Shamian Island
Shamian Island in Guanzhou, China
Shamian Island Photo Gallery (Downloadable Pictures)
Shamian, previous known as Zhongliusha or Shicuizhou, is an
elliptic sandbar in the Liwan District of Guangzhou City,
Guangdong Province. The island's name literally means "sandy
surface" in Chinese. Surrounded by water, Shamian is just
like a giant ship mooring alongside the wharf. Get further
and one will find that the island is carefully planned.
Three east-west avenues, Shamian North Avenue, Shamian
Avenue and Shamian South Avenue, and five north-south
streets, Shamian Street 1 to Shamian Street 5 divide the
whole area into 12 parts, with various buildings, namely
White Swan Hotel, Shamian Hotel, and Poland Consulate in
Guangzhou, scattered around.
Shamian Island has great historic significance. From the
Song and the Qing Dynasty, Shamian Island served as an
important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade. Shamian became
a strategic point for city defense during the second Opium
Wars (1856-1860). In 1859, the territory was divided into
two concessions, given to France and United Kingdom (of
which 4/5 went to the British and 1/5 to the French). It was
then embanked and provided with streets, drainage, and
imposing buildings and became home to a prosperous foreign
enclave. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, most of the
public facilities were finished, including political
buildings like consulates, cultural buildings like churches
and schools, as well as commercial buildings like banks and
firms. After 1949, the mansions of Shamian became government
offices or apartment houses and the churches were turned
into factories. But later they were restored, in many cases
to their former splendor. Each building has a label telling
its former purpose. One may start to imagine what stories
these building held while viewing the plaque writing about
its previous function. One example is "No.7 North Shamian
Avenue" which was built during the Republican period and was
formerly the Administration Bureau of Broadcasting of the
Nationalist Government. The mansions in Shamian form the
best preserved Western Europe style building complex in
China. Forty-two out of 150 buildings are counted as the
most exotic ones, Gothic, Baroque, and Neoclassical, in
Guangzhou.
Shamian, Guangzhou Since the early 2000s, Shamian Island has
become well known for many Western couples who reside there,
seeking to adopt Chinese babies and young children, most of
whom are orphaned and female. In particular, the White Swan
Hotel, adjacent to the Consulate of United States in
Guangzhou in Guangzhou and convenient to file paperwork and
handle bureaucratic matters, has become a hotel of choice.
Shamian is 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. Dues to traffic control on the island, Shamian
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.
(ChinaTravelGuide.com)
