As the capital of Guangdong province, Guangzhou sits at the lower reaches of the Pearl River in the province's south-central region. The sprawling metropolis spans an area of 7,434.4 sq km and serves as the political and cultural center of Guangdong. North of both the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Guangzhou's location in the Pearl River Delta has long secured the city's position as the leading entry and exit shipping port of Chinese mainland, earning the city the title of China's "Southern Gateway".

Located in the South Asia Tropical Zone and nestled between both mountains and sea, Guangzhou experiences a typical monsoon-marine climate with warm temperatures, ample rain, low temperature differentials, extended summers and a short frost period. Winters in the city are cold and dry, while summers are wet with high temperatures and a high humidity index.

The city's immensely developed infrastructure has made Guangzhou an important travel hub in the mainland. The Beijing-Guangzhou, Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Maoming and Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou railway systems offer high-speed rail services capable of reaching all major cities across the whole of China in one day or less.

As one of the most developed industrial centers in China, Guangzhou is a mass distribution hub for both foreign and domestic goods. The cities annually handles $130 billion yuan ($18.97 billion) and nearly 800 billion yuan in foreign and domestic products, respectively.