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| The Le Tian tour group posing in front of the Ruins of St Paul's in Macau |
Last October 2019, my husband and I went on a 9-day tour of some cities in Southern China. It was organised by the Klang Elderly Senior Citizens Club ( Le Tian) and there were 31 of us in the group.
Our tour began with a flight to Hong Kong. From
there, we took a bus to Zhuhai via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB).
Our tour included visits to Macau, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Foshan
and Guangzhou, focusing on the cultural
and historical aspects of each city. We saw the iconic landmarks of each place,
viewing them from near and far, as well as during day or night for a better
perspective.
We visited museums and historical buildings, many of
which featured the revolutionary figure, Dr Sun Yat-sen.
The holiday was an insightful eye-opening
trip for me.
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| Map showing the cities we visited |
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB)
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| The HZMB - the world's longest sea crossing bridge |
We travelled with great excitement along the Hong
Kong_Zhuhai_Macau_Bridge (HZMB), the world’s longest sea crossing bridge and
the longest open-sea fixed link on earth. Constructed in 2009 and completed in
2018, this 55 km bridge - designed to last 120 years - costs a whopping USD
18.8 billion to build.
It took about one hour to drive the length of the
bridge. All along the 6-laned bridge, I could see only the road in front of me,
while outside was the bridge railing with the blue sky above and the dark green
sea below.
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| The HZMB - night view from a boat cruise |
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| The HZMB - close up |
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Macau
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| Passing by the brilliant Galaxy Macau |
Famous for casinos, Macau (with 41 casinos) is one
of the world’s top gambling cities, and is often called the “Vegas of the
East”. A Portuguese territory until 1999, Macau has a blend of Portuguese and
Chinese cultures.
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| Ruins of St Paul's showing the many steps up the hill |
We went to the 17thcentury Catholic Church
of St Paul (or Ruins of St Paul’s). Constructed in 1602 to 1640, it was the
largest church in Asia and was even known as “The Vatican of the Far East”. However, the church burned down in 1835,
leaving only the beautiful facade and a stairway. The church’s design has a mix
of East and West, a baroque facade and classic oriental characteristics.
Hordes of visitors throng this historic Centre of
Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Senado Square |
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| St Dominic Church |
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| Senado Square |
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| Statue of Jorge Alvares - 16th century Portuguese navigator, who went to China in 1513. |
We also visited 2 museums, Handover Gifts Museum of Macau
and Museum of Macau, which enlightened us on the history of Macau.
b) Handover
Gifts Museum of Macau (Macau Huigui Museum)
Some interesting exhibits are shown below:
Some interesting exhibits are shown below:
This museum commemorates the transfer of sovereignty
over Macau from Portugal back to China. The gifts were priceless beautiful
works of art.
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c) Museum
of Macau
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| In front of Museum of Macau |
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| Chinese coins |
The Museum of Macau presents the history of the city and the
territory of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative
Region of the People’s Republic of China. I found the Chinese coins display intriguing.
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Zhuhai
Zhuhai Opera House:
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| Our group in front of the imposing Zhuhai Opera House |
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| Ladies only - with the Zhuhai Opera House |
In Zhuhai where we stayed for 3 nights, we visited its landmark Opera House. Shaped as scallops to represent the brilliant sun and entrancing moon, the Opera House looked impressive from afar.
It has a 1,550-seat concert hall and 500-seat theatre. Costing 1.08 billion yuan, it is the first on-island theatre in the Chinese mainland. With floor space of nearly 50,000 sq m, it is equipped with world-advanced acousto-optic and stage technical effects.
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Zhongshan
In Zhongshan, we visited the Former
Residence of Dr Sun Yat-sen and the Museum of Dr Sun Yat-sen.
a)
a)
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| Former Residence of Dr Sun Yat-sen |
Dr Sun
Yat-sen, a philosopher, physician and politician, was born on November 12,
1866, in this site, formerly a mud-house (8m by 4m), where he lived until he
was 13 years old.
He then
left for Hawaii to live with his brother for 4 years. He returned to China to
study medicine in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, coming back often to stay in this
ancestral home.
Between
1892 and 1895, he practised medicine among the country people. In this house, he studied history and
politics, wrote a book and started planning for the Revolution.
In 1892,
at age 26, he designed this house, using Eastern and Western motifs. The
exterior is western, while the interior is traditional Chinese. He made sure
this house had a lot of fresh air by building it facing west (forest) and
having many windows and doors.
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| This is the site in front of the house where Dr Sun Yat-sen was born |
What an unusual house, I mused as we explored the
2-storey pink house. It was cool and breezy even though it was a hot afternoon.
Visiting Dr Sun’s birthplace gave me an idea of this man who is destined for
great feats.
b) Museum of Dr Sun Yat-sen
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| The entrance of the Museum of Dr Sun Yat-sen |
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| Statue of Dr Sun Yat-sen inside the museum |
From the Residence of Dr Sun Yat-sen, we walked over
to this Museum, where we learned more about the great revolutionist’s personal
and family history.
The ground floor had exhibits detailing his life,
political struggles and the successful Xinhai Revolution in 1911, while the
first floor had exhibits of his family members, especially those who influenced
his upbringing and his struggles through the many revolutions he organised.
This museum is a good place to learn about the life
of Dr Sun Yat-sen who is often called the “George Washington of China”.
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| A photo of The Soong Sisters - on the first floor |
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| Bronze Sculpture titled 'Roots' outside the museum. In his childhood, Sun Yat-sen was often told the story of Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Rebellion under the banyan tree outside his house by an old man called Fan Guanshuang who had participated in the Rebellion. Dr Sun later recalled that it was at that time that his revolutionary ideas began to develop. |
Shunde
Qinghui
Garden
In Shunde, which is also my ancestral village, we were enthralled by the beauty of Qinghui Garden. It is the most beautiful of Province Guangdong’s
4 Famous Gardens.
An ancient garden, this exquisite Park is built in the Ming Dynasty. There were water features, brick carvings, stained glass in the classic Lingnan style. Some of the picturesque scenes are shown here:
An ancient garden, this exquisite Park is built in the Ming Dynasty. There were water features, brick carvings, stained glass in the classic Lingnan style. Some of the picturesque scenes are shown here:
We spent some time walking around the different parts of the garden, stopping to relax under the trees and pleasant surroundings and taking many photos in the beautiful setting.
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Foshan
a) Ancient
Nanfeng Kiln
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| Ancient Nanfeng Kiln |
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| Our group next to Nanfeng Kiln |
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| Le Tian members from the Calligraphy Class posing next to Nanfeng Kiln |
Nanfeng Kiln is a cultural relic that was built in
the Ming Dynasty (1506 -1521) in Foshan. It is still functional today, making
Shiwan ware or Chinese pottery, operating well over 500 years – amazing! We
found some giant banyan trees which were more than 400 years old growing steady
and healthy behind the kiln.
We were given a demonstration of how pottery and
ceramics were made by skilled artists. Everyone was hard at work shaping and
painting their works of art. The main subject was the rat, because the
following year (2020) was the Year of the Rat.
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| A worker applying paint on the rat |
There was also a display centre there selling beautiful
porcelain and ceramic figurines as well as vases and life-like statues of
politicians, as shown below:
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b) Foshan
Zumiao Museum
This Museum consists of a Taoist temple, museum and exhibition centre. It is a museum and active temple where people come to see martial arts performances, visit a museum about martial artists and worship their ancestors or Taoist deities.
Built in the Song Dynasty around 1080, it was ruined when the Mongols ruled. It was rebuilt in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty. In the 20th century, it was converted to a Foshan Municipal Museum.
Some of the artistic features are shown below:
Some of the artistic features are shown below:
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| Foshan Zumiao Museum |
I was interested to browse around the Huang Feihong Memorial Hall showcasing his life and various art works featuring him like soap operas and many more, over the past 80 years. There were interesting write-ups of Ip Man and Bruce Lee too.
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| Statue of Wong Feihong |
Currently, Martial Arts and Cantonese Opera performances are seen regularly. We were lucky to see lion dance and martial arts performances that day.
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| A Martial Arts Performer |
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Guangzhou
a) Canton Tower
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| Canton Tower in Haixinsha Park |
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| Canton Tower in Haixinsha Park |
Canton Tower, a facility used for radio and
television broadcast, is the highest tower in China and third highest in the
world. A distinctive landmark of Guangzhou,
it opened in 2010 during the 16th Asian Games.
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| Canton Tower at night, glowing with iridescent light |
From a cruise,we viewed the Canton Tower
rotating and changing colours
How regal and resplendent it looked when we saw it
in Haixinsha Park. It was even more beautiful when we saw it at night while on
a cruise along the Pearl River. It drew gasps of admiration all round, as it
rotated slowly, glowing with iridescent light.
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| At the Canton Tower, 428 m high |
We took a lift up to the top and stopped at 428 m floor of this 604 m
Tower. From that dizzying height, we had a panoramic
view of Guangzhou city.
Interestingly, Mark Hemel was inspired by a female’s
hip joint when he designed it, adding a slim waist to compliment it. The
architects too wanted it to be slender and tall to represent Guangzhou as a
dynamic and exciting city.
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b) Huangpu Military Academy
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| In front of Huangpu Military Academy |
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| A photo of Dr Sun Yat-sen |
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| Classrooms |
This is the first military academy, for training
military officials. It produced many prestigious commanders who fought in many
of China’s conflicts in the 20th century.
Dr Sun Yat-sen first established it in 1924. There were courses to train infantry,
artillery, sapper, impediments troops, military policeman, and even politics.
Exhibits of certificates of graduates and interviews with old people were
displayed.
As we strolled along the President’s room,
classrooms, hostel, meeting rooms and canteen, we could see that the buildings
were still solid. The simple and sparse decor gave us an idea of strict
military training.
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c) 1911
Revolution Memorial Museum
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| 1911 Revolution Memorial Museum |
A guide took us on tour of this museum, detailing
how the Xinhai Revolution evolved. In
1911, the Chinese people launched this epoch-making event, under the leadership
of Dr Sun Yat-sen. This revolution overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty,
ended the monarchical despotism which ruled China for 2000 years, and established
the Republic of China.
The various exhibits described the many (more than
10) failed anti-Qing uprising by Sun Yat-sen and his revolutionaries, from 1895
to 1911. Overseas Chinese from the neighbouring countries became the most
important economic source of domestic revolution. Sun Yat-sen raised funds in
Japan, USA, Canada, Britain and Malaya, to finance his Revolution.
Finally, on December 29, 1911, Sun Yat-sen was
elected the first provisional president of the Republic of China, and
thereafter began the modernisation of China.
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d) Chen
Clan Ancestral Hall
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| Roof with pottery cresting |
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| Brick carving - Liu Qing taming the Fiery Steed |
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| Engraved folding screens of wood carvings |
This is an academic temple built by 72 Chen clans in
Guangzhou for their juniors to stay in preparation
for the imperial examination in 1894 during the Qing Dynasty. Today, it is the
Guangdong Folk Museum, showcasing a variety of folk arts and crafts.
The buildings are decorated with wood carvings,
stone carvings, brick carvings, pottery, stucco relief art, iron and copper
casting and coloured drawing – the 7 classic decorations of Lingnan
Architecture (or Cantonese architecture).
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| Colourful designs of animals |
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| Designs of animals and fruits |
We viewed the delicate works of art with awe. Most of
the decorations were of flowers, birds, fruits and scenes of traditional
Chinese folklore.
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e) Sun
Yat-sen Memorial Hall
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| Entrance to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall - Senior citizens with identity cards or passports get free entry |
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| Inside the spacious octagonal Memorial Hall |
I was amazed by the huge interior. The octagonal
hall has a span of 71 m without pillars, a large stage and seating area for 3,240
people. There were photos and exhibits around the hall showcasing Dr Sun
Yat-sen’s deeds.
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Landscaped garden with creative features like a guitar |
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| Landscaped garden with Bronze statue of Dr Sun Yat-sen in a striking pose |
The exterior was unique too. A golden oval globe was
on top and a horizontal inscribed board with four Chinese words (which
translate to “the whole world is as one community” a quoted by Dr Sun Yat-sen)
in the middle of the building.
The garden has a beautiful guitar-shaped sculpture
as well as a Bronze statue of Dr Sun
Yat-sen in a striking pose.
This Memorial Hall is a fitting tribute to
commemorate and honour Dr Sun Yat-sen for his contribution to China.
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f) Dongguan - Opium War Museum
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| Entrance of Opium War Museum |
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| The Preface |
While entering the museum in Dongguan, the preface sent a shiver down my spine. “Ferocious smoke fills up the sky... evil opium spreads throughout China” it said. Opium was used as medicine for over 600 years (from Tang to Ming Dynasty), but later it became a drug that dehumanised many Chinese addicts.
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| Statues (above) and a photo(below) show Lin Zexu directing the burning of the opium  |
In the 18th
century, western countries led by Britain expanded trade with China using opium
as a bargaining tool. Before long, opium became a serious social problem.
In 1839, led by Lin Zexu, the Chinese people
publicly destroyed 1.15 million kg of
opium on the beach of Humen; this event is known as Opium Burning Pool. That
was the beginning of a long and arduous anti-opium conflict of the Chinese against
the British.
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| A chart showing the impact of opium chemicals on the human body |
At another section, I found the description of the
opium poppy flower (Papaver somniferum), pretty interesting. The flower came in 3 colours: red,
white and purple. Its principal ingredients are morphine, codeine, noscapine
and thebaine ,which can have harmful effects on the human body when consumed in
excess.
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Our 9-day holiday was a very informative one. This trip gave me an insight into the struggles of the Chinese people during the 19th and 20th centuries.
A photo essay with 5 photographs on this holiday was published in the Star (Malaysian newspaper) on 9th June 2020. More photos and more details of the trip are added here.
