Green Guangzhou Part Two

Our after lunch touring continued at the Six Banyan Temple.  The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is an ancient Buddhist temple originally built in 537 in the Liang Dynasty in Guangzhou, southern China.  Six Banyan Temple is also known as Liu Rong Temple. It was built during the Song Dynasty. It has more than 1500 years of history, and also one of the historical temples in Guangzhou that open for the public to worship or visit. The entire temple compound are surrounded by green ancient banyan trees.

then it was on to the Chen Clan Academy. 
The Chen Ancestral Hall was located outside the west gate of Guangzhou City and built between 1888-1893. It was funded by Chen lineages in Guangdong province during the Qing Dynasty. It was used as a temporary residence when Chen lineage people came to Guangzhou for attending provincial imperial examination, designation, paying taxes, and engaging in lawsuits and other matters.

The Chen's Ancestral Hall has a total area of 15,000 square meters, floor space of 6,400 square meters. It is a symmetrical complex comprising 19 single buildings which are connected with verandas and interspaced by courtyards.  The Chen's Ancestral Hall is the largest, best-preserved and most gorgeously decorated traditional building in Guangdong Province.The entire building is decorated with arts including skillful wood carving, brick carving, stone carving, lime sculpture, pottery sculpture, iron and copper casting, and color painting.

 Next to Shamian Island- formerly known as Shameen Island or Shamin Island, from its Cantonese pronunciation, is a sandbank island in the Liwan District of Guangzhou city.  The territory was divided into two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom by the Qing government in the 19th century. The island is a gazetted historical area that serves as a tranquil reminder of the colonial European period, with quiet pedestrian avenues flanked by trees and lined by historical buildings in various states of upkeep. The island is the location of several hotels, a youth hostel, restaurants and tourist shops selling curios and souvenirs.

and a café in the park - caught our attention- LOL

then on to the Qingping medical market- where they sell traditional Chinese medical herbs and remedies- here is one review I found on the internet that I think covered it quite nicely- LOL.  "It's difficult to choose a classification for this activity... it's kind of a cross between 'Zoos' and 'Eating and Drinking' :-) "

then Dragon took us to the pet market-

one more stop - we decided to can the dinner we had reserved because we were stuffed from lunch (chicken feet are more filling than you might think- LOL)
so we went downtown to the pedestrian shopping street and walked along for a while - then we stopped at a coffee café in the main square for a drink and just enjoyed the nice evening before we had to return to our train home to Hong Kong. 

one thing you can say is that they don't skimp on the neon or electricity in China!

we headed back to the train station and caught our last train home- arriving back at the hotel just before midnight- and getting organized for our journey into the Yunnan province - flight leave late in the afternoon tomorrow- to Lijiang via Kunming... but that is another tale for another day...