Go late if you want the lights, earlier if you want to see the river rather than a mirror of bulbs. Haze cancels the view more honestly than the ticket office will.
The metro gets you close. The walk along the river is the pleasant part of arriving.
Guangzhou · 广州塔
Canton Tower
A waist, a deck, and a night view of the river. The city is better at breakfast, but the tower is the skyline people came to see.