Posted 2018/4/10
Villa-Style Houses in Dongshan Community Mention Dongshan - a part of the original Dongshan district which was merged into the Yuexiu district in 2005 - and people will imaginatively relate the area to its historic buildings - Dongshan Yangfang (洋房, villa). These villas are roughly divided into two types - courtyard villas and apartment villas - depending on their architectural layouts. Steeped in the Western style, these two or three story houses are often painted bright red and yellow and have columned porches. Four typical villa architectures – Chun Yuan (春园), Kui Yuan (逵园), Jian Yuan (简园) and Ming Yuan (明园) are regarded as the most typical constructions of the existing 400 houses in the region, and are now protected by government laws. These four are constructed of reinforced concrete and red bricks, and have balanced gardens both in front of and behind the buildings, with much greenery on the walls surrounding them.
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Ming Yuan (明园)
Currently only the Chun Yuan is open to the public, as a history museum of the Chinese Communist Party leaders' residence. Relics, ornaments and historical documents, seen in the glass cabinets, remind visitors what the scene was like when it was a conference venue back in 1923. Behind the Chun Yuan is the stark red-brick Memorial Hall once used for meetings of the third "Congress of Chinese Communist Party". Opposite the hall is Kui Yuan now a private residence, the carved digits - '1922' – above its entranceway indicate the year of construction and were once a helpful coordinate for communist party members looking for their meeting hall.
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History of the Dongshan area Like the four gardens, other villas are mostly owned by the descendents of overseas Chinese celebrities, and the many military officers, and government officials who built the houses in the 1920-30s. In contrast to the Xiguan area which was then a flourishing area for the wealthy, Dongshan was still at that time very remote and desolate. Some churchmen from the U.S. also settled here to start their missionary work, purchasing houses, building schools and hospitals. When World War I broke out, many overseas Chinese returned to avoid the war, and as more and more decided to stay in Guangzhou, they tended to choose Dongshan, since many were Christians or Catholics and sending children to the religious schools was another consideration. Back then, the wealthy business families lived in Xiguan region and military officials set their homes in Dongshan, thus began the spread of a well-know saying 'Dongshan Shaoye and Xiguan Xiaojie' meaning 'Signorino in Dongshan and Ladies in Xiguan'. The phenomenon indicated that power and wealth had separately seized the eastern (Dong) and western (Xi) parts of the city.
