Wood carvings
Astonishingly fine.
Windmemories — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Max Bates — CC BY-SA 4.0 · User:veronicakkk — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 3.0 · 神樂坂秀吉 — CC0 · Kuruman from Tokyo, Japan — CC BY 2.0 · Zyng1 — Public domain · 神樂坂秀吉 — CC0
A masterpiece of traditional Cantonese architecture, a complex built in 1894 under the Qing by seventy-two branches of the Chen clan across Guangdong, as lodgings for clan members coming to the city to prepare for the imperial examinations; it later became a school and is now a museum. The symmetrical complex has 19 buildings linked by corridors and courtyards, famous for astonishingly fine decoration on its walls and roofs: carvings in wood, stone and brick, ironwork, and colourful ceramic figures along the roof ridges showing scenes from folk tales. It now houses the Guangdong Folk Art Museum, with wood carvings, ceramics and traditional handicrafts, so a visit combines superb architecture with Cantonese craft heritage in one place. Tickets are about CNY 10; it opens about 09:00–17:30 and closes on Tuesdays, per visitor guides. The Chen Clan Academy metro station is right outside, and mornings are quieter.
Astonishingly fine.
Ceramic figures.
A provincial museum.
Zhongshan 7th Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou
About 09:00–17:30, closed on Tuesdays, with tickets about CNY 10, per visitor guides.
