Shamian Island

Shamian was a sandbank in the Pearl River that the British and French took as a concession after 1859, filling and embanking it into an island of some three hundred metres by nine hundred, separated from the city by a canal and connected by guarded bridges. They built consulates, banks, churches and houses in European styles, planted the streets with banyans, and kept the island as a self-contained enclave with its own tennis courts and clubs. It survives largely intact, unusually quiet for central Guangzhou, with the buildings restored and used as offices, hotels and cafés, and the old Catholic and Anglican churches still standing.

History

From the Song to the Qing dynasties Shamian was an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade, and the foreign merchants of the 18th and 19th centuries lived in the Thirteen Factories just to the east. In 1859 Britain and France dug a channel to the north, making the sandbank an island, and divided it between them, three-fifths British and two-fifths French; two bridges, closed at ten at night, joined it to the city, the British one built in 1861, and trading houses from Britain, the United States, France and other countries built stone mansions along the waterfront (Wikipedia, Shamian).

What to look for

• The colonial streets - consulates, banks and houses under banyans.
• The two churches - the Catholic and Anglican buildings from the concession.
• The riverside walk - the Pearl River frontage and the canal.
• The quiet - a car-limited island in the middle of a large city.

When to go

October to April for comfortable weather; Guangzhou summers are hot and humid. Weekends bring wedding photographers who occupy the best backdrops. Evenings are pleasant along the river.

What to expect

Buildings are offices and hotels, not museums, and cannot generally be entered. The island is small and walked in an hour. Wedding photography crews are ubiquitous at weekends.

Nearby

Qingping market and the old town lie north; the Chen Clan hall is northeast.

Key facts