About Guangzhou:
Guangzhou is a city with a long history. It has standing for more than 2200 years since its buildup in 214 BC. It has been the political, economical and cultural heartland of Lingnan Region ever since then.

Guangzhou was designated as one of the first 24 Chinese cities with historical and cultural heritage by the State Council. It is the cradle of the Ancient Marine Silk Road, heartland of Lingnan Region, original place of the Modern Democratic Revolution, and frontier of Reforming and Opening. Guangzhou has many historical sites, such as Western Hans Nanyue King Tomb Museum, the ancient Marine Silk Road, Bright Filial Piety Temple, Chen Clan Temple, Huanghuagang Mausoleum to 72 Martyrs, Memorial of Former Site of Peasant Movement Institute, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History. It also has many beautiful spots like Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou Zoo, South-China arboretum and Dafushan Forest Park, etc.

Historical sites:

Western Han’s Nanyue King Tomb Museum

Site of Nanyue King Tomb has an area of 150,000 square meters, which is called the oriental “Pompeii”. It locates in Jiefang road, stands on the site of the tomb of Emperor Wen, the second ruler during the Southern Yue Kingdom dating back to 100 B.C. The tomb was originally 20m under Elephant Hill and was discovered in 1983. More than 1000 burial objects were excavated, amongwhich are a chariot, gold and silver vessels, musical instruments, and sacrificial human remains. The tomb is 10.85 meter in length and 12.43 meters in the widest place, consisting of the front and rear chambers. It is the earliest large-scale painted stone-chamber tomb to be found to the south of the Five Ridges. The site is now the Western Han Nanyue King’s Tomb Museum.

Ancient Beijing Road Relic:

The Ancient Beijing Roads Relic was unearthed in July 2002, under the Beijing Road Pedestrian Mall. This site was excavated and found ancient roads vestiges of five dynasties in eleven different layers. In order to protect it, relevant municipal government covered it with glass fiber reinforced plastic and displays it to visitors.

Beijing Road is central axis of ancient Guangzhou city and the most prosperous commercial distributing center in the history. It is once downtown of Guangzhou from Nanyue Kingdom period of the Western Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Beijing Road is the main street in Guangzhou in Tang, Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties, and therefore has become the most prosperous cultural pedestrian mall of Guangzhou since Ming Dynasty.

Bright Filial Piety Temple

One of the oldest temples in Guangzhou, the Bright Filial Piety Temple located on Guangxiao Road was the mansion of Prince Zhao Jiande of the Nanyue Kingdom during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 24 A.D.). The temple was first built by an Indian monk during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317- 420) and the present building, occupying an area of 31,000 square meters, was rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty.

The Sixth Ancestor Hall in the temple was built in memory of Huineng, who was widely regarded as the most influential monk in the history of Chinese Buddhism. There is also a pagoda where Huineng’s hair buried. Other ancient structures in the temple include Sakyamuni Hall, Samgharama Hall, the King of Heaven Hall, and two iron towers.

Chen Clan Temple

The Chen Clan Academy, locally named the Chen Ancestral Hall, was located outside the west gate of Guangzhou City and built during the 14th to 20th years of Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty (1888—1894). Contributed by the Chen families in seventy-two counties of Guangdong Province, the academy served as the hall for ancestor worship as well as a temporary residence for the Chen descendants when they came to the provincial capital for official discussion, imperial examination or litigation. Covering a total area of 15,000 square meters, a floor space of 6,400 square meters, the temple is composed of six courtyards, nine main halls, and nineteen buildings. The central axis is flanked on both sides by halls and wing-rooms; the single building are interspaced by courtyards and connected with verandas. With a traditional Guangdong style architecture, the temple is especially renowned for its beautiful decorations. In the temple, historical figures, legends, and sceneries are presented with many art forms, including wood, brick, stone and lime carving, pottery, clay and ash sculpture, brass and iron cast, grotto, etc. The Chen Clan Academy is the largest, best-preserved and most gorgeously decorated traditional building in Guangdong Province. In 1986, it was designated as an important cultural relic by the State Council. The temple is now the site of the Museum of Guangdong Folk Arts and Crafts.

Huanghuagang Mausoleum to 72 Martyrs

Huanghuagang Mausoleum was built from 1921 to 1935 with the fund raised by oversea Chinese to commemorate the martyrs sacrificed in the Guangzhou uprising of the revolutionary party led by Mr. Huang Xing in 1911. On the arch of the gateway, it is the inscription `A Noble Spirit Will Never Perish’ written by Sun Yat-sen. Along the 230m path leading to the tomb grow evergreen cypresses and yellow flowers. Behind the pool and stone arch bridge is the tombstone of the Mausoleum to 72 Martyrs.

Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History

Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History is a local specialized museum in China. Located on the site of former Guangdong Advisory Bureau in the Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs Cemetery of Guangdong Province, the museum was prepared in 1957 and completed in 1959.

Covering a construction area of 2,000 square meters, the museum is a round-topped two-storeyed building with a hall in the center and surrounded by corridors. The museum became a special organ for displaying and studying the history of revolutionary struggle waged by the Guangdong people and related cultural relics. After the breakout of Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, revolutionists in Guangdong gathered here to declare the independence of Guangdong; On May 5, 1921, Sun Yat-sen acceded president here; the second and third national congresses of Kuomintang were held here; and late-Chairman Mao Zedong used to work here, etc.

Its administrative body takes care of some other museums as well, i.e., Guangzhou Uprising Memorial, China National Union Memorial, Former CPC Guangdong Regional Committee Office Memorial, Former Site of Huangpu Military Academy and Former Site of Vietnam Youth Political Training Class, etc.

The museum collects 13,000 pieces of cultural relics and literature, and 13,000 historical photos, among which 20 belong to Class One collections. Most valuable ones include slogans in the Guangzhou Uprising, the commemorative handkerchief for the Republic of China issued in the period of the 1911 Revolution, and so on.

The Guangdong People’s Revolutionary History is the basic exhibition of the museum, introducing local people’s lasting struggle for national independence from the Opium War in 1840 to the national liberation in 1949, with the First Civil Revolutionary War as the focus of the introduction.

Memorial of Former Site of Peasant Movement Institute

The Memorial of the Former Site of the Peasant Movement Institute Directed by Comrade Mao Zedong, located at the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, is a museum in memory of the Chinese revolution. The memorial used to be the site of the Lecture Hall of Panyu Confucian Temple, initially built in 1370 in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). During the first cooperation between the KMT and the CPC, the Peasant Movement Institute, proposed and supported by the Chinese Communists, was run in the name of the KMT to train carders for the peasants’ movement for adapting the development of the revolutionary situations. From July 1924 to September 1926, six semesters were run successively and 800 carders for peasants’ movement were trained. And this Institute was established with the purpose of renovating and restoring the former site of running the sixth semester for training peasants’ movement

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

Situated in the original site of Sun Yat-sen’s Presidential Office on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, is a memorial building built in 1931 with funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China’s bourgeois democratic revolution. Sun Yat-sen was born on November 12, 1866 at Cuiheng Village of Guangdong province. He was the forerunner of China’s revolution against the Qing government. In August 1905, he formulated the Three Principles of the People - nationalism, democracy, and social well-being. He believed they were the guidelines for building a modern China, and he contributed his whole life into this great task. Completed in October 1983, the memorial hall, occupying an area of 12,000 square meters has magnificent exterior and elegant interior decorations. The whole building, octagonal in shape, is designed with typical Chinese architectural style. In 1956, a 5-meter- high bronze statue of Dr Sun was erected in front of the hall. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is the most symbolized building of Guangzhou, and a key venue for the city’s large-scale meetings and performances.