shamian from the Qing as spoils of the Second Opium War. They built a granite wall around what was then a sandbar—essentially building an island.

During a mid-1880s visit to Shamian, the Shaoguan-based Wesleyan missionary John Turner described "a beautiful island, fronted with lawns and flower gardens, with the foreign consular and merchants' houses standing behind them, on either side of an avenue of banyan trees." That quaint scene greets today's visitors, too, thanks largely to late-'90s restoration, a combination of government and private initiatives. All of the old buildings now bear plaques describing their history, which makes a walking tour of the 3-sq-km island both possible and pleasant.

For example, the old Anglican Church—across from the White Swan Hotel—languished as a warehouse for years after the Cultural Revolution; it has since reopened and resumed religious services. Walk east along Shamian Nan Jie about 200 m, past the old Butterfield & Swire offices—the Jardine Matheson godowns were up the street to your left—and you're at the former British consulate, built in 1865. Retirees often practice Cantonese opera in the park across the street.

Past the park and tennis courts is the French section. Turn left on Shamian Yi Jie to check out the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Or go straight until you see the Trees Café, built on the site of the old French Gardens, across the street from the former consulate. For diversions, souvenir shops and cafés abound, as well as a new furniture exhibition hall. It's also worth noting that there are several decent hotels on Shamian—so unlike in bygone times, you won't have to go to war to stay there.