Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is an octagon-shaped building in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The hall was designed by Lu Yanzhi and was built with funds raised by local and overseas Chinese people in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution. Construction work commenced in 1929 and completed in 1931. The hall is a large octagonal structure with a span of 71 meters without pillars, housing a large stage and seats 3,240 people.

The Memorial complex is composed of an archway, the memorial hall (main building) and accessory buildings, with the gated entrance made up of three small concrete arches. The middle arch is higher with a saddle-style roof, while the two lower side arches have double-eave hip rooftops, all covered by sapphire blue glazed tiles. Surrounded by columned aisles in four directions, the main Memorial Hall building is a striking and beautiful structure. Its roof is made of sapphire blue glazed tiles, and its epistyle eaves and corbel arches are covered with paintings and patterns. The Hall also features white and yellow brick walls, a dado made of stones from Liaoning, a granite Buddhist-style base, steps from Hong Kong and red columns and windows made of terrazzo. Below the brim of the central gate, there is an inscribed board which reads "The Whole World as One Community."

No pillars can be seen in the Hall's spacious lobby. All eight reinforced concrete interior pillars are concealed inside the walls, supporting the steel truss beams that form the basis of the massive octagonal roof. On the stage inside the hall, "The Testament of the Prime Minister" can be read below a carving of Dr. Sun Yet-Sen. The splendid interior decoration and the unique design of the structure prove that it is indeed an architectural masterpiece.

In front of the central entrance of the hall towers a bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, standing sentinel over a well-maintained expanse of green lawn dotted with old pine, cypress and kapok trees, as well as a variety of other plants and flowers.

The oldest ceiba in Guangzhou City grows in the hall, like a centuries-old man, witnessing great changes of this city; besides, you can also have a chance to see the two biggest white jade orchid trees of Guangzhou. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall will refresh you after visiting the bustling commercial metropolis and provide you with a moment to touch this great man in Chinese history.

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