Baiyun district, formerly known as the suburban district of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has a time-honored history.

During the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties as well as the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), Baiyun was under the jurisdiction of Panyu county of Nanhai commandery.

During the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, Panyu county became Nanhai county, and Baiyun was put under the jurisdiction of Nanhai county of Nanhai commandery.

From the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), eastern region of the Guangzhou prefecture was governed by Panyu county and the western region by Nanhai county. At that time, Baiyun was under the jurisdiction of these two counties, with most of its suburban areas, namely Yubei and Yudong, belonged to Panyu county, and the southwestern part belonged to Nanhai county.

Guangzhou prefecture was withdrawn in 1911; Guangzhou City Public Affairs Office was established in 1918; and Guangzhou city was founded in 1921. In 1924, Sun Yat-sen approved the territory of Guangzhou to include Dongpu and Chebei in the east, Huangpu village in the south, the foot of Baiyun Mountain in the north and two islands across the Zengbu River in the west. The outskirts and rural areas in Baiyun were under the governance of Guangzhou before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Following Guangzhou’s liberation on Oct 14, 1949, the Guangzhou city people's government was established two weeks later. In November 1949, the government conducted its first regional adjustment, incorporating seven administrative districts of Nan'an, Sanyuanli, Shahe, Shipai, Xinzhou, Lijiao and Fangcun into its suburban district. In July 1950, a suburban office was set up to manage general affairs in the seven districts.

In August 1951, the seven aforementioned districts were merged into four districts: Baiyun, Xicun, Xinjiao and Fangcun and then into Xinjiao, Baiyun and Huangpu in June 1954.

In October 1954, the CPC Guangzhou suburban committee was established to guide the Party committees of the three suburban districts.

On April 25, 1956, Baiyun, Huangpu and Xinjiao were merged to establish the suburban district of Guangzhou.