Guangzhou is the contemporary name for the place English speakers used to call 'Canton'. Canton lives on in our word for the language in these parts - Cantonese - but other than that, it's now firmly Guangzhou all the way.

The humidity here is so thickly scented with durian, it's damn-near edible. Whole spiky, unapologetic mountains of the pungent Asian fruit spill forth from stalls out onto the footpath.

The vibe on the streets - small shophouses, fruit sellers, barrows filled with electrical cabling - feels just like South East Asia. The faded romance of twisty laneways and late colonial architecture is pure Hanoi. Small concessions in old-fashioned Chinese trading buildings are utterly Penang. And the frenetic pace of commerce - squalling-frenzied, but conducted shirtless or in shortie pyjamas - makes me feel uncannily like I'm back in Bangkok.

There are other South East Asian touches, too: in the softly cloying humidity the twinned forces of heat and moisture have decayed concrete facades and tiled surfaces until they look dank and drab. Yet, typically, everywhere there is also abundant plant life springing forth. Men are vociferously selling myriad perfect bonsai from makeshift stalls made out of tarps. It seems a world away from the dry, dust-laden heat of Beijing. Here, like Ho Chi Minh City, or a thousand other places in South East Asia, airconditioners hang sprightly from ruststained, tiled apartment blocks, and game potplants seethe greenly toward the skies. It's polluted, traffic-clogged and over-concreted, of course, but the warmth in the air seems to lift everyone's mood, including my own. Tummy-rolls and knee-rolls abound on men who bicycle beside our bus in from the airport. Ornate temple gates adorned with looping yellow dragon bodies peek out from behind the jam of vehicles and expressways.

We returned to this city because we liked it on a previous trip, but this time round Guangzhou manages to surprise and charm even more than we were expecting.

Maybe it’s ‘cause the weather’s great, maybe it’s ‘cause it’s our last stop in mainland China, or maybe it’s just because it’s one of those places that most people love to hate … whatever the reason, Guangzhou excels itself.