Shantou is a coastal city of about 5.5m people in Guangdong Province (southeast China), located about 400km due east of Guangzhou. Chaoshan Metropolitan Area has a combined population of over 14m people. Shantou has an international airport with connections to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore (as well as nonstop connections to major Chinese cities). Chaoshan is also known as the ancestral homeland of many Thais, Cambodians, Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Indonesians of Chinese descent

Shantou is one of the important places where Chaoshan culture originated. As a branch of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, Chaoshan culture is becoming much richer and more varied nowadays. In Shantou, you can find the original and remarkable Chaoshan Culture presented in different ways, such as Chaoshan dialect, Chao Opera, Chaozhou cuisine, Gongfu tea, Chaoshan craft, Chaoshan folk customs and so on.