Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), father of republican China, was born in Guangdong. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, built in 1931 with funds contributed by overseas Chinese and the residents of Guangzhou, is a famous commemorative structure of the Chinese revolution of 1911. It was built on the site of the presidential house where Sun Yat-sen had lived in when he was the provisional president of China in 1922. The hall is surrounded by well kept lawns and gardens and there is a small museum behind the hall. The hall itself is quite grand but inside you won't find a great deal apart from seats as the hall is used for meetings and performances. In 1956, a bronze statue of Dr Sun was erected in front of the hall. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was designed by the well-known architect of modern China, Lu Yanzhi, who was also the designer of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. The building complex is composed of the arch over the gateway, the auditorium, and the several-storied buildings to the east and west. This palatial octagonal structure is 47 meters (154ft) high and covers 12,000 square meters. The rotunda and the blue-tiled roof were modeled after the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is the most symbolic building of Guangzhou, and a key venue for the city's large-scale meetings and performances.