View Shopping Cart Your Famous Chinese Account Shopping Help Famous Chinese Homepage China Chinese Chinese Culture Chinese Restaurant & Chinese Food Travel to China Chinese Economy & Chinese Trade Chinese Medicine & Chinese Herb Chinese Art
logo
Search
March 8, 2014
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
Shamian Island

Wikipedia

 
Shamian Island (Chinese: 沙面岛, pinyin: sha mian dao) in the city of Guangzhou in the Guangdong province of China, was a concession given to European and American traders operating in Guangzhou area by the Qing Dynasty|Manchu government in the 18th century. At the time, the city was referred to as Canton. It literally means "sandy face" in Chinese.

It covers an area of 24,000 sq meters and today is a gazetted historical area that offers a touch of European culture and calm, in the contrast to the of hectic conglomeration of Guangzhou's new construction and fast pace. Avenues flanked by trees, lined by historical mansions makes it a among the most romantic and popular places to visit. There are prominent hotels, a youth hostel, restaurants and shops selling curios and souvenirs.

Also of interest are the bronze statues scattered around the island depicting life of previous occupants of the island. One, surprisingly titled, "A gentleman, a lady and a darn woman" shows a Western couple and a Chinese lady darning cloth. Others depict modern day phenomena, including a series of statues depicting Chinese women throughout history. The statue of a modern day Chinese girl is one in shorts talking on her mobile phone.

A Guangzhou Metro|metro station (Huangsha) is located within five minutes walking distance from the island.




Since the 2000s, Shamian Island has become famous for the proliferation of Westerners coming to adopt Chinese babies, most of them female. The White Swan Hotel is famous for its elegance, but also for being the waystation for babies being adopted and taken to the United States and Europe. One reason for the popularity is that the American consulate is on Shamian, making it convenient to file paperwork and handle bureacratic matters.



  • http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-01/17/content_299805.htm China Daily on Shamian

  • http://members.fortunecity.com/shamian/ Map of Shamian


Category:Guangzhou
Category:Islands of Guangdong

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Shamian Island".


Last Modified:   2005-04-13


Search
All informatin on the site is © FamousChinese.com 2002-2005. Last revised: January 2, 2004
Are you interested in our site or/and want to use our information? please read how to contact us and our copyrights.
To post your business in our web site? please click here. To send any comments to us, please use the Feedback.
To let us provide you with high quality information, you can help us by making a more or less donation: