We're going to start the day with a flight from Guilin to Guangzhou where we'll tour the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family and then take the coach on to Zhongshan. Here's what our route looks like. About 1,900 km or1,200 miles.
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| Guilin To Guangzhou And On To Zhongshan |
But first Guangzhou and the Chen Family Ancestral Temple.
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (known historically as Canton or less commonly as Kwangchow) is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province. Located on the Pearl River about 75 miles (120 km) north-northwest of Hong Kong and north-northeast of Macau, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port. It is the third largest Chinese city and southern China's largest city with a population of 13 million. The population of the entire Pearl River metropolitan area is about 40 million covering an area of 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometres).
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| Panoramic View of Guangzhou |
Guangzhou's earliest recorded name is Panyu derived from two nearby mountains known as Pan and Yu in ancient times. Its recorded history begins with China's conquest of the area during the Qin Dynasty (221BC - 206 BC). Panyu expanded when it became the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom. (This included what is known as Vietnam). Although "Guangzhou" replaced "Panyu" as the name of the walled city, "Panyu" was still the name of the surrounding area until the end of Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. Today, Panyu is a district of Guangzhou.
The Old Book of Tang described Guangzhou as an important port in the south of China with connections to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Arab and Persian merchants raided and looted warehouses in Guangzhou (known to them as Khanfu or Sin-Kalan) in AD 758. In that period, direct routes connected the Middle East and China as part of the Silk Road. Guangzhou was mentioned by various Muslim geographers such as Al-Masudi and Ibn Khordadbeh in the 9th and 10th centuries. The Arab historian Abu Zayd as-Sirafi mentioned Guangzhou several times in his book "The Journey of as-Sirafi", providing a description of daily life, food, business dealings, and the justice system of the city. As-Sirafi also reported that, in 878 AD, followers of the Chinese rebel leader, Huang Chao, besieged Guangzhou and massacred a large number of foreign merchants residing there. The foreign merchants were Arab Muslims, Persians, Jews, and Christians.
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| Plan Of The City Of Canton - 1910 |
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Guangzhou by sea in 1514, establishing a monopoly on the external trade out of its harbour by 1517. They were later expelled from their settlements in Guangzhou (Cantão in Portuguese). Instead, they were granted use of Macau as a trading base in 1557. They would keep a near-monopoly on foreign trade in the region until the arrival of the Dutch in the early 17th century. It is believed that the romanisation "Canton" originated from the Portuguese "Cantão" which was the name adopted for the walled city by the Europeans.
The Portuguese in Macau, the Spanish in Manila, Arabs from the Middle East and Muslims from India were already actively trading in the port by the 1690s when the French and English began frequenting the port through the "Canton System" - a monopoly of Chinese merchants established by the Emperor to collect taxes on traded goods. Other European companies were soon to follow: the Ostend General India company in 1717; Dutch East India Company in 1729; the first Danish ship in 1731 followed by a Danish Asiatic Company ship in 1734; the Swedish East India Company in 1732 followed by an occasional Prussian and Trieste Company ship; the Americans in 1784; and the Australians in 1788.
By the middle of the 18th century, Guangzhou had emerged as one of the world's great trading ports under the Thirteen Factories, an area where trade with the Europeans was allowed, a distinction it maintained until the outbreak of the First Opium War in 1839 and the opening of other ports in China in 1842. The trading privileges during this time period made Guangzhou one of the 3 largest cities in the world. During the Opium War the British captured Canton on March 18, 1841. The Second Battle of Canton was fought in May 1841.
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| Thirteen Factories, Guangzhou (Canton) c1850 |
The plague epidemic – part of the Third Pandemic – reached Guangzhou in 1894 resulting in the death of 60,000 people in a few weeks. In 1918, the city's urban council was established and "Guangzhou" became the official name of the city. The Japanese occupied Guangzhou from October 21, 1938, to September 16, 1945 after a violent bombardment of the city.
Reforms under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping who came to power in the late 1970s, led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. As labour costs increased in Hong Kong, manufacturers opened new plants in Guangzhou. As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. Cantonese links to overseas Chinese and tax reforms of the 1990s have aided the city's rapid growth.
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| Guangzhou - Old & New |
Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family
In the late Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912), Chen Ruinan and Chen Zhaonan, Chinese-Americans who returned to Guangzhou, proposed to raise money from all the Chen clans to build a temple for the worship of their ancestors. It also included a place for their clansman to study for the Imperial examinations which allowed them to enter the Chinese civil service. The Chen Clan Academy was finished in 1894 with money donated by Chen families in 72 counties of Guangdong Province as well as some overseas family members. When the imperial examination system was abolished in 1905, the Chen Clan Academy was changed into an academic school of the Chens. In 1957, the Guangzhou City People's Committee approved the Chen Clan's Academy as a Guangzhou City historic site. In 1959 the government introduced a folk arts and crafts gallery into the temple. Now it serves as the Guangdong Folk Art Museum.
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| The Chen Clan's Academy |
Located at Zhongshan 7th Road, the Chen Clan Academy is a symmetrical complex of 19 buildings with nine halls and six courtyards. Facing south, the complex is built on a north-south axis. A large collection of southern China art pieces, wood carvings and pottery can be found in the structure. The complex exemplifies traditional Chinese architecture and decoration and has influenced cultural and architectural developments worldwide. It was added to the list of "Cultural Relics of National Importance under the Protection of the State" in 1988.
Zhongshan
Zhōngshān, historically known as Xiangshan, meaning "Fragrant Mountain") in reference to the many flowers that grew in the mountains nearby, is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) who was also known as Sun Zhongshan. Sun is considered to be the "Father of Modern China". He was born in Cuiheng village in Nanlang Township in what was then Xiangshan County. After his death in 1925, Xiangshan was renamed Zhongshan in his honor. The main ethnic group in Zhongshan is Han, and the main language is Cantonese.
Hotel - Sheraton Zhongshan
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| Hotel - Sheraton Zhongshan |
Tomorrow we're off to Zuhai where we'll enter the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a different part of our journey.
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