Zhenhai Tower was built in 1380. It is also named five-storied tower because of its five-storied structure. In front of the tower are inscriptions from various dynasties, and on the right side are 12 ancient cannons.

Zhenhai Tower stands proudly on Yuexiu Hill, built on top of the last remaining section of Guangzhou’s City Walls. At a height of 28 meters, it is also known as Five Storey Tower or Five Storey Pagoda (presumably because it has five storeys) and was first built in 1380 by the orders of nobleman Zhu Liangzu. Zhu apparently built the tower as an expression of his power and these days it seems about the only thing for which he is remembered. Since his day, Zhenhai Tower has been destroyed and rebuilt five times and was also occupied by French and British soldiers during the First Opium War. Just outside the tower are a collection of cannons from this period.

It was turned into Guangzhou Municipal Museum in 1929, displaying the cultural relics of Guangzhou of different dynasties, which went through more than 2000 years. In 1950, it changed its name into Guangzhou Museum.
There is a horizontal inscribed board reading “Zhenhai Tower” hanging on the top of the tower, and a couplet at both sides of the tower: “thousands of disasters, tower remains, who reaches sky and stars, loftily stands; five hundred years, hero dies, now here am I, tears pass”.

However, if you visit the tower now, you will find that the city walls have been removed. – Zhenhai Tower in Guangzhou wad built in the architectural style of the Ming – This red tower still has cannons used by the British during the Opium Wars – You will find accounts of Guangzhou from Neolithic times till the early 20th century in Guangzhou Museum,.- History of the last 60 years says that the tower was destroyed five times and reconstructed after the ruins.

Zhenhai Tower is good reputed for its magnificence as one of the eight attractions in Guangzhou.
The tower lies atop the Yuexiu Hill, east to the Liuhua Complex of Guangzhou Trade Fair.

Guangzhou six banyan tree temple was built in 537, Temple of Six Banyan Trees is is one of the four best Buddhist temples in Guangzhou and located on the Liurong Road (meaning the Six Banyan Trees Road). It has a rich collection of cultural-relics and is renowned both at home and abroad. It enshrines three large Buddhist statues–the biggest copper Buddhist statues existing in Guangdong province. The thousand-Buddha copper pillar cast in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) is kept on the top story of the pagoda. The 184-foot pagoda appears to have nine stories; inside, however, there are 17 levels. Because of the colorful exterior carvings, it is popularly known as the Flower Pagoda.
An interesting construction stands in the temple grounds. The Hua Ta Pagoda is an octagonal building, reaching up seventeen storeys. The pagoda was constructed in 1097. With its blue glazed-tiles, vermilion beams painted wall and red pillars all in good match, it resembles a huge flowery column. The sculpture in the wooden eaves and the ceiling here is exquisite and there are hundreds of small posing Buddha’s peering out at visitors as they make the climb up the steep staircase. Because the pagoda is situated in the city proper, and when tourists stand on the top of it, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the whole city.
The temple is a symbol of Guangzhou. If you missed the temple and the Guangdong (Cantonese) food, you have not really been to Guangzhou. So, when you are traveling around the city, do not forget to have a taste of Guangdong (Cantonese) food and a look of the Six Banyan Temple. Thus every year on the Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, the temple becomes a busy area. Numerous people queue to burn the first joss stick in order to be blessed by gods in the coming year.
Features of Six Banyan Temple in Guangzhou
Tianwang Hall in Six Banyan Temple in Guangzhou has the Laughing Buddha
You will come across Six Banyan Pagoda or Flowery Pagoda inside the temple.
Six Banyan Pagoda consists of Buddhist relics and displays splendid architectural designs with curved roofs and the tip built like stamens
The entire pagoda looks like a stigma straight in the air
Daxiong Baodian Hall has three copper Buddhist statues with Sakyamuni in the middle, Amitabha on the left and the Apothecary Buddha on the right.
During Chinese traditional Spring Festival and Lantern Festival , joss sticks are burnt by numerous devotees

Shamian Island was an important port for Guangzhou’s foreign trade from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. From the 18th to the mid 19th century, the foreigners lived and did business in a row of houses known as the Thirteen Factories, near the present Shamian, which was then an anchorage for thousands of boat people. The territory was divided into two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom by the Qing Dynasty government in the 19th century. Trading companies from Britain, the United States, France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Japan built stone mansions along the waterfront. The construction on the island was characterized by climate-adapted but Western-plan detached houses with hipped roofs and large verandahs. The main buildings have plaques stating the year it was constructed and it’s origin.

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, with each building labeled as to its former purpose. One may start to imagine the stories staged in the building while seeing the plaque writing about its previous function, like “No.7 North Shamian Avenue” (Built during the Republican period, formerly the Administration Bureau of Broadcasting of the Nationalist Government).

Since the early 2000s, Shamian Island has become well known for the many Western couples who reside there while seeking to adopt Chinese babies and young children, most of whom are orphaned and female.
Shamian Island is the home to many extraordinary trees, many of them as old as 200 or 300 years…! Most of them have a small sign attached to them telling the age of the tree… Many tropical varieties can be found such as the famous banyan trees that have populated this region of China for ages…
The island was awarded to the British and French after the Opium Wars and European style architecture abounds here and the colonial influence is evident in houses, villas, churches and tennis courts. The French Catholic Church on the main street of the island is a nice example of the European influence. There is also a lovely park just off the main street.