Dongshankou in Guangzhou, China, is known for its rich historical heritage. It brings together diverse cultures, embraces contemporary art, and attracts a wide range of art workers and many tourists who come to experience the local culture. However, the old residential building cannot accommodate the needs of these new users, which hinders the artistic transformation of the area and the development of cultural tourism. The purpose of this paper is to explore the representative culture and characteristics of the Dongshankou Historic District and to propose revitalization strategies from a user experience perspective. This paper utilizes literature review, desktop research and field trip to gain the cultural characteristics, current state and design parameters. Additionally, through field interview, this paper develops user personas and creates user journey maps, sorting into experience problems. This study identifies the requirements of main users in three areas: living, working, and socializing, and constructs a proposal for the revitalization of the buildings in the historic district centred on “art”. Also, the study identifies the cultural characteristics of Dongshankou and builds a transformative design pathway from theory to practice based on user experience.