The Guangdong Provincial Museum is located on what was the original site of Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, on Wenming Road on the corner with Yuexiu Road.

Sections

There are two separate buildings. The building which housed the original Zhongshan university is now the Lu Xun Memorial Hall and contains an exhibition of objects related to Lu Xun and some other intellectuals who influenced Chinese modernization and indirectly prepared the way for the communist revolution. All notices are only in Chinese.

The new building to the right was initially built in 1957-1959 and greatly enlarged in 1992. It contains several distinct exhibitions and has notices in English. As you enter the main door, to the right, you can find an impressive historical exhibition of "Chaozhou wood carving" which is well worth seeing. On display are screens and other objects elaborately carved in wood as well as an explanation of the history and different techniques used in the art.

The next section on the ground floor is an exhibition of modern ceramic figures done in traditional Shiwan (Foshan) style. Each window is dedicated to a different artist with a brief biography and some examples of their work.

Upstairs there is a section dedicated to the history of the city of Guangzhou from prehistoric times to modern days. Guangzhou was always a center of trade with foreign nations and many of the objects from the semi-colonial years come from England (postcards, pictures and other documents).

Another section houses an exhbition of old Chinese pottery and china wares while yet another section contains posters in traditional Chinese calligraphy.

Miscellaneous

No photography is allowed in the museum. Admission fee in early 2004 was 15 yuan.

External links

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