cities

Guangzhou

photo1
photo2
photo3

Guangzhou, neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, is the capital of Guangdong Province, and the largest city in South China as well. The city has eight districts and four counties, with a population of 6,290,000 people. Guangzhou has been listed in China's 24 historic and cultural cities. It has long been one of China's ports of foreign trade and friendly exchanges. The past decade has seen great economic achievements in the city thanks to the policy of reform and opening to the outside world which was first carried out in Guangdong. Now the city has become a well-known industrial city.

1. Dr Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Hall
At Dongfeng Road, Guangzhou, the memorial hall was built with money raised by overseas Chinese and Guangzhou residents in honor of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Construction began in 1929 on the former site of the building where Sun took power as China's Provisional President, and the hall was completed in 1931. It is an octagonal structure with a distinct national style; covering a floorspace of 12,000 square meters, the 47-metre-high hall has more than 4,700 seats. A bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen is erected in front of the hall.

2. Six Banyan Trees Temple
Situated on Liurong Road, the Six-Banyan Monastery was built in 537 AD. The name "Six-Banyan" is derived from an inscription written by the great Song-dynasty man of letter Su Dongpo when he visited the courtyard and saw the six Banyan trees in it. The monastery's pagoda, which looks like a nine-storied structure but actually has seventeen floors, is at 57.6 meters the tallest ancient building in the city. Places of historical interest in the monastery include the Verandah of Stone Tablets, the Mahavira Hall, the Six Ancestor's Hall and the Hall of Avolokites-vara( Goddess of Mercy). The Mahavira Hall houses three huge bronze statues in Guangdong.

3. Chens' Clan Academy
The Chens' Clan Academy, situated at Eighty Sun Yat-sen Road, was built in 1890 or the sixteenth year of the Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty. As the best preserved and most magnificent of all temples in existence in Guangdong Province, the temple with nine halls in six courtyards cover a space of more than 10,000 square metres. Marked a well-conceived layout, imposing structures, and elaborate and elegant ornamentation, the temple is a combination of traditional Chinese architecture and a unique Guangdong style of decorative art. The buildings are embellished with a vast collection of wood, stone and brick carvings, clay and porcelain sculptures and cast-iron decorations.

(back)