Guangzhou
Maritime Silk Road
General Information
Other Name: Canton, District: Guangdong, State: Central South, China
Area: 3850.434 km²
Languages Spoken: Cantonese,Mandarin,Putonghua.
Long Distance Code: +8620
Importance: The city is famous for foreign trades and businesses. It holds China's largest trade fair, the Canton Fair.
Best Time to Visit: October to November and April-May
International Access: Well connected with major ciyies of the world.Description
Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China .Location
Guangzhou is located at 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta.Climate
Sub-tropical Climate
The third longest river, the Pearl River, measures 2,129 meters in length. The Guangzhou section of the river is where Guangzhou's most scenic spots are located. Many famous sights are clustered along the river and are the reasons for many people taking a trip to Guangzhou.
The Pearl River got its name from a huge rock island. When the thousand-metre long Pearl River cut through Guangzhou City a large rock island in the centre of the river was scoured over. Over time this became smooth and bright like a pearl, hence the rock being named "Sea Pearl Rock" and the river "Pearl River". An interesting legend offers an alternative explanation of the rivers name. It was said that an Arabian merchant stole the valueless pearl of his country and came to sell it in Guangzhou. Since the pearl was the treasure of his nation, the Arabian State ordered his people to Guangzhou to bring the pearl back. However, on their ship home, the magical pearl suddenly flew up and fell into the river. Later the pearl changed into a huge shining rock. The river was later named as Pearl River.
The river has a long history and nourishes the civilization of south China. Today standing on the banks of the river are star-graded hotels and commercial buildings, White Swan Hotel, Hotel Landmark Canton, Nanfang Mansion, Aiqun Hotel, Guangzhou Hotel, Gitic Riverside Hotel, all like sky-scrappers. In the evening, both banks are lit brightly joined occasionally by the bright moon hanging in the sky. Full of passengers, pleasure boats for the Pearl River cruise travel from the west to the east elegantly on the river, like playing happy melodies all together.
The evening cruise on the Pearl River is one of the tourist highlights in Guangzhou. The beauty of the Pearl River at night can be compared with that of Hong Kong's Victoria Park. The cruise section from the White Goose Pool to Guangzhou Bridge is the highlight of the Pearl River cruise. Scenery along this part is so fascinating, with jade-coloured water, coloured lights on shore.
During your cruise you can enjoy beautiful scenery with such romantic names as "Night Moon over the Goose Pool", "Misty Rain over the Twin Bridge", "Red Heart of the Pearl River", "Autumn Moon over the Pearl River", "Clear Waves on the Pearl River" and many more. To help you understand what you are seeing there is a detailed introduction to the 30-odd historical and cultural sites given on board by speakers, thus enabling you to sample a brief taste of the colourful local culture.
The Pearl River got its name from a huge rock island. When the thousand-metre long Pearl River cut through Guangzhou City a large rock island in the centre of the river was scoured over. Over time this became smooth and bright like a pearl, hence the rock being named "Sea Pearl Rock" and the river "Pearl River". An interesting legend offers an alternative explanation of the rivers name. It was said that an Arabian merchant stole the valueless pearl of his country and came to sell it in Guangzhou. Since the pearl was the treasure of his nation, the Arabian State ordered his people to Guangzhou to bring the pearl back. However, on their ship home, the magical pearl suddenly flew up and fell into the river. Later the pearl changed into a huge shining rock. The river was later named as Pearl River.
The river has a long history and nourishes the civilization of south China. Today standing on the banks of the river are star-graded hotels and commercial buildings, White Swan Hotel, Hotel Landmark Canton, Nanfang Mansion, Aiqun Hotel, Guangzhou Hotel, Gitic Riverside Hotel, all like sky-scrappers. In the evening, both banks are lit brightly joined occasionally by the bright moon hanging in the sky. Full of passengers, pleasure boats for the Pearl River cruise travel from the west to the east elegantly on the river, like playing happy melodies all together.
The evening cruise on the Pearl River is one of the tourist highlights in Guangzhou. The beauty of the Pearl River at night can be compared with that of Hong Kong's Victoria Park. The cruise section from the White Goose Pool to Guangzhou Bridge is the highlight of the Pearl River cruise. Scenery along this part is so fascinating, with jade-coloured water, coloured lights on shore.
During your cruise you can enjoy beautiful scenery with such romantic names as "Night Moon over the Goose Pool", "Misty Rain over the Twin Bridge", "Red Heart of the Pearl River", "Autumn Moon over the Pearl River", "Clear Waves on the Pearl River" and many more. To help you understand what you are seeing there is a detailed introduction to the 30-odd historical and cultural sites given on board by speakers, thus enabling you to sample a brief taste of the colourful local culture.
Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is really a magnificent building in the shape of octangle. It is not only one of the symbolic constructions in Guangzhou with its majestic appearance and the infused rich Chinese national color, but also an important place for large scale meeting and performance.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is built in order to commemorate the contributions of Sun Zhongshan, the great predecessor of Chinese revolution for democracy. It is a memorial construction donated by the people in Guangzhou and the overseas Chinese and is listed as one of the first class cultural relics in Guangdong Province. Designed by the famous Chinese architect, Mr. Lu Yanzhi, the construction started in 1929 and finished in October of 1931.
Before the liberation, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has already been badly damaged due to the lack of attention. After the liberation, our government has particularly appropriated some funds for several times to repair the memorial hall. Finally, in 1998, there appeared the completely new memorial hall after the careful repair. The memorial hall and the courtyard together cover an area of 62,000 square meters with the 6,600-square-meter's major building with a framework of steel work and reinforced concrete.
In the front of the memorial hall, there erects the statue of Mr. Sun Zhongshan. And there hangs a golden slab with four Chinese characters of "Tian Xia Wei Gong" written by Sun Yat-sen himself above the front door of the memorial hall. With the statue and the slab reflecting and corresponding to each other, there forms a magnificent scene which reminds people of the brilliant life experience of the great man.
The central coping of the octagon pavilion of the Zhongshan Memorial Hall is surrounded by the four decorating double eaves from the front, back, left, and right sides of it. The whole construction is majestic, solemn and rich in Chinese national culture. Inside the memorial hall, there are tall and straight ancient but precious trees and cloud pillars with lifelike cranes on them, presenting a magnificent scene. Around the memorial hall, yellow walls and red pillars decorated by blue glazed tiles, are shining in the sun, showing the resplendence and solemnity. Back of the memorial hall, there is the Zhongshan Monument erecting on the top of Yuexiu Mountain. The monument is so remarkable and stately that it seems to go clean through the sky. The audience house inside the memorial hall, with a domed roof which is a huge embedded sprung roof made of glasses that has no supporting pillars to impair the view but rarely produces echoes, is an outstanding construction among world-famous architecture.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is built in order to commemorate the contributions of Sun Zhongshan, the great predecessor of Chinese revolution for democracy. It is a memorial construction donated by the people in Guangzhou and the overseas Chinese and is listed as one of the first class cultural relics in Guangdong Province. Designed by the famous Chinese architect, Mr. Lu Yanzhi, the construction started in 1929 and finished in October of 1931.
Before the liberation, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has already been badly damaged due to the lack of attention. After the liberation, our government has particularly appropriated some funds for several times to repair the memorial hall. Finally, in 1998, there appeared the completely new memorial hall after the careful repair. The memorial hall and the courtyard together cover an area of 62,000 square meters with the 6,600-square-meter's major building with a framework of steel work and reinforced concrete.
In the front of the memorial hall, there erects the statue of Mr. Sun Zhongshan. And there hangs a golden slab with four Chinese characters of "Tian Xia Wei Gong" written by Sun Yat-sen himself above the front door of the memorial hall. With the statue and the slab reflecting and corresponding to each other, there forms a magnificent scene which reminds people of the brilliant life experience of the great man.
The central coping of the octagon pavilion of the Zhongshan Memorial Hall is surrounded by the four decorating double eaves from the front, back, left, and right sides of it. The whole construction is majestic, solemn and rich in Chinese national culture. Inside the memorial hall, there are tall and straight ancient but precious trees and cloud pillars with lifelike cranes on them, presenting a magnificent scene. Around the memorial hall, yellow walls and red pillars decorated by blue glazed tiles, are shining in the sun, showing the resplendence and solemnity. Back of the memorial hall, there is the Zhongshan Monument erecting on the top of Yuexiu Mountain. The monument is so remarkable and stately that it seems to go clean through the sky. The audience house inside the memorial hall, with a domed roof which is a huge embedded sprung roof made of glasses that has no supporting pillars to impair the view but rarely produces echoes, is an outstanding construction among world-famous architecture.
The Temple of Six Banyan Trees has a long history in Guangzhou and is an ancient monastery famous at home and abroad. There are majestic towers, dense trees, plenty of antiques and valuable heritage from those famous people in the history. It is one of the four Buddhism temple complexes in Guangzhou and the other three are Guangxiao Temple, Hualin Temple, Haizhuang Temple. Therefore, it is an important unit for the preservation of antiques.
History Of The Temple
Temple of Six Banyan Trees was first built in the 3rd year of Datong (537 A.D.), the reign of Emperor Wu in the Southern Liang Dynasty. It was originally called Baozhuangyan Temple.
It was changed successively into Chaoshou Temple, Songchu Temple in the Southern Han Dynasty. But the temple was damaged in a big fire. Later, the temple was rebuilt in the 2nd year of Duangong in the Northern Song Dynasty (989 A.D.) and was named as Jinghui Temple. In the 4th year of Shaosheng in the Southern Song Dynasty (1097 A. D.), the temple was repaired and people buried Buddha's relics under it and built thousands of Buddhist statues in the niches and hence it was changed into Qianfo Temple later. In the 3rd year of Yuanfu in the Northern Song Dynasty (1100 A. D.), Su Dongpo, a great litterateur, seeing that the six banyans were verdant and entangled with each other and full of power and grandeur, autographed the words of "Liurong"(means six banyan trees) when he visited the temple and was asked to inscribe for the temple by Daozong, a monk in the temple, on his way to the north after he was relegated from Hainan. Later, people valued Su Dongpo's handwriting and inscribed it into a wooden slab and hung it above the temple's gate. In the 9th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1411 A. D.), the Jinghui Temple was renamed as Liurong Temple, and hence the Dagoba Tower was called Temple of Six Banyan Trees, also the Flower Temple.
History Of The Temple
Temple of Six Banyan Trees was first built in the 3rd year of Datong (537 A.D.), the reign of Emperor Wu in the Southern Liang Dynasty. It was originally called Baozhuangyan Temple.
It was changed successively into Chaoshou Temple, Songchu Temple in the Southern Han Dynasty. But the temple was damaged in a big fire. Later, the temple was rebuilt in the 2nd year of Duangong in the Northern Song Dynasty (989 A.D.) and was named as Jinghui Temple. In the 4th year of Shaosheng in the Southern Song Dynasty (1097 A. D.), the temple was repaired and people buried Buddha's relics under it and built thousands of Buddhist statues in the niches and hence it was changed into Qianfo Temple later. In the 3rd year of Yuanfu in the Northern Song Dynasty (1100 A. D.), Su Dongpo, a great litterateur, seeing that the six banyans were verdant and entangled with each other and full of power and grandeur, autographed the words of "Liurong"(means six banyan trees) when he visited the temple and was asked to inscribe for the temple by Daozong, a monk in the temple, on his way to the north after he was relegated from Hainan. Later, people valued Su Dongpo's handwriting and inscribed it into a wooden slab and hung it above the temple's gate. In the 9th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1411 A. D.), the Jinghui Temple was renamed as Liurong Temple, and hence the Dagoba Tower was called Temple of Six Banyan Trees, also the Flower Temple.
White Clouds Mountain is a famous mountain in South China. It is honored to be the first scenery of Goat City and the first mountain of Southern Yue since ancient times due to its magnificence and loftiness. It is made up of 30 peaks with the major peak of Mo Xing Ling whose altitude is 382 meters. The summit of the mountain will be wreathed by clouds whenever the sky clears after the rain or in the late spring time. The mountain is hence called Baiyun Mountain.
The mountain range is full grandeur with majestic peaks and crisscrossed valleys. There remained the ancient site of mountain Stream Pu which is said to be the residence of Zheng Anqi of the Qing Dynasty when he secluded himself there. There is a Jiu Long Quan (Nine-dragon Spring), with a history of more than 2,000 years, which is said to be discovered in the Qing Dynasty. There is also the tomb of Zhang Erqiao, a singer in the Ming Dynasty, which is called Baihua Mound; a stele with the vivid Chinese charater of "Hu"(tiger) inscribed by Liu Yongfu, a general of Hei Qi Jun (Black Banner Army) in the Qing Dynasty; and the scenic spots of Dripping Rock, Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dawn, Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dusk, the First Peak on earth, Peal Tower, Shuiyue Pavilion and so on. Travelers can appreciate the overall splendid landscape of Guangzhou and especially the beautiful jade-belt-liked Zhoujiang River when standing at the spot of Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dusk, leaning against the railings and staring as far as they can.
White Clouds Mountain is a famous historic attraction in Guangzhou, with lots of splendid scenery and places of interest, elected as the historical and new Eight Attractions of Guangzhou. The whole scenic spot consists of seven tourist spots: Pearl Tower Tourist Spot, Mo Xing Ling Tourist Spot, Ming Chun Valley Tourist Spot, San Tai Ling Tourist Spot, Luhu Lake Tourist Spot, Fei E Ling Tourist Spot and He Yi Ling Tourist Spot. Travelers can not only appreciate the natural scenes but also go grassing, take slideway, and enjoy bungee there.
The mountain range is full grandeur with majestic peaks and crisscrossed valleys. There remained the ancient site of mountain Stream Pu which is said to be the residence of Zheng Anqi of the Qing Dynasty when he secluded himself there. There is a Jiu Long Quan (Nine-dragon Spring), with a history of more than 2,000 years, which is said to be discovered in the Qing Dynasty. There is also the tomb of Zhang Erqiao, a singer in the Ming Dynasty, which is called Baihua Mound; a stele with the vivid Chinese charater of "Hu"(tiger) inscribed by Liu Yongfu, a general of Hei Qi Jun (Black Banner Army) in the Qing Dynasty; and the scenic spots of Dripping Rock, Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dawn, Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dusk, the First Peak on earth, Peal Tower, Shuiyue Pavilion and so on. Travelers can appreciate the overall splendid landscape of Guangzhou and especially the beautiful jade-belt-liked Zhoujiang River when standing at the spot of Baiyun Mountain Scenery in the Dusk, leaning against the railings and staring as far as they can.
White Clouds Mountain is a famous historic attraction in Guangzhou, with lots of splendid scenery and places of interest, elected as the historical and new Eight Attractions of Guangzhou. The whole scenic spot consists of seven tourist spots: Pearl Tower Tourist Spot, Mo Xing Ling Tourist Spot, Ming Chun Valley Tourist Spot, San Tai Ling Tourist Spot, Luhu Lake Tourist Spot, Fei E Ling Tourist Spot and He Yi Ling Tourist Spot. Travelers can not only appreciate the natural scenes but also go grassing, take slideway, and enjoy bungee there.
Yuexiu Park, named after Yuexiu Mountain, built in 1952, is the biggest comprehensive sight-seeing park.
Yuexiu Park consists of seven hummocks – the peak Yuejing Hummock, Guihua Hommock, Muke Hummock, and Liyu Hummock and so on, and three artificial lakes – Beixiu Lake, Nanxiu Lake, and Dongxiu Lake. So Yuexiu Park has been well-known for the beautiful hills and waters and plenty of antiques which you can enjoy at ease in the park. There are verdant grasses and trees, birds' singing, and fragrant flowers all through the year. The verve of Yuexiu Park as one of the new Eight Attractions of Guangzhou is completely presented by verdant trees, thriving bamboos, and blooming flowers. Travelers will be lost in the elaborately engraved and Linnan-styled pavilions, platforms, towers, and corridors; and the rippling water of Dongxiu Lake, Nanxiu Lake, and Beixiu Lake. There will hold great flower exhibition which attracts millions of tourists in spring and autumn every year.
Besides the splendid natural wonders in Yuexiu Park, there have many famous scenic sites of different historical period successfully decorating the park, such as the well-known "Statue of the Five Goats", Zhenhai Tower, the Ancient City Wall of the Ming Dynasty, Sifang Emplacement, Zhongshan Monument.
What's more, there has built the Yuexiu Mountain Stadium which can hold about 30,000 people; Yuexiu Natatorium meeting the demand of international matches; Jinyin Natatorium, Flower House, Guangzhou Museum of Art, Attractions for the Journey to the West and some other entertainment facilities. Nowadays, due to its long-running changes, Yuexiu Park has become the substitute name for Guangzhou.
Yuexiu Park consists of seven hummocks – the peak Yuejing Hummock, Guihua Hommock, Muke Hummock, and Liyu Hummock and so on, and three artificial lakes – Beixiu Lake, Nanxiu Lake, and Dongxiu Lake. So Yuexiu Park has been well-known for the beautiful hills and waters and plenty of antiques which you can enjoy at ease in the park. There are verdant grasses and trees, birds' singing, and fragrant flowers all through the year. The verve of Yuexiu Park as one of the new Eight Attractions of Guangzhou is completely presented by verdant trees, thriving bamboos, and blooming flowers. Travelers will be lost in the elaborately engraved and Linnan-styled pavilions, platforms, towers, and corridors; and the rippling water of Dongxiu Lake, Nanxiu Lake, and Beixiu Lake. There will hold great flower exhibition which attracts millions of tourists in spring and autumn every year.
Besides the splendid natural wonders in Yuexiu Park, there have many famous scenic sites of different historical period successfully decorating the park, such as the well-known "Statue of the Five Goats", Zhenhai Tower, the Ancient City Wall of the Ming Dynasty, Sifang Emplacement, Zhongshan Monument.
What's more, there has built the Yuexiu Mountain Stadium which can hold about 30,000 people; Yuexiu Natatorium meeting the demand of international matches; Jinyin Natatorium, Flower House, Guangzhou Museum of Art, Attractions for the Journey to the West and some other entertainment facilities. Nowadays, due to its long-running changes, Yuexiu Park has become the substitute name for Guangzhou.