Sha Mian is a very interesting place in Guangzhou, and the main reason to come here is to see the architecture. The buildings here show the continental flavor of Guangzhou in the 19th century.
The streets of Sha Mian are covered with statues, pavilions, flower gardens, wooden chairs, fountains and other elements of Western-style streets. There are more than 150 European-style buildings on the island, of which 42 are characterized by prominent neo-Baroque, faux-Gothic, coupon corridor, neo-classical, and Chinese and Western styles of architecture, which is full of exotic European architectural complexes in Guangzhou.
The well-known buildings
The building at No. 2-6 Sha Mian Street, commonly known as the Red Building, was originally the Customs and Excise Chinese Club, three-storey high, red-brick masonry, with spiked attics built in the south and north, imitating the 19th-century British Romantic architectural style.
The building at No. 54 Sha Mian Street, originally the HSBC Bank, is four-storey high, with the external wall of the second floor built with through-columns to the top of the third floor, and a pavilion with a vaulted roof at the top of the building on the south-west side.
The building at No. 48 Sha Mian Street is a representative coupon corridor type building, three-storey high, reinforced concrete structure, the corridors around are in the shape of coupon arches, and the external walls are brushed with washed stone meters.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church at No. 14 Sha Mian Street, although small in scale and simple in structure, is still imitation Gothic in its entrance.
Travel Tips
Address: No. 53~54, Sha Mian North Street, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China
Tel: 020-81217557
Opening Times: All year round