Foshan is not one city so much as five places that share a name. People arrive, get driven between a hotel and a factory, and leave with the impression of an endless grey sprawl. That is a shame, because the districts are genuinely different from one another, and knowing which is which makes a trip here far easier to plan.
Here is the plain version, without the tourism brochure language.
Chancheng, the old heart
This is the historic centre and the one that feels most like a proper city. The Ancestral Temple is here, so are the martial arts memorial halls, so is the Shiwan ceramics district with its ancient kiln.
Streets are older and tighter, there are places to walk in the evening, and you can eat somewhere interesting without getting in a car. If you only have one night in Foshan and you want to feel like you visited somewhere rather than stayed near somewhere, stay here.
It is also central for getting to the rest of the city, which matters more than it sounds when the districts are this spread out.
Nanhai, the one closest to Guangzhou
Nanhai sits on the Guangzhou side and effectively runs into it. If your trip involves going back and forth between the two cities, this is the practical place to be.
Industrially it is the aluminium district. Profiles, extrusion, doors and windows, curtain wall. If that is what you are buying, you will spend your days here.
Nanhai also has Xiqiao Mountain, which surprises people. It is a genuine scenic area with forest, waterfalls, temples and views, and it is a very short trip from a city of factories. If you get a free morning and the weather is decent, go.
Shunde, the one everybody recommends
Shunde is south, and it punches far above its weight.
This is the furniture district. Lecong is here, and if you are buying furniture from China at any serious scale you will end up in this area. The showroom density is genuinely difficult to comprehend until you see it.
It is also the food capital, which is not a small claim in a province that takes food extremely seriously. Shunde holds a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation, and a meal here is one of the real pleasures of a trip to Foshan.
Beyond the business, Shunde has old water towns, canals and Qinghui Garden, one of the finest classical gardens in southern China. It rewards a slow afternoon.
Sanshui, the quiet one
Sanshui means three waters, named for the meeting of rivers here. It is less industrial than the districts above, greener, more relaxed, with hot springs and countryside.
Most business visitors never set foot in it. If you are staying a while, or you have family with you, it is a pleasant break from showrooms and traffic.
Gaoming, the far side
Gaoming is the most rural of the five, across the river, hilly and quiet. It has bamboo forests and walking country and very little that you would call a tourist industry.
You will rarely have a business reason to be here. But if you are the kind of traveller who likes seeing where a city stops being a city, this is where Foshan does that.
Choosing a base
The honest advice depends on why you came.
Buying furniture? Stay in Shunde. Being close to Lecong saves you an hour a day, and you eat better.
Buying aluminium, doors or windows? Nanhai, for the same reason.
Mixing Foshan with Guangzhou? Nanhai again, or somewhere near the metro line that connects the two.
Buying tiles or sanitary ware, or here for a short trip? Chancheng. Central, historic, and you can walk somewhere at night.
Bringing family, or staying a week or more? Consider splitting: a few nights in Chancheng, a few in Shunde.
Distances are deceptive
One practical warning. Foshan covers a lot of ground, and the map flatters it. Two places that look close can be forty minutes apart in traffic, and the delta gets busy.
The metro helps enormously and it is the fastest way between many parts of the city and into Guangzhou. Where the metro does not reach, allow more time than the map suggests, especially at the start and end of the working day.
If you are trying to see factories in two different districts in one day, that is usually possible, but it needs planning rather than optimism. Group your visits geographically and you will get through twice as much.