One of the five rams of Guangzhou, from the statue in Yuexiu Park.

Guangzhou China: A place of historic rebellions and insurrection, contact with the west and the Opium War, and now boom-town central in China. Legend says the city was founded by five celestial beings riding magical rams. They arrived in the drought stricken land and gave the people the gift of rice. Since that time the city and region have prospered.

China’s fourth largest city, Guangzhou’s offers visitors many Must See sites and a chance to see Chinese history dating back to 214 BC. Once known as Canton, the city awash in a neon glow and smoggy haze as strong as its hustle and bustle, should be seen as more than a starting or finishing point on your China adventure.

If you’re in Guangzhou for the Canton Fair, or passing through on  your way north, east, or west. don’t overlook the city’s must see sites. Getting around Guangzhou is easy with  an easy-to-use subway system with stops near almost every attraction.

Without further adieu, Asian Ramblings’ Ten Guangzhou Must Sees.

1) Yuexiu Park. North Guangzhou holds a number of historic sites. Yuexiu Park highlights include the Statue of the Five Rams, built to commemorate the legendary creation of the metropolis. The park’s Zhenhai Tower, first build in 1380, helped protect Guangzhou from marauding pirates before being used by the British as a garrison after the first Opium War. The tower is now home to the Guangzhou City Museum. The museum, featuring a self-guided history of Guangzhou from prehistoric times to present and has a number of hands-on activities for youngsters . The 93 hectares of Xuexiu Park also features shady, tree-lined paths, parts of the original Ming dynasty city walls, and a memorial tower to Sun Yat-Sen, considered to be the father of Modern China.

2) Across the street from Xuexiu Park is the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King. In the early 1980s workers digging a basement for a shopping mall discovered the royal tomb of Zhao Mo, the ruler of the Nanyue, a Han Dynasty-era southern kingdom. After his death in 111 BC, Zhao Mo was buried with his riches (and concubines). His jade burial suit (and dusty remains) are on display in the museum with the other amazing finery from his burial chamber. The tomb itself can also be explored by visitors.

Prayers at the San Yuan Taoist Temple in Guangzhou.

3) San Yuan Temple. Often overlooked, the oldest Taoist temple in Guangzhou is next to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall (not a Guangzhou must see). The open-air Taoist temple offers visitors a quiet retreat from Guangzhou’s busy streets and a chance to see some lovely architecture through the incense smoke.

* Numbers 1 to 3 can be see same day on foot.

A former colonial buidling in Shamian Island in Guangzhou.

4) Shamian Island (Shamian Dao) was Guangzhou’s foreign enclave. The island, translated to Sandspit Island, is home to former British and French warehouses and factories. It’s a quiet area blanketed in the shade of aged trees, is now home to cafes and boutiques. The former Victorian-era buildings are a stark contrast to the rest of Guangzhou. The French-built Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is nestled among the buildings on the island’s eastern end. The riverfront area is a hive of activity in the mornings with locals doing tao chi and fishing in the Pearl River.

5) Guangzhou’s main train station area. Strange for a must see list, but this area is something to behold. With the Guangzhou main train station, three bus stations, and a subway stop, the number of people moving through the area is heart-stopping. My jaw dropped after walking out of the bus station on my first visit. If you’re from a small town this area deserves a look. As well, the area is awash in markets selling cheap clothing, knock-off watches and bags. There is an entire street selling nothing but sneakers and shoes.

6) As the manufacturing hub of south China, Guangzhou offers several shopping possibilities. Beijing Lu, the pedestrian shopping street in central Guangzhou offers the  standard clothing, watches and hand bags, in a glitzy / cheesy environ. A glassed-in archaeological dig running down the center of Beijing Lu shows remnants of the street dating from the Tang and Song Dynasties. The area north of Shamian Dao, around the Holiday Inn, offers shopping, but with character. The streets of Xia Jiu Lu and Shang Jiu Lu are a mix of colonial and traditional Chinese buildings. The large trees and shady streets offer a unique glimpse of the city’s roots.

The intricate stonework at the Chen Family Academy in Guangzhou China.

7) Chen Family Academy (aka Chen Clan Academy or Ancestral Hall of the Chen Family). Built in the late 1800s by the Chen family, this complex was used as a home-away-from-home for family members studying for imperial examinations. Now part of the Guangzhou Museum of Folk Art, the Chen Family Academy has incredibly detailed roof statues and stone work. A Chinese colleague of mine said the Chen Family Academy was on par with the Forbidden City in Beijing.

8 ) Guangxiao Si or Bright Filial Piety Temple. Near Yuexiu Park, Guangxiao Si is Guangzhou’s oldest Buddhist temple, dating to the fourth century. The complex has been rebuilt several times over the centuries due to fires. The chanting monks and nuns make a visit a soothing experience. The temple is a great place to people watching, you’ll get a chance to see all strata of Chinese society.

9) Nearby, down some colorful alleys is Guangzhou’s Temple of the Six Banyan Trees – Luirong Si. The namesake trees are gone, but the temple does have a 57 meter pagoda you can climb to get a birds-eye view of the area. Built in the 6th century, the pagoda was constructed to house Buddhist relics from India.

10) A visit to the Memorial Garden to the Martyrs is a surreal experience. A statue commemorates the uprising and the murders of 5000 people during the 1927 communist uprising in the city. The mass tomb is a sobering site, a stark contrast to the local folk that use this shady park area for dancing, exercising, and Tai Chi. The China-Korea Friendship Pavillion and Russia-China Friendship Pavillion are also worth a look, both comemorate the foreign nationals killed during the uprising. The Guangzhou Uprising Museum on Qiyi Lu near the Beijing Lu shopping street explains the events of 1927 in further detail. The Victorian manse was a police station and the communist headquarters during the uprising. All the exhibits and captions are in English as well as Chinese.

Yes, this is Guangzhou, China. Shamian Island, or Sandspit Island, was a sandbar given to British and French traders after the Second Opium War. The west half of the island is British, the east French. The colonial powers-that-be constructed buildings, factories, and warehouses on their bit of land. More than a century later the buildings still stand. Shamian Island is a peaceful retreat, tree-lined boulevards along the river, in one of the world’s most populous cities. Watch for my upcoming Top 10 Must Sees in Guangzhou, China.

We listened as the Buddhist nuns chanted, an afternoon ritual, surrounded by the sweet smelling smoke from countless sticks of incense. It was a temple on a backstreet of Guangzhou, one of the largest and oldest cities in China.

“People pray for different things now,” the guide told me. She was a woman in her early 50s, tall, a northerner, with a strong jaw and eyes that smiled before her lips.

“Before, they might have prayed for their farms, or their families,” she said, “Now, parents will pray that their children get into a good university. Young people will pray they get a promotion.”

Ancient beliefs changing: Can a culture with 5000 years of history still hold to the old, while embracing the new? The old: A cornerstone. The new: A beacon of modernization and change.

Our group wandered among the buildings, quiet and respectful. Monks in orange robes walked with purpose over the 500-year-old cobblestones. Nuns chanted at another shrine, as they do each afternoon. Their words were read from battered, handwritten books.

I stepped back and surveyed the temple, Guangxiao Si, one of the oldest in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. As the sun set, the city of 10 million seemed far away.

Our guide had not followed. I spotted her in front of the main hall, in the shadow cast by the roof. She stood before the massive golden Buddha, incense sticks held between her palms. arms raised high. She hadn’t prayed when visited the building earlier.

What did she pray for? The old? The new? Both? She was a modern Chinese woman, with a condo, a car, and a grown daughter. Prayers for her family? Her career?

It was a private moment I was not meant to see. I turned towards the chanting and the setting sun. In the distance, if you listened, horns were blaring as the afternoon rush hour began.

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A grandmother and granddaughter snack outside of Chen Jia Si, or the Chen Family Academy, in Guangzhou, China. The complex was collectively built by members of the Chen family, from all over Guangdong province, during the 19th .

The buildings were used to house family members taking royal examinations.

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Fishing in Guangzhou, China

Morning, in Yuexiu Park, Guangzhou, China. The park, a mammoth green space in the city’s north end, is home to several landmarks including the Zhenhai Tower and the Statue of the Five Rams. The park is popular as a place to relax, and as pictured above, fish.

Captured: September 30, 2008.