Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is located in the original site of Sun Yat-sen's Presidential Office on the south slope of Yuexiu Hill. The hall was designed by Lu Yanzhiwas and built in 1931 with the funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's bourgeois democratic revolution.
Constructed in traditional Chinese style with an octagonal shape, the hall remains an important meeting place. A bronze statue of Dr. Sun was placed in front of the hall in 1956 after the Communists came to power. The building today in many ways symbolizes the city, and has become a key venue for the city's large-scale meetings and performances.
this memorial features a grand theater and lecture hall that can seat 5,000 people.
About Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866-12 March 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary, first president and founding father of the Republic of China, and medical practitioner. Dr. Sun Yatsen, the founder of Guomintang which over threw the Qing monarchy, made Guangzhou his headquarters during the 1920's. As the foremost pioneer of the Republic of China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic of China (ROC), and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the years leading up to the Double Ten Revolution.
History of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is built to commemorate the great revolutionary forerunner Sun Yat-sen and funded by Guangzhou local people and overseas Chinese. During 1921-1922, Sun Yat-sen assumed the office of the President of the Republic of China in this place, and it was call Presidential Palace at the time. Then the Presidential Palace was destroyed on June 16, 1922 in a political mutiny. After the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925, to commemorate this great revolutionary forerunner, Guangzhou people built this Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in 1931 on the original site of the presidential palace. The construction of the Memorial Hall started in 1928, the foundation stone laid in 1929, and completed in 1931. It covered an area of 62,000 square meters, the main building had a total area 12,000 square meters, being Asia's largest synagogue architecture and the world's largest Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
How to go to DR. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
The memorial hall is accessible from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station of Guangzhou Metro. It is suggested to spend about 2 hours to visit there.