Sacred Heart Cathedral

The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also known as Stone House by locals is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Guangzhou. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guangzhou. Located on the north bank of the Pearl River and stands at the heart of the busy old town, it is regarded as the ‘Notre Dame of East Asian’ and is a holy and peaceful site in the bustling urban area.

With a gross area of 3,300 square yards (2,754 square meters), it is the biggest in Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guangzhou and one of the grandest double steeples Gothic architectures in China. Featuring all of the walls and pillars made of granite, the Sacred Heart Cathedral is nicknamed the ‘Stone House’ (Shishi in Chinese) by the locals. It is the largest granite Catholic structure in Southeast Asia, and one of only four all-granite Gothic churches in the world.

The original site of Sacred Heart Cathedral was the residence of viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). In 1856, it was destroyed during the war. At that time, Bishop Philippe (the first vicar apostolic of Guangdong) made full use of this opportunity to occupy this place. The purpose was to construct a Catholic cathedral. Finally, he was allowed to be in charge of the construction work. Philippe invited two French architects to design the cathedral and began construction on June 28, 1863.

Two initial foundation stones were laid by Philippe and all senior members of Missions étrangères de Paris. One in the east was engraved with ‘Jerusalem 1863’, while the other in the west with ‘Roma 1863’. The purpose of these two stones is to relate that Christianity originated in eastern Jerusalem and developed in western Rome. Visitors still can see the foundation stones nowadays.

Featuring a plane in a cross shape, the cathedral is 259 feet (79 meters) from south to north, and 115 feet (35 meters) from west to east. With a height of 191 feet (58.5 meters), the building follows the classical Gothic architectural style. Standing on the square in the front of the church, one can see the imposing facade with symmetrical design and three vertical parts.

Three dark red doors with exquisite Gothic pointed arches are set on the ground floor, with the middle one being the largest. A huge rose window with a diameter of 23 feet (6 meters) above the middle entrance is the focus of the facade. The crystal colorful glasses of the window wear a golden gleam under the beautiful sunshine. Higher on the third floor, there are two eight-square pointed bell towers symmetrically on the east and west. Three sides of the west tower are inlaid with big clocks; while the east tower keeps the Virgin Mary Bell Group containing four heavy bronze bells brought from France.

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Shawan Ancient Town

Panyu Shawan ancient town was built in the Song Dynasty. It is one of the famous Pearl River Delta towns with long history of prosperity and preserved historic building. The existing vertical and horizontal scattered streets, dotted with historic houses and temples, canopies decorated with carved edge Qiao Liang Fang, brick, stone, wood, gray eagle, colorful murals, deeply reflected the Lingnan Culture and the profound artistic charm. Shawan Ancient Town is a typical southern town surrounded by water. Relying on its beautiful view and rich cultural heritages, it has developed into an attractive tourist destination. Covering an area of 0.6 square miles (153 hectares), the town consists of the east village, west village and north village.

Shawan Ancient Town looks very primitive and elegant. Rows of houses, old streets and long alleys show the features of the ancient style. The most common attractions you can see here are ancestral halls, the number of which has reached 100. Some intangible cultural heritages, such as Cantonese folk music, the lion dance, and Piaose (a kind of folk art integrating play, magic, acrobatics, music and dance), are well preserved. Visitors can not only have an insight into the lives of the local people, but also experience the special folk culture.

Main attractions and sights in Shawan Ancient Town: Liugeng Ancestral Hall

Liugeng Hall is located in the northern part of the village and is one of the most famous ancestral halls in the town. Built in 1275 during the Yuan Dynasty, the original building was destroyed only to be rebuilt in the year 1700 over the course of 17 years during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. The building occupies 3334.25 square meters and is an exemplary example of the ancient science of Fengshui with a hall of worship, a drum tower and east-west verandas.

Wenfeng Pagoda

Wenfeng Pagoda can be found in the Guan Alley of the northern village. Built in 1721, this site was once the highlight of the ancient attracting superstitious academics and children from near and far who flocked here in droves to worship the statues inside. The pagoda itself has three stories and six corners.

He Binglin Memorial Hall (Yanqing Hall)

This memorial hall on Anning Middle Street, which was built during the Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty, was originally dedicated to Ho Chi-Ming and his ancestors. However, that honor later went to He Binglin, a 24th generation grandchild of the Shawan He minority, who was a renowned chemist and educator and the first person in China to successfully carry out a test explosion of an atomic bomb. He is acknowledged as the pioneer who kick-started China's ion resin industry and is nicknamed "the father of ion exchange resin".

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Guangdong Provincial Museum

Guangdong Provincial Museum is located on Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China, on what was the original site of Zhongshan University. It is a provincial general museum, founded in 1959 and with a land area of 43,000 square meters. It comprises three major parts: the museum, the relic of first national congress of Kuomintang and Lu Xun Memorial House. Other affiliated buildings include Red Tower and the observatory of Sun Yat-sen University. 

The museum is a round-topped three-storied building with a hall in the center which is surrounded by corridors. The big yard of the museum was originally the Gongyuan (the imperial examination centre) of Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty (1644—1911). Inside the yard, there are several national cultural heritage sites, such as the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Nationalist Party (including the Revolution Square), the Red Mansion, the Astronomical Observatory of Zhongshan University and the Lu Xun Memorial Hall.

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.

According to official statistics, there are 166,000 items (sets) treasured up here, including 10,000 books and reference materials. Many national treasures can be found there. Large quantity and high quality of Chinese Ceramics and paintings rank the highest of all the museums nationwide. Here, Guangdong relics, gold carvings and inkstones are the most abundant and reflect the local features mostly. Thus, it is spoken highly of by the guests and has a certain reputation at home and abroad.

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Shamian Island

Located on the north bank of the Pearl River's White Goose Pool, Shamian is an oval islet, covering a tiny area of 0.3 sq. meters. The island's name literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese. Surrounded by water, it is just like a giant ship mooring alongside the wharf. Thanks to the many buildings of Western classicism on the island, it has recently been designated as a key protected relic of the state, and is called the 'Ninth Sight of Guangzhou'.

It had been a tourist attraction as well as an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. It became a strategic point for city defense during the opium war period, after which the Qing Administration was forced to agree to 'lease' Shamian to the British and French imperialist powers, thus Shamian was reduced to the British and French concessions and changed to the present name. When digging the waterway during 1859 to 1862, Shamian was separated from the north bank of the Pearl River and a stone bridge was built only in the east to connect the north bank. Now Shamian embraces eight major roads and streets, of which three are from east to west: Shamian North Street, Shamian Street and Shamian South Street, and five from south to north: Shamian No. 1 to 5 Streets. And in the east, north and west there are respectively East Bridge, West Bridge and New West Bridge to connect Liuersan Road.

The island boasts many trees and pleasant environment, together with such buildings, organizations, sports and entertainment facilities as the Victory Hotel, Shamian Hotel, White Swan Hotel, Guangzhou International Seamen's Club, the Polish Consulate-General in Guangzhou, the Representation of the Export and Import Corporations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Guangzhou Office of China-Poland Shipping Ltd., Shamian Tennis Court, Shamian Swimming Pool and so on.

Shamian is also a good place for a stroll. As it is just 900m long from east to west and 300m from south to north, one will not feel tired even after walking around the island twice. Due to traffic control on the island, it showcases a different atmosphere and pace of living. Problems such as traffic jams and exhaust gas pollution don't exist here. Now partly reserved for pedestrians, its broad boulevards are like long gardens topiaries. A line of bars and cafes on the southwest side with views over the Pearl River serves modern expats.

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Nansha Tin Hau Palace (Nansha Mazu Temple)

Nansha Tian Hou Palace, close to the Pearl River estuary Lingdingyang, located in Big Horn Shandong southern foot of yard, is a mazu temple on the southeastern slope of the Dajiao Mountain in Guangzhou City and covers about 100 hectares (247.1 acres). The building is characterized by the momentum set in the style of the Forbidden City in Beijing and Nanjing. It is the largest palace compound of its category in the world. It is reputed as the 'First Tin Hau Palace under Heaven' and the biggest Mazu Temple in southeastern Asia.

First built in the Ming Dynasty, its aime was to worship the Goddess of sea, also called Mazu (or Tianhou in Chinese, literally meaning Heavenly Empress) by the people, whose real name is Linmo (960-987). There are many touching stories about her helping people in shipwrecks, so she was thought to be the incarnation of the goddess of sea and was paid homage by over 100 million believers in more than twenty countries. It then was renovated during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1737-1795) in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), but was later ruined. The one we see now was rebuilt in 1994 and completed in 1996.

When you arrive there, you will first reach the Tin Hau Square which covers an area of 1.5 hectares (about 3.7 acres). At the center of the square stands a huge statue of the Goddess. The statue faces the Lingdingyang and is about 14.5 meters (about 47.6 feet) high, made of 365 pieces of granite. It symbolizes that mazu could bless fishermen and bring favorable weather for the whole year.

Behind the square is the memorial archway, on which the name of the palace is written over the top, and some inscriptions written on both sides. Once you have gone through it, you will come to the main gate where honored the statues of two legendary immortals, Clairvoyance (thousand-mile eye) and clairaudience (wind-accompanying ear).

Walking up the flagged path after entering the gate, you will come to the Hall of Blessing where a statue of the heavenly empress is honored. She is guarded by four Dragon Kings (the Gods of the sea) holding up a jade tablet and standing at each side. Then comes the Main Hall, the center of the whole palace. In the hall, two statues of the Goddess are honored in a shrine. One is 3.8 meters (about 12.5 feet) high, plated and carved from the fragrant sandalwood. The other is known as 'soft-body' statue, whose hand and foot joints are movable. The entire Main Hall is filled with a sense of benevolence and majesty, rectitude and holiness. Behind it is the Resting Hall, the living room of the Goddess, where a sitting sculpture of the goddess is displayed together with some simple instruments of her daily life.

At the very back of the palace is the Nanling Tower, an 8-storey building. It rises to a height of 45 meters (about 148 feet) and is the highest point of the whole palace. There is an unwritten folklore spread widely among Chinese people that the code of a God is singular, while that of a Goddess is plural. Because of that, the number of all stories, steps and tiles there is plural.

Every April 24, the annual Guangzhou Mazu Culture Tourism Festival opened in the Tin Hau Temple (Mazu Temple) Square, Nansha. The festival has taken the fancy of visitors from the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong, Macao, Fujian Province and even Taiwan. It is estimated that over 100,000 people attended the festival in the last single day, and the festival will continue until May 3.

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South Sea God Temple

South Sea God Temple was one of four ancient Sea God Temples of China and the only one that still remains. It was built during the Sui Dynasty in the year 594 and has a history of more than 1400 years. The South Sea God Temple (Temple of South Sea God) is situated in Miaotou Village, Huangpu District in Guangzhou on the southern coast of China, facing the South China Sea.

As an important site of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and a place for worshipping Zhu Rong, the God of the South Sea, the temple attracted many merchants from both home and abroad who stopped at the dock and offered sacrifices to the god for safety and good luck. Emperors of all dynasties also dispatched their officials to offer sacrifices. Today, each year between February 11th and 13th according to the lunar calendar, the temple fair attracts thousands of people, and is thus one of the biggest temple fairs in Guangzhou. Visitors coming to Guangzhou usually go there to worship.

The thriving of the temple is evidence of the prosperity of the maritime trade of Guangzhou throughout history. Many precious historical relics including inscriptions written by emperors, carved stones, bronze drums, remain there.

The temple complex has been renovated in nearly every dynasty, with the existing one built in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). It has been restored almost to its original appearance, and covers an area of 7.4 acres (30,000 square meters). Outside of the main gate, stands an archway inscribed with the Chinese characters ‘Hai Bu Yang Bo’ (peace and safety on the sea). The main buildings along the south-north axis are the First Gate, the Gate of Etiquette, the Pavilion of Courtesy, the Great Palace and the Zhaoling Palace.

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Temple of Six Banyan Trees

Temple of Six Banyan Trees located on Liurong Road was early built in 537 of Liang Dynasty. As another famous Buddhist temple of Guangzhou, Liurong Temple is not far away from Guangxiao Temple. Having a long history of about 1,400 years, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). It has a rich collection of cultural-relics and is renowned both at home and abroad.

This temple was originally called the Baozhuangyan Temple, but it was ruined in fire during Northern Song Dynasty and was rebuilt in AD 989 and also renamed Jinghui Temple. In year 1100, a well known literateur and calligrapher named Su Shi traveled to this temple and saw six age-old banyan trees, so he inscribed “Liu Rong” (means six banyan trees) for this temple cheerily. And this temple has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.

Nowadays, there are no banyan trees, but six banyan trees indeed existed about one thousand years ago, and there is still a nice pagoda. Hua Ta (Flower Pagoda) is the highlight of this Liurong Temple. This pagoda is 57 meter high with a cool structure. Flower Pagoda of Six Banyan Trees Temple consists of a viewable 9 stories, but in fact, the interior or viewing from inside actually consists of 17 layers. From this pagoda, you will get a view of interesting variety of surrounding residential housing. The largest bronze figure existed of Guangdong Province is in Liurong Temple.

The architecture that catches the visitors' eyes most is the Six Banyan Pagoda. It is a pagoda where Buddhist relics are placed. Its roofs curve upwards and look like dark red flower petals. The tip of the pagoda is like stamens, while the whole construction looks like a huge stigma high in the air. Therefore, people like to call it the Flowery Pagoda. The pagoda not only has a nice appearance, but also provides visitors a good place to overlook enchanting scenery around.

To the west of the Six Banyan Pagoda is Daxiong Baodian Hall - the main hall of the temple. The three biggest copper Buddhist statues placed there are among the biggest and most ancient Buddhist statues in Guangdong. The middle one is Sakyamuni, to the left, the Amitabha and to the right, the Apothecary Buddha. They stand for present, past and future.

Burning joss sticks is a big event when visiting there. Thus every year on the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, this place becomes a busy area. Numerous people queue to burn the first joss stick in order to be blessed by gods in the coming year.

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Lingnan Impression Park

Lingnan Impression Garden, formerly known as the University City Museum, is located at Higher Education Mega Centre in Panyu District. Covering an area of 40.7 acres (16.5 hectares), its construction is based upon the original local Lianxi Village and it epitomizes the culture of the Lingnan area (a region that refers to the modern Chinese Provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong and Macau). Lingnan Impression Garden is a place in Guangzhou filled with numerous traditional alleys, Lingnan architecture, ancestral halls, and folk residences and so on. If you have an interest in Guangzhou and its culture beyond food and shopping, you will find this a worthwhile attraction.

The park resembles an old town, with beautiful traditional buildings, a lake with a shadow puppet pavilion and a main street full of attractions, including an open air opera house. While many of the buildings are for hawking things, the objects they sell usually are tied in with local culture. It is worth exploring any open door since some exhibitions may be located a bit off the main street. There are art, history, food displays and live shows from opera to puppet theatre.

There are eight ancestral temples in the park and the most famous ones are the Fok Family’s and Xiao Family’s. The original Lianxi Village is the ancestral home of Henry Fok, so his family temple is in the village. His ancestral temple, first built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and repaired in 2002, is still in service today. Inside, visitors can trace the footprint of Henry Fok’s ancestors. During Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival, sacrifices are held by the Fok Family in the temple. The Xiao Family Big Ancestral Temple is now a martial arts museum, where visitors can enjoy professional Lion Dance performances.

Chen Mengji (1820-1888) was a locally famous lawyer in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The filming site includes Chen’s residence, and an administration area, which is a good place to understand the daily life of a local rich family. All the furnishings and decorations inside the house are arranged following the traditional style. Visitors can play as a lord of the house to experience how the wealthy people’s life was lived in historical times.

Inside the park, there are specialty stores called Hong Kong Stories and Macau Stories in which classic items representing the two cities are sold. These two stores open a window to modern people to learn more about the two cities’ history. Items related to casinos, churches, and those being used in daily time are placed in the Macau Stories. Hong Kong Stories sells food of Hong Kong, where different kinds of snacks such as almond cake, moon cake, tea, etc. can be found.

Besides the four representative places, visitors can walk along Lianxi Street to find Guangdong traditional daily items used, and many artware. The Chinese Wine Brewery is renowned for traditional wine production craftsmanship. In Guangzhou Daily Newspaper Hall, visitors can read the newspapers with traditional Chinese characters and see the ancient printing machines used. An Old Photo Studio will arouse your curiosity about black-and-white photographs and old cameras, and one can even try to develop a photo by themselves.

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Lotus Hill

The Lotus Hill, also known as Lianhua Mountain, in Guangzhou is the right place to enjoy the beauty of blooming lotus flowers. The hill is situated is located in the eastern outskirt of Panyu City, 20km from Guangzhou and 60 sea miles from Hong Kong. Covering an area of 2.54sq km, it is composed of 48 red sandstone low hills, the highest of which is 108m tall. It has the best preserved ancient quarry site, with a history of 2000 years in China. 

The lotus city itself was built during the Kangxi's reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). There is also the gold statute of the Goddess of Mercy, which is the biggest in the world. The statue was cast in 1994 with 120 tonnes of bronze and 180 taels of gold coating and measures 40.88m. The Lotus Hill Tourist Resort displays a combination of ancient ruggedness and modern delicacy. Do not miss it when in Guangzhou.

Apart from its link with the flower, the name Lotus Hill also refers to a fairy tale. According to the story, a dragon, which lived in the South China Sea, used to create tidal waves to sink ships and flood the farmlands near the Pearl River. The ordeal of the local people moved the Goddess of Mercy and she threw her lotus seat and overpowered the dragon. People believe that it is this lotus seat that later transformed into the Lotus Stone, thus giving the hill its name. This is the very reason why you will find a gold statue of the deity on this hill.

There is a statue called the statue of the Goddess of Mercy, which is considered to be the biggest statue in the world. It was built in 1994 and has 180 gold teals and bronze that weighs 120 tons. Apart from this, the area also has some stone quarries that are about 2000 years old. The authorities have preserved these mines with enough care and they have now become an important part of the Lotus Hill in Guangzhou.

The quarry works from each of the past dynasties, dating back to the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD), leave behind a legacy of countless majestic red sandstone cliffs, perilous peaks, stelae and winding stone forests and grottoes. Visitors should not miss the Swallow Rock (Yan Zi Yan), Eagle Cliff (Fei Ying Ya), Goddess of Mercy Rock (Guan Yin Yan), and the Lion Stone (Shi Zi Shi), as they formed the essential stone landscape of this ancient stone yard.

Looking up from the Swallow Rock, one will see four cliffs circling around it, shaping the broad sky into a small well. The gigantic tottering cliffs are breathtaking and dazzling. Vines on the rocks are just like a green wall, forming a wonderful watercolor painting in the blooming season. Film and TV directors frequently use this place as their choice location.

The Lion Stone lies in the eastern part of the Lotus Hill. Due to the stone lion roaring towards the direction of the Pearl River, the hill is also sometimes referred to the "Lion Hill." According to archaeologist, this place used to be just a small island hundreds of years ago but with passing time, the land elevated and sea level dropped, resulting in what it is today. The Lion Stone, originally a rock on the side of the small island, took the current shape due to continuous erosion and weathering.

The famous Lotus Flower and Peach Blossom Festivals are held in Lotus Hill Tourist Resort annually. From June to August every year, more than 100 kinds of lotus flowers, the holy flower of Buddhism, are picked for the festival. Hence, if tourists were to visit there during this period, they would not only enjoy the grand landscape but also appreciate a myriad of blooming lotus.

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South China Botanical Garden

Besides the big zoo of Guangzhou in China, there is also a big botanical garden there. Located about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) to the north of Guangzhou city and covers 4,500 mu (about 741 acres), the South China Botanical Garden was built in 1929, which is the oldest and largest South Asian tropical botanical garden in China. It is reputed as 'Tropical and Sub-tropical Botanic Museum' because it contains the most species in China. Three parts consist of the South China Botanical Garden: the Dinghushan Nature Reserve, the Nursery and Exhibition Zone and the Research and the Residential Zone.

The Research and Residential Zone covers 552 mu (about 91 acres). It includes a herbarium with 1,000,000 plant specimens, a library with 200,000 books, and a network center. Built in 1956, the Dinghushan Nature Reserve is the first nature reserve in China and the only nature reserve of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It cultivates more than 2,400 types of plants. Additionally, the Dinghushan National Field Research Station of Forest Ecosystem is located here.

Apart from being a place where you will find various kinds of plants, the SCBG also facilitates research work in the fields of ecology, plant resources, systematic and evolutionary botany, gardening, landscape, and biotechnology. Throughout the past 50 years, it has also published various monographs and research papers. The researchers here have applied for 60 patents and have already won licenses on 40 of them. This will undoubtedly boost China's future research in the field of botany and ecology.

The sprawling South China Botanical Garden has three different divisions, which include the research and residential zone, the nursery and exhibition division, and the Dinghushan Nature Reserve. The research and residential zone has about 1,000,000 different types of plant specimens. These plants are conserved inside a herbarium. There is also a modern laboratory that helps the SCBG employees to carry on with their research work.

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Canton Tower

Canton Tower, formerly known as Guangzhou TV Astronomical and Sightseeing Tower, is a 600-metre (1,969 ft) tall multi-purpose observation tower in the Haizhu District of Guangzhou. The tower was topped out in 2009 and it became operational on 29 September 2010 for the 2010 Asian Games. The tower briefly held the title of tallest tower in the world, replacing the CN Tower, before being surpassed by the Tokyo Skytree in 2011. It was the tallest structure in China prior to the topping out of Shanghai Tower on 3 August 2013. It is now the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world.

The tower now has been a must-see scenic spot in Guangzhou. From the top, visitors have a birds-eye view of the whole city. Inside the tower are wonderful entertainment items, romantic restaurants with delicious food and several fine lookout platforms for shooting photos, some of them holding many top world records.

The tower is also noted for its unique design. Mark Hemel, the designer, was inspired by the bones of the female hip joint, and then he created a slim waist in the middle of the tower just as a fair lady twists her waist while looking behind. At the thinnest part, the diameter is about 32 yards (30 meters). Canton Tower has become a new city landmark and one of the Eight New Sights of Guangzhou. No matter when having a Pearl River cruises or just wandering along its bank, visitors can see the majestic tower.

At night, the tower glows and emits light, rather than being uplit. Every node in the lighting design is individually controllable to allow for animations and colors change across the entire height of the tower. Canton Tower can be divided into five zones according to the height, namely Zone E, D, C, B and A. Visitors can experience different joy inside the tower.

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Guangzhou Ocean World

Covering an area of 13,000 square meters (about 139,931 square feet), Guangzhou Ocean World is situated within Guangzhou Zoo. Here you can see more than 200 kinds of fish and many other rare ocean creatures. It is a high-tech exhibition hall offering sightseeing, entertainment, research activities and education purposes. You can learn a lot about the ocean creatures here.

A large-scale and multi-functional scientific and technological exhibition hall that mixes together entertainment, appreciation, scientific research and education, Guangzhou Ocean World is divided into several areas to reveal the submarine world in all directions, including Ocean Square, Relief Square, Submarine Tunnel, Deep Sea Scenery, Seaweed Pillar, Treasure Window, Fresh Water World, Rocky Seashore, Touch Pool, Sea Turtle Pool, Shark Hall, Hall of Popular Marine Science, Ocean Theatre, Sealion Amusement Park, etc. All these exhibition areas have distinctive specialties, vivid and true to life.

Before entering the exhibition hall, visitors are first greeted by the Ocean Square. It tells evolution stories of aquatic lives in the form of relief sculptures. Then, visitors enter the exhibition hall through a tunnel with elevators, where they will see colorful fish swimming around in a coral thicket. The coral thickets are so close to visitors that it is as if one can touch them and even have eye contact with the inhabitants.

Going out of the tunnel, visitors will see a two-storey high glass column full of kelp. The giant kelp look so naturally formed and fish are freely swimming among it. The next attraction is 'Deep-sea Scenery'. The water is 10 meters deep and the volume reaches 1,100 cubic meters (about 38,846 cubic feet). It is a microcosm of the real marine world. Varied and graceful corals display their beauty and elegance while different types of fish play with each other. There are also 8 other theme displays further telling you the stories happening in the subsurface marine world. Even the smaller exhibits house rare miniature creatures.

The 'Freshwater World' is 4 exhibits of fish from high mountains waters to low land pools. Besides these sites, a touching pond, rocky beaches, tropical rainforests, an ocean theater and education hall are also attractions of the Ocean World. Sharks, penguins, seals, turtles and sea lions live in specialized areas. Visitors may see scenes of sharks hunting, seals swimming, and southern China snowing, etc in these exhibition halls.

The World also offers interactive projects. Visitors can feed the ocean creatures themselves and have close communication with these interesting creatures. In addition, visitors can swim in the pond with trained sharks and turtles, equipped with diving outfit and accompanied by coaches holding certificates from World Confederation of Underwater Activities (CMAS).It is fun, exciting and safe as well.

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