Heavy construction going on around CAN for a new terminal as well as a new runway. A lot of locations are no longer available and due the ongoing constructions changes to the existing spots are possible.

Guangzhou-Baiyun airport, serving a metropolis of 11 million of inhabitants, is the main airport of the Guandong province. The airport is the main hub of China Southern Airlines and a focus city for Shenzhen Airlines. “Baiyun” means “white clouds” in Chinese, and refers to Mount Baiyun near the airport. The airport opened on August 5, 2004, replacing the 72-year-old previous, identically named Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (now closed). The new airport is 28 kilometers North-East from downtown Guangzhou. The airport is the hub – and so is dominated – by China Southern Airlines but keeps a good selections and variety of Chinese airlines and also a good international traffic. This a busy airport with a nice mix of traffic between widebodies and even relatively small aircraft like the ERJ-190 that are impossible to see, for example in Beijing, dominated instead by larger capacity aircraft. In the morning there is a large number of international flights with widebodies aircraft.

At Guangzhou you can see Shenzhen Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Loong Air, Capital Al., Tianjing Al., Hainan Al. Chonqing Al., Sping, China United and others. The airport is located to the North-East of the big town and easily reachable with the efficient metro service.

General tips for China

many foreign websites and apps are blocked and don’t work in China. Below you will find some helpful apps:

• WeChat: every Chinese use this app, it also has a good translation function that helps really a lot because the language is the main barrier. You can translate from Chinese writings and they can translate your English into Chinese characters. This is a must have. The common western messenger services like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. don not work in China!
• Alipay: it is a major Chinese App that can be registered abroad and almost all shops/stores/hotels etc. support it as an official payment. You can add your western credit card like Amex, VISA or Mastercard to Alipay in advance. Furthermore you can also book and pay flights, hotels, restaurants, didi etc. with the app. This app is a must have!
• Didi: the Chinese “Uber”. Very helpful to reach the spots which are not connected to the public transport.
• Baidu Maps or Gaode Maps: this is the chinese google/apple maps.

We recommend to buy a chinese eSIM in advance from airalo for example. It is cheap and simple to install.

Written by Brent Wang, Luciano Manara, Herbert Xie Markus Mainka and Ruoyang Yan. Last changes May 2025: Spot 1-5 updated

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
01/19	3.600 m (11.811 ft) Concrete
02L/20R	3.800 m (12.467 ft) Concrete
02R/20L	3.800 m (12.467 ft) Concrete
Terminals
Terminal 1	Mainly service for Air China and China Eastern Airlines, as well as some of non-Skyteam international airlines.
Terminal 2	Mainly service for China Southern airlines and Xiamen Airlines, as well as some of the Skyteam members like China Airlines.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not needed and not recommend to use!
Car/Public Transport	Not recommend as metro + car hailing apps make it more convenient.
Restrooms	Only for location 1 as it’s near the terminals.
Drinks/Food	Suggest to take what you need except for location 1.
Hotels	Many hotels around the airport, most of them provide 24hrs free shuttles to the terminals. At spot 2 there is a hotel directly nearby.
Season	All year round
Runway Usage
01/19	Traffic is mostly domestic departures and landings. Heavies are more likely to use east runways.
02L/20R	Normally in use for take offs only.
02R/20L	Normally in use for landings only. (Airbus A380 will only landing and take off on this side of the airport using this two runways).

Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers in google maps don´t fit. The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced! 
Please click on the link at each location (WHERE) to get to the chinese website baidu where you find an exact map with satellite and street view images. If you use a smartphone please download the Baidu App.

	Spot #1 – Y270 – 02R arrivals
WHERE	This place is on a small road beside road Y270. Car can park there. If use public transport, you should get Metro Renhe(人和）station and trans bus station Renhexu(人和墟),and take bus No.971 towards Renhe Street Bus Terminal and get off at Renhe Village (人和村)station and walk along Road Y270 for about 900m to get there. LINK to Baidu maps
WHAT	This spot is good for runway 02R arrivals.
TIME	From sunrise to noon all year round
MISC.	There is nothing there. It’s best to bring all the things, including food, water and stools. Supplies can be purchased from the shops near the bus station.
FOCAL LENGTH	Wide body (777/787/MD11): 170mm Narrow body (737/320/321): 250mm

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	Spot #2 – Small Park – 02R arrivals
WHERE	This location is in a park nearby Metro station Gaozeng (高增) .It takes about 20min to get there on foot, it’s recommended to get there by taxi(located 高增龙和中街）. And car can be parked here too.
WHAT	This spot is good for runway 02R arrivals.
TIME	Afternoon (from 13:00 to sunset)
MISC.	Not necessary to bring food or water, because everything you need is in the nearby shops ,hotels and restaurants
FOCAL LENGTH	Wide body (747/787/777): 80mm Narrow body (737/320/321):140mm

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	Spot #3 – Restaurant – 01 arrivals
WHERE	This spot is locating at the right end of the runway 01. It’s a balcony on the top of a restaurant, to get there, search for Chinese characters “李树庄园农庄”, you can drive their, using Chinese Uber “DiDi” or also go there by taking the bus, for bus, take the subway to the Terminal 1 (Also known as Airport South) and get on the bus line “Airport line 1(station at terminal one level 1 exit gate 28)” (caution: not the airport express line, that one is heading for downtown central Guangzhou), get off the bus at station “穗佳综合楼北门” and you will be able to get to the spot by following the maps and you will only need to walk for about 0.2 miles. LINK to Baidu maps
WHAT	This spot is good for runway 01 arrivals.
TIME	Best time from sunrise until noon/lunch (you can have a lunch downstairs since it is a Chinese restaurant). Good for whole year.
MISC.	Food, drinks, restrooms are all available down stairs. Purchase some food from the restaurant while doing plane spotting, because you are going to enter the restaurants private territory and they might ask you to leave.
FOCAL LENGTH	70-300 is enough for this location.

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	Spot #4 – ST Aerospace Guangzhou – Apron
WHERE	The spotting location is on a small bridge outside the fence of ST Aerospace Guangzhou(STAG) apron. Since there is no regular public transport near the spot, the best way to get there is call a Uber by “Didi” from Renhe(人和) or Gaozeng(高增) metro station and set the destination as”广州新科宇航科技有限公司“, and you’ll see a water channel and the spot as soon as arrive. It’s not easy to call a car from the spot so when you leave, you may have to walk 15-20 minutes to the nearest bus stop “Lixi Village Committee”(李溪村委) and take Rt.710 or 花71 to metro station. If you can contact a local spotter who has a car, the trip can be much more easier.
WHAT	As a major airframe service provider of Guangzhou, STAG maintains aircrafts from various airlines around the world. Delta’s 767 fleet and Japan Airlines’ 737 fleet are two regular visitors of STAG, so you can catch them from the spot easily. Besides, STAG also provides P2F conversion of Airbus A321,which means it’s possible to see an untitled A321P2F stay on the apron if you’re lucky enough. Notice that you can ONLY photograph the aircraft on the STAG apron here. Normally it only have a few movements and most of them are in midnight. Sometimes there is no aircraft on the apron, so it’s recommended to observe the STAG apron from spot 2 or consult local spotters before you get there.
TIME	From October to March it’s perfect to spot the north apron (for various airlines and A321P2F) all day long. From April to September it’s also able to spot the south apron(mainly for Delta 767)in daytime, but major part of the aircraft would hide behind the fence. Night shot is available all year around.
MISC.	A restaurant is located 200 meters away from the spot. However, bring some food and water by yourself is still recommended.
FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm for the north apron. For an aircraft taxiing via the bridge, even a smartphone can spot it.

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	Spot #5 – Shan Xia Xiang Xi Rd – 20L arrivals
WHERE	This place is along the road Shan xia xiang xi Rd. As there are far from the main road, take public transportation to get there will be a problem. Get off at metro station Airport South and walk to airport South Gate 13 bus station(机场南13号门站）and take bus 花17A or 708 to Guangzhou International Logistics Center Station(广州国际物流中心站) and walk about 2 kilometers to get there. So, it is recommended that get there by taxi. Car can be parked here. Position yourself along the road. https://j.map.baidu.com/62/Wqik and https://j.map.baidu.com/b9/9Qik
WHAT	Good for 20L arrivals
TIME	Almost all day (east side from sunrise until noon and west side from afternoon until sunset)
MISC.	No ladder needed. Nothing at here. Bring all your things to there. The nearest shop is a grocery at Shan xia Rd. (It takes about 500m to get there)
FOCAL LENGTH	150mm for wide body(777/747/A330) 200mm for narrow body (737/A320/ARJ-21).

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