A long and winding road
Sunwen West was named to honour the father of modern China.
A long and winding road
Sunwen West was named to honour the father of modern China.
The rainy season tends to limit my peregrinations. Nevertheless, I did make it to Zhongshan, the city welcomed me with a downpour, and sent me away again with an even bigger soaking, but for three days between arrival and departure, the weather was delightful.
I found Zhongshan to be a very livable city with numerous parks and green spaces for relaxation and recreation. It is approximately 40 kilometres north of Zhuhai, less than half an hour on the train, and boasts an excellent network of buses which ply shady, tree-lined streets. If it is not raining, it is an agreeable place to walk for shorter journeys. While you do still have to dodge the ubiquitous e-scooters, the pace of life generally is less frantic than in larger cities, and the people I met were both friendly and helpful.
The town’s history can be traced back almost a thousand years. A market grew up on the banks of the Shiqi River during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) and evolved to become a regional entrepôt trading, not just agricultural products, but a wide range of daily necessities such as fabrics, paper, bamboo, firewood, and traditional herbal medicines. Handicrafts and arts such as enamel and copperware, embroidery, porcelain, and other ceramics. Former road names such as Maiya Jie (selling duck street) and Zhuzai Jie (piglet street) testify to a vibrant trade in livestock.
Those roads no longer appear on the map, at least not under those names. The main thoroughfare through the town was Ying’en Street, or West Gate Outer Street. In 1921, the old city walls and gate were demolished. The Qijang Bridge, much loved by local photographers, now crosses the river in front of where the gate once stood. Ying’en Street was widened, and, at the western end, the myriad lanes and alleys that connected to it were buried under a terrace of elegant new quilu, or shophouses, with covered arcades or verandahs on either side of a long meandering paved section.
Restored quilu on Sunwen West (left) and the Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum and the Sihao Grand Hotel (right). Shiqui River and Qijang drawbridge (below)
The blueprint for the style originated in Southeast Asia. Stamford Raffles came up with the idea during his tenure as governor of Java (1811–1815). He ordered that a verandah five feet wide should be built around all shops in Batavia to protect pedestrians from both the fierce tropical sun and torrential rains. The style was later implemented across all of the Straits Settlements. The Chinese diaspora brought the idea back and blended it with both European and Chinese elements. In China, it is known as Nanyang, or southern seas, style.
Decorative pediments and parapets, arches, balustrades, columns, and the occasional cupola share space with traditional rafters and purlins and gables decorated with auspicious motifs. Inside, an open courtyard to promote good ventilation, while the outsides were painted with a variety of pastel shades punctuated with white trim.
In 2022 the road closed for architectural restoration and utility upgrades. It reopened in September 2025 and now stands as one of the finest examples of Nanyang-style architecture anywhere in southern China.
Two of my favourites stand next door to each other; On the right of a small lane, the Sihao Grand Hotel, formerly occupied by the Chung Shan Instone Banking Corporation. It is a tall, pale grey building topped with a cupola, and where bouquets of flowers soften granite steps which lead into a reception area dressed in period decor with a glittering chandelier.
Typical shops in the Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum
To the left of the lane, resplendent in pink stucco, is the Xiangshan Commercial Culture Museum. It stands at number 152, in the former Shiqi Commerce Committee building. I found the dioramas depicting old shops fascinating, and I learned how the city grew to become a major commercial hub with Zhongshan natives leading the comprador business in ports such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. Perhaps it was this, I mused, that had earned it the popular sobriquet, Little Hong Kong.
The home of a revolutionary
“There are a lot of Hong Kong celebrities who live in Zhongshan,” a resident told me, conspiratorially, over a coffee later in the day. I confessed that I know little of Hong Kong celebrities, or celebrities in general for that matter, “But I do know about Dr. Sun Yat-sen,” I quickly added. The look of worry that had begun to cloud their face brightened immediately.
Sun Yat-sen is regarded as the father of modern China and a much cherished ancestor of Zhongshan. So much so that in 1925, after his death, the city was renamed from Xiangshan to Zhongshan to honour him, and Ying’en Street was renamed Sunwen Road for the same reason. I should mention, at this point, that Sun Yat-sen was his Cantonese name; in the rest of China, he was known as Sun Wen. Sun Zhongshan is a Chinese pronunciation of the name he used during his time in Japan.
Sun was born on November 12, 1866, in a small village called Cuiheng, just to the south of Zhongshan. He was educated in Hawaii and Hong Kong. After graduating, in 1892, he began practising at the Kiang Wu Hospital in Macau. A year later, he founded the Chinese and Western Medicine Company at 80 Rua das Estalagens in Macau, followed by branches in Guangzhou and on Ying’en Street, Zhongshan.
The ancestral hall at Sun Yat-sen’s residence in Cuiheng (top). The building and one of the interior room (below)
His residence in Cuiheng and the old village, are now an open-air museum. It comprises several buildings. The most interesting of which is the one he lived in between 1892 and 1895. The house was built in 1892 with funds sent home by his elder brother, who had established himself as a successful planter and merchant in Honolulu. Sun personally oversaw the design and construction of the building.
He had converted to Christianity in 1884 and eschewed the strict principles of Fung Shui. The brick and timber house was built facing west instead of east, and comprised both western and traditional elements. The outer walls were plastered and painted red with white trim lines, and large windows to let in both light and air. A series of arches on both ground and upper floors with green glazed bottle-shaped balustrades along the upper floor balcony and parapet. At the centre of the parapet is a moulding of an eagle carrying a ring of coins representing courage, prosperity, and spiritual vision. The interior rooms have been furnished in a style typical of the period, with an ancestral hall at the centre.
I arrived quite early and found the old village itself to be an oasis of peace and tranquility, a collection of traditional houses all of which have been carefully preserved with period furnishings, punctuated with trees and other green spaces. A perfect place for a little quiet reflection, though this may change as the day progresses and more visitors arrive.
Nearby is a museum that goes into more detail about Sun Yat-sen, his life, and his revolutionary activities, but this is something to explore in a future article. In the meantime, perhaps I should focus on becoming a Hong Kong celebrity so that I, too, can have a house in Zhongshan.
• Cuiheng is about 30 kilometres south-east of Zhongshan. For those who like to travel independently, the K26 and K28 buses operate from various parts of the city.
• Zhongshan doesn’t have its own international airport but it can be easily reached from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Macau either by train or bus, and by bus or ferry from Hong Kong.
Hotel Suggestion
Zhongshan International Hotel
Related: Pigeons, raised and braised: The evolution and preparation of Zhongshan’s favourite delicacy