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Guangzhou in bloom, a secret Oriental treasure
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Guangzhou, capital of southern China’s Guangdong Province, has many nicknames, including “city of flowers,” which pays tribute to the rich array of blossoms — both foreign and domestic varieties — around the city in all seasons.
Ancient Chinese poets praised rarely seen foreign flowers in Guangzhou more than 1,000 years ago. Arabic and Persian merchants who came to trade at its port brought flower seeds like garden jewelweed. Chinese women of yore squeezed its flower to paint their nails.
For centuries, Guangzhou has been the jewel of the Pearl River, a city of commerce that traded along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Traces of that history are still omnipresent in what is otherwise a modern metropolis.
“March is one of the best times to visit Guangzhou, to see not only the intriguing architecture of its rich history, but also to become immersed in its unique folk culture,” said Zhang Zhenkui, director in charge of the city’s cultural heritage.
Zhang pointed to the grand Boluo Dan Temple Fair, said to have started in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It’s a three-day folk festival when locals gather at the Nanhai God Temple to celebrate the birth of Boluo, the sea god. For a people so closely allied to the sea, worshiping the sea god was a way of praying for the safe return of merchant and fishing vessels.
The temple itself, located where Pearl River empties into the South China Sea, was built more than 1,400 years ago. It is one of the largest and earliest remaining sea god temples in the country.
This was the starting point for what was called the “Guangzhou Alien Route to Sea,” an official trade route recorded in historical annals more than 1,000 years ago. It carried silk, porcelain and tea to South Asia, East Africa and eventually Europe. It was also the site where the first American merchant ship arrived in 1784.
During the three-day event, thousands of performers and merchants show off their best, just like in ancient times. Millions of visitors enjoy local cuisine, watch demonstrations of ancient arts and buy souvenirs for good luck.
Legend says the sea god was originally an Indian diplomat visiting the Tang Dynasty at a time when thousands of ships visited these shores every year. Long before the term “international port city” was coined in modern trade lexicon, Guangzhou had already become one.
The story goes that the Indian diplomat missed the boat home and ended up living in Guangzhou for the rest of his life. He and his entourage frequently visited the temple area and planted dozens of trees nearby.
The highlight of the festival comes when the statues of the sea god’s five sons are carried around the area to pay tribute to their father. Many people follow the procession and touch the statues for luck.
The Boluo Chicken, a feathered clay figurine shaped as a hen, takes 36 steps to finish and is popular because the Chinese character for chicken sounds the same as that for “luck.”
The traces of ancient trade are displayed at the Thirteen Factories Museum in the downtown city cultural park. The museum was built in 2016 and houses thousands of artifacts related to Guangzhou’s maritime history.
The Thirteen Factories, or Shi San Hang in Chinese, were the only licensed international traders during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), when the overall national policy was to shut down sea transport for security reasons.
The neighborhood along the Pearl River was an exclusive area filled with warehouses and stores for international traders, who exported local silk, tea and porcelain, and imported watches and foreign artifacts for the imperial family. Despite the name, there were a lot more than 13 legalized factories at the peak. The locals of Guangzhou often call it the 72 factories.
Though the system of the Thirteen Factories was established in the Qing Dynasty, the area had long been a gathering place for foreign ships and merchants, which is reflected today in the street names of the neighborhood.
Huai Yuan Yi, which means a station to welcome those from faraway, was the official reception area, with about 120 rooms to house foreign diplomats and merchants.
Today’s visitors can still get a taste of times gone by through renovated stores, warehouses and rooms.
Exported artifacts in the museum span hundreds of years and differ from domestic articles. It’s interesting to note how craftsmen blended local and foreign skills to cater to overseas customers.
“Guangzhou colored porcelain was an export product since its creation more than 300 years ago,” said Tan Guanghui, a master of the porcelain skill that is now designated a national cultural heritage. “Many European aristocrats had porcelain tailor-made here with their family emblems. Some of the colors used were imported. It was truly a product of international trade from the very beginning.”
The Maritime Silk Road Museum in the nearby city of Yangjiang houses the Nanhai No.1 Shipwreck in an underwater crystal palace. The wooden vessel carrying thousands of export artifacts sank nearby at the end of the 10th century.
Discussions about designating the ancient Maritime Silk Road as UNESCO World Heritage began last year, with Guangzhou and 23 other cities along the route — including Shanghai and Ningbo — participating in the submissions.
Currently, artists from Guangzhou are traveling to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Cyprus, all main sites along the route, for cultural exchanges, with more trips planned.
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