Architecture sights in China
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Central Escalator
The world’s longest covered outdoor people-mover is part commuter travelator, part sightseeing ride and part pick-up procession. It consists of elevated escalators, moving walkways and linking stairs on the 800m hill from Central’s offices to the bedroom communities of the Mid-Levels. The best part is gliding by the Shelley St bars; there’s just enough time to make flirtatious eye contact with the denizens within.
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Luóhàn Sì Arhat Temple
Just a 10-minute walk from Liberation Monument, the 1000-year-old Buddhist Luóhàn Sì Arhat temple stands in stark contrast to the concrete jungle outside its gates. Luóhàn is the Chinese expression of the Sanskrit arhat, which is a Buddhist term for those enlightened disciples who have overcome the bondages of greed, hate and ignorance.
The temple's most striking feature is a long corridor of Song dynasty rock carvings. Among these carvings are a large bronze Buddha and an Indian-style jataka mural of Prince Siddhartha cutting his hair to renounce the world. There are also over 500 terracotta arhats, which could not withstand fires, bombs and pollution, and so have b…
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Lippo Centre
Though the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank building and the Hong Kong International Airport in Chep Lap Kok (1998) – both by English architect Norman Foster, in Late Modern high-tech style – may be Hong Kong’s best-known modern architecture, there are quite a number of fine modernist buildings in the territory designed by old masters. The Lippo Centre, which resembles koalas hugging a tree, is a pair of office towers built in 1987 by American Paul Rudolph.
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Great Wall
The Great Wall (Changcheng) wriggles fitfully from its scattered remains in Liaoning province to Jiayuguan in the Gobi Desert. The wall was begun over 2000 years ago, required thousands of workers - many of whom were political prisoners - and 10 years of hard labour. Legend has it that one of the building materials used was the bones of deceased workers.
An estimated 180 million cubic metres of rammed earth were used to form the core of the original wall.
The wall never really did perform its function as an impenetrable line of defence. As Genghis Khan supposedly said, 'The strength of a wall depends on the courage of those who defend it'. Sentries could be bribed.
Howeve…
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HSBC Building
Make sure you have a close-up look at the stunning headquarters of what is now HSBC (formerly the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank) headquarters, designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster in 1985. The building is a masterpiece of precision, sophistication and innovation. And so it should be. On completion in 1985 it was the world’s most expensive building (it cost upward of US$1 billion). The building reflects architect Sir Norman’s wish to create areas of public and private space and to break the mould of previous bank architecture. The ground floor is public space, which people can traverse without entering the building; from there, escalators rise to the main banking hal…
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Zhaojue Temple
The Zhaojue Temple dates back to the 7th century and has since served as a model for many Japanese and Southeast Asian Buddhist temples.
During the early Qing dynasty, Zhàojué Sì underwent extensive reconstruction under the supervision of Po Shan, a famous Buddhist monk who established the lovely waterways and groves you see here today. The effect is impressive and the grounds are quieter and more spread out than at Chéngdū's other temples.
Little of the temple's original architecture survived the Cultural Revolution, and serious restoration work was only undertaken in the last decade. There are several pavilions, though all except the imposing prayer hall were being…
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Ice House Street & Lower Albert Rd
This street has many interesting buildings. The attractive off-white stucco and red-brick structure at the top of the road is the Dairy Farm Building, built for the Dairy Farm Ice & Cold Storage Company in 1898 and renovated in 1913. Today it houses the Fringe Club and the illustrious Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong. Towering above the Dairy Farm Building on the opposite side of the road is the Bishop’s House, built in 1851 and the official residence of the Anglican Bishop of Victoria. From the Dairy Farm Building, Ice House St doglegs into Queen’s Rd Central. Just before it turns north, a wide flight of stone steps leads down to Duddell St. The four wroug…
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Government House
Parts of this erstwhile official residence of the governor of Hong Kong, opposite the northern end of the Zoological & Botanical Gardens, date back to 1855 when Governor Sir John Bowring was in residence. Other features, including the dominant central tower linking the two original buildings, were added in 1942 by the Japanese, who used it as military headquarters during the occupation of Hong Kong in WWII. Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee Hwa, refused to occupy Government House after taking up his position in 1997, claiming the feng shui wasn’t satisfactory, and his successor, Donald Tsang, has followed suit. Government House is open to the public three or fo…
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Former Hankou Railway Station
Wǔhàn's history of foreign influence has bequeathed a noble crop of heritage architecture dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in Hànkǒu. Hànkǒu's concession-era streetscapes hint at Shànghǎi's Bund district, despite the neglected condition of many buildings. Walk down Jianghan Lu (with its echoes of Shànghǎi's Nanjing Lu) and Yanjiang Dadao, where Hànkǒu's Bund is located.
The imposing shell of the gutted, French-designed former Hankou Railway Station, at the north end of Chezhan Lu, dates from 1900 and remains decorated with green roofing, an eagle over its main door and a plaque that reads 'Hank'eou (Tatchemen)' (in modern pinyin p…
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Former French Mission Building
The Court of Final Appeal, the highest judicial body in Hong Kong, is now housed in the neoclassical former French Mission building, a charming structure built by an American trading firm in 1868. It served as the Russian consulate in Hong Kong until 1915 when the French Overseas Mission bought it and added a chapel and a dome. The building was the headquarters of the provisional colonial government after WWII. Tree-lined Battery Path links Ice House St with Garden Rd. Just before the mission building is pretty Cheung Kong Garden, which developers were required to lay out when they built the 70-storey Cheung Kong Centre to the south.
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Qibao
Well within reach of the centre of town (8km southwest of Xujiahui), the ancient canal town of Qibao dates back to the Northern Song dynasty (AD 960–1127), reaching its apogee during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Qibao is littered with traditional historic architecture, threaded by small, busy alleyways and cut by a picturesque canal. Vestiges of village handicrafts survive, including traditional wooden-bucket makers, a traditional distillery and a remarkable miniature carving museum. If you can blot out the crowds, Qibao will bring you some of the flavours of old China.
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Cold Mountain Temple
About 2km west of the Garden to Linger In, the Cold Mountain Temple was named after the 7th century poet-monk Han Shan. Han Shan has exerted a surprising amount of influence on 20th century literature, first showing up in the work of Beat writers Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac, and later in the poetry of Irish Nobel prize-winner Seamus Heaney.
Today, the temple holds little of interest except for a stele by poet Zhang Ji immortalising both the nearby Maple Bridge and the temple bell (since removed to Japan). However, the fine walls and the humpback bridge are worth seeing.
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Golden Summit Temple
The magnificent but clearly recently renovated Golden Summit Temple at the Golden Summit (Jīn Dǐng; 3077m) is as far as most hikers make it. Covered with glazed tiles and surrounded by white marble balustrades, the temple now occupies 1695 sq metres. The original temple had a bronze-coated roof, which is how it got the name Jīn Dǐng (which can also mean 'Gold Top').
It's constantly overrun with tourists, pilgrims and monks, and you'll be continuously bumped and jostled. Sadly, the sun rarely forces its way through the mists up here.
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Long Life Monastery
Reconstructed in the 9th century, Long Life Monastery is the oldest surviving Éméi temple. It's dedicated to the man on the white elephant, the Bodhisattva Puxian, who is the protector of the mountain. This 8.5m-high statue is dated from AD 980, cast in copper and bronze and weighs an estimated 62,000kg.
If you can manage to rub the elephant's hind leg, good luck will be cast upon you. The statue is housed in Brick Hall, a domed building with small stupas on it and the only building left unharmed in a 1945 fire.
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Santa Sancha Palace
Avenida da República along the northwest shore of Sai Van Lake is the oldest Portuguese section of Macau. Here are several grand colonial villas not open to the public. The former Bela Vista Hotel, one of the most-storied hotels in Asia, is now the residence of the Portuguese consul general. Nearby is the ornate Santa Sancha Palace, once the residence of Macau’s Portuguese governors and now used to accommodate state guests.
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Pagoda Of Buddhist Ashes
This 13-storey brick pagoda dates back to AD 1044. A small museum on the peaceful grounds includes relics removed from inside the pagoda. Take bus 205 from the North Tomb or the south train station and get off at the corner of Taiwan Jie and Ningshan Lu. Walk north, cross the bridge and turn right. The pagoda is a three-minute walk north of here. Look for a red gate on the right.
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Five Officials Memorial Temple
Five Officials Memorial Temple is an attractive Ming temple (restored during the Qing dynasty) dedicated to five officials who were banished to Hǎinán in earlier times. The famous Song dynasty poet, Su Dongpo, was also banished to Hǎinán and is commemorated here. Take bus 11 or 12 and get off one stop after the east bus station.
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Five Phoenix Hall
Five Phoenix Hall is a striking Ming dynasty, Naxi 20m-high edifice dating from 1601 but only moved to its current location in 1979. Its three roofs with eight eaves each are supposedly in the shape of phoenixes. It's located at the far side of the Black Dragon Pool near an art exhibition building and a pavilion with its own bridge across the water.
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Jokhang Temple
Also known in Tibetan as the Tsuglhakhang, the Jokhang is the most revered religious structure in Tibet. Although little remains of its 7th-century origins - most of its sculptures postdate the Cultural Revolution - it is thick with the smell of yak butter and the murmur of mantras, and bustles with awed pilgrims. An unrivalled Tibetan experience.
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Tianhou Temple
On the western side of Gǔwénhuà Jiē is the fascinating Tianhou Temple. Tianhou (Heaven Queen), goddess of the sea, is also known as Mazu and Niangniang. The main hall is the Niangniang Palace, with its effigy of Tianhou in a glass case, flanked by ferocious-looking weapons and attendant monsters.
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Duolun Road Cultural Street Architecture
This restored street of fine old houses was once home to several of China's most famous writers (as well as Kuomintang generals). Today it has a few excellent antique shops (No 181 is the best), some historic architecture (the brick Hóngdé Temple at No 59 is a Christian church) and a few cafes – the Old Film Cafe, next to the bell tower at the bend in the road, shows old Chinese films. The Shànghǎi Duōlún Museum of Modern Art occasionally gets decent exhibits of contemporary Chinese art, but quality varies. The street ends in the north at the Moorish-looking Kong Residence (No 250), built in 1924, with its Middle Eastern tiles and windows.
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Dazheng Hall
Don't miss the octagonal Dazheng Hall with its coffered ceiling and elaborate throne, where Nurhachi's grandson, Emperor Shunzhi, was crowned. The central courtyard buildings include ornate ceremonial halls and imperial living quarters, including a royal baby cradle.
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Confucius Temple
A Ming dynasty relic, it's worth poking around the Confucius Temple for its daily antiques market (Wénmiào Gǔwán Chéng) selling piles of books, propaganda posters and pamphlets from the Cultural Revolution - weekends are busiest.
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Hong Kong Club Building
The new Hong Kong Club building, a reincarnation of Hong Kong’s first gentlemen’s club, was designed by Australian Harry Siedler in the ’80s and features opposing concave and convex curves reminiscent of a swimming stingray.
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Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts
With its striking triangular atrium and an exterior Meccano-like frame, which is a work of art in itself, the academy building (1985) is a Wan Chai landmark and an important venue for music, dance and scholarship.
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