Traditional Lingnan Architecture Tour
Route:Five Storeyed Pagoda—City God Temple—Wuxian Taoist Temple—Chen Clan Academy—Taotaoju Restaurant—Liwan Museum (Xiguan Folk Customs House)—Xiguan House Clan Community (Enning road, Yaohua community and Fengyuan community)—Litchi Bay—Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (arcade architecture)—Panxi Restaurant
Five Storeyed Pagoda (Zhenhai Tower)
The Zhenhai Tower, also known as the “Five Storeyed Pagoda", is a landmark building of Guangzhou.
The pagoda reflects traditional Chinese culture, with each floor decorated with dual eaves covered by green glazed tiles, and with fish and flower paintings.
The Zhenhai Tower now acts as Guangzhou Historical Museum.
City God Temple
the Guangzhou City God Temple was initially built in the Ming Dynasty and is a landmark building of Guangzhou in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The temple
The temple is of classical Lingnan architectural style, and exhibits exquisite craftsmanship of wood carving, tile carving, stone carving, pottery, as well as plaster and colored drawing. A mural named "Epoch Immortals" covering an area of over 240 square metersis painted on the wall of the main shrine of the temple.
On Lantern Festival of each year, the temple holds a fair where visitors could experience the Lingnan folk culture.
Wuxian Taoist Temple
The Wuxian Taoist Temple was originally built in the seventh year of Emperor Hongwu' reign of the Ming Dynasty (1337).
The temple has been partly destroyed and with the remaining buildings including the entrance gate, the rear palace, the east palace and the west palace.
The temple features a hipped-gable roof with dual eaves and green glazed tiles.
Chen’s Ancestral Hall
The Chen’s Ancestral Hall, previously known as Chen Clan Academy, fully represents the great achievements of Lingnan architectural art. The ancestral hall, covering an area of over 15,000 square meters, is located on NO 7 Zhongshan road. The construction of this traditional architecture adopted craftsmanship of different styles including wood carving, stone carving, tile carving, pottery, plaster, mural and bronze and iron engraving. Featuring both simple and exquisite carvings, the architecture is a perfect combination of elegance and magnificence. The Chen’s Ancestral Hall now serves as the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, with a large collection of articrafts. Lots of exhibitions are held here, including the "Guangdong Ivory Carving Exhibition", the "Guangzhou Decorative Porcelain Exhibition" and the "Guangdong Paper-cuts and Wheat Stalk Patching Picture Exhibition" , which are held here all the year round.
Liwan Museum (Xiguan Folk Customs House)
The Liwan Museum is transformed from a typical Xiguanhouse, a typical Catonese style building.
The house is a showcase of the life style and customs of Xiguan people with furnishings inside featuring a Cantonese-style in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Xiguan House Clan Community
Located inXiguan, the clan community is a best-preserved Xiguan house complex and arcade streets in Guangzhou.
Residents are leading a relaxed life, as their ancestors were.
The Enning road was called "most beautiful Old Street of Guangzhou" for its quietness and simplicity.
Litchi Bay
The Litchi Bay, also known as the Litchi Bay Chung is the general term for the river systems in the vicinity of the criss-cross riverside wetland in Xiguan.
The bay was highly praised for its beautiful scenery in ancient times, as is written in the poem “green water in the bay and red litchis on both banks”.
Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (arcade architecture)
Located in the center area of Xiguan, Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street stretches for about 1,380 meters long.
With a total of 238 arcade architectures and thousands of shops, the street is one of the three prosperous traditional commercial centers and is crowded with old famous restaurants and gathers famous dishes and local delicacies.
