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Another of the Cultural Gems of Guangdong is Sixth Patriarch Huineng. Dajian Huineng (638-713), a Guangdong local, was one of the most important figures in the Chinese Chan monastic tradition. He is the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, as well as the last official patriarch. Read more in the Shenzhen Daily article Sixth Patriarch Huineng,

After eight months of voting and evaluation, 10 aspects of Guangdong culture, ranging from opera styles to outstanding historical figures, have been chosen by the Guangdong Provincial Government to represent the cultural gems of Guangdong. The 10 gems are Guangdong opera, Cantonese cuisine, the Cantonese arcade building style, Cantonese music, lion dance, the Lingnan school of painting, Duan inkstone, Kaiping diaolou, and two historic figures: Sun Yat-sen, the leader of China’s republican revolution, and Huineng, the sixth Patriarch of the Zen. The Kaiping diaolous in Kaiping County, named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007, are fortified multi story towers built from reinforced concrete. They served mainly as protection against bandits. To read more about the Kaiping diaolous see the Shenzhen Daily article Kaiping diaolou.