Life of Guangzhou - People's Park: the First Park in Guangzhou

People's Park

The pavilion in People's Park

The Warrior: Sculpture in People's Park

There is a station called, ‘Gong Yuan Qian’, at the crossing point of line 1 and line 2 of Guangzhou metro. Cantonese all know that ‘Gong Yuan’ refers to People’s Park. Originally the park’s name was Central Park, subsequently First Park, and now People’s Park.

The park was first opened on October 12th 1921. Shun Ke, the mayor gave a speech in the park at the opening ceremony, and about 200 thousand attended.

The architecture was simple. However, as the first park in Guangzhou, it still interested many people, especially the youngsters. Before this park was opened, young Cantonese had no large open areas for play except the banks of the Pearl River. The new park also provided a new place for dating at that time.

Cantonese did not know how to protect the park at first. It was even used by soldiers for drill exercises and as a consequence was seriously damaged. On August 12th 1923, the first park announced visitation rules, which were also the first park rules in China. There are still 6 sculptures spread around the park. The sculptures are the soul of the park and add greatly to its enchantment.

(By Luna Yang and Alan Devey)

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