Category Architectures

Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family in Guangzhou

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The Chen ancestral hall, also known as the Chen clan academy or the Chen clan ancestral hall, is a place in Guangzhou where people worship their ancestors and learn from them. It is now the Guangzhou folk art museum, displaying the most distinctive buildings in Guangzhou. The Chen ancestral hall in liwan district, guangzhou, the ancestral hall of ancestors in foshan, the former residence of sun yat-sen in zhongshan city and the opium war memorial hall in dongguan city have been listed as four cultural tourist attractions in Guangzhou province.

At the end of the qing dynasty (1644-1911), a man named Chen won the third place in the imperial examination and was given a prominent official position, which made the Chen family known to all. It was later suggested that all Chen’s families raise funds to build a temple to worship their ancestors and encourage their descendants to study hard as well. So in 1894, the Chen family built the temple with donations from 72 counties in Guangzhou province and some overseas members of the Chen family.

The ancestral temple is a complex of nine halls, six quadrangles and nineteen corridors. A pair of stone drums in front of the gate, 2.55 meters (about 8.36 feet) high, and two four-meter (about 13 feet) high painted door gods are said to be the best in Guangzhou.

The Chen academy was built in a symmetrical manner in accordance with the Chinese tradition. The main hall, juxian hall, is located in the center of the temple. Before the temple was built, juxian hall was once a gathering place for clansmen. Now it is used as an ancestral hall. In front of the hall is a stone pavilion surrounded by a stone railing. There is a beautifully carved screen in the hall, which is a model of wood carving.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

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Shanghai urban planning exhibition hall is located in people’s square. It covers an area of more than 3,600 square meters (4,306 square yards) and stands 43 meters (142 feet) tall. There are five floors above ground and two underground. It opened to the public in 2000.

The Shanghai urban planning exhibition hall was built to showcase the achievements of urban planning and construction. It has exhibition, reference, research, communication, entertainment and other functions. The main body of the building covers the development history of Shanghai from ancient times to the present. The theme of the building is “city, people, environment and development”. There is a model of the city made to the scale of 1/500. The emergence of the old street in the 1930s reminds people of the old days in Shanghai. The future of Shanghai will be shown through virtual reality, fantasy and other high-tech means. Vivid model of big city planning to show you the future vision of the city.

The design and style of the main building add beauty to the surroundings. Its designers draw inspiration from traditional Chinese gateways and follow the Chinese aesthetic ideal, emphasizing central symmetry and combining tradition with modernity. The top of the building is designed in the shape of magnolia, the flower of Shanghai. The design of the building has won the “magnolia cup” and the “luban cup”, China’s highest architectural award.

Since its opening, the Shanghai urban planning exhibition hall has received many visitors from home and abroad, including Chinese leaders. After years of development, it has become a national base for science education, patriotism education, environmental protection education and vocational training. The Shanghai urban planning exhibition hall is a window for Shanghai to communicate with the outside world.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, the Symbol of Xi’an

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As a symbol of ancient xi ‘an, the big wild goose pagoda is a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for buddhists. It is located on the southern outskirts of xi ‘an city, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the city center. Standing in the grand cien temple complex, it attracts countless tourists because of its buddhist reputation and its simple but attractive architectural style. The big wild goose pagoda has been rated as a national key cultural relic protection unit and an AAAA tourist attraction. On June 22, 2014, it was added to the world heritage list along with other sites along the ancient silk road.

The whole scenic area includes the big wild goose pagoda, the great ci ‘en temple, as well as various surrounding squares, gardens and other facilities.

Built during the reign of emperor gaozong of the tang dynasty (652), the pagoda was used to collect buddhist materials that xuanzang had brought from India.

Xuanzang set out from chang ‘an, followed the silk road, crossed the desert and finally arrived in India, the birthplace of Buddhism. Over 17 years and more than 100 countries, he acquired buddhas, 657 buddhist scriptures and several shrines. Xuanzang was the first abbot of the great ci ‘en temple. He received permission from emperor gaozong (628-683) to supervise the construction of the pagoda. With the support of the royal family, he invited 50 ranks of people to the temple to translate the Sanskrit buddhist scriptures into Chinese, totaling 1,335 volumes, opening a new era in the history of translation.

Originally built at a height of 60 meters (197 feet), the big wild goose pagoda has five storeys. It is now 64.5 meters (211.6 feet) high and has two more. It is said that “saving one life is better than building seven towers”. From the outside, it looks like a square cone, simple but magnificent, a masterpiece of buddhist architecture. It is built of brick and has a strong structure. Inside, the stairs curve upward, allowing visitors to climb up from vaulted doors on the four sides of each floor to get panoramic views of the city. The wall is carved with the exquisite Buddha statue of yan liben, a famous artist in the tang dynasty. The stone tablets of famous calligraphers also add to the beauty of the pagoda.

As to why it is called the big wild goose pagoda, there is a legend. According to ancient buddhist stories, there are two branches, one of which eating meat is not taboo. One day, they couldn’t find meat to buy. As a flock of geese flew by, the monk said to himself, “there is no meat to eat today.” I hope the compassionate bodhisattva can give us some. Just then the lead goose broke its wings and fell to the ground. All the monks were surprised and thought that the bodhisattva showed his spirit to make them more pious. They built a tower where the geese fell and stopped eating meat. Hence its name.