Pun Tong (Pan Tang) is an area in Liwan that breathes history amidst a carefully manicured landscape.

Pun Tong – A Waterfront Area

The morning was still a little gloomy from the frequent thunderstorms. But it was my last morning in Guangzhou and I must seize the opportunity to do sightseeing. The Liwan Lake Park is very close to the guesthouse, and so I headed out early in the morning.

In the very ancient days, the Pun Tong area used to be a part of the sea. Then the silt and the sediments of Pearl River accumulated and a land mass was formed in the lowlands since the Tang Dynasty. The early villagers planted many, many Lychee and Longan trees. Liwan, with its first character meaning Lychee, thus acquired its name, to mean “the Bay of Lychee.” This area had many ponds as well. These ponds were hand-dug by the villagers, and for a long time they kept fish and lotus pads there.

The Pun Tong Cultural District

The villages of Pun Tong have been in existence for nine hundred years. During the Qing Dynasty, the Pun Tong villages were the richest in the province.  Lychee and lotus root farming were major sources of income for the villagers.

Like the other revitalized areas that I have visited in China, such as the Yongqing Fang, Enning Lu, and the Gankeng Ancient Hakka Townlet in Shenzhen, Pun Tong also underwent a process of creating a mixed heritage-business, and in some cases including residential, model. Although the whole area on which the current Pun Tong Cultural District now stands used to be populated villages, much of the residential area was cleared to make way for a revitalized district in 2007.

The most famous of the villages is the “Fifth Yeuk of Pun Tong.” A “yeuk” is a village organization. It is usually a reference to a given village. There were five “yeuks” in Pun Tong, and I only saw the Fifth Yeuk and the Fourth Yeuk there.  After the revitalization, the Fifth Yeuk of Pun Tong remained as a mere showcase of a snapshot of old Pun Tong life.

The Fifth Yeuk was indeed photogenic. I noticed a number of interesting heritage and business establishments. There were coffee shops, sculptors, a magic theater, and a youth hostel that looked incredibly hip. None of these were opened in those morning hours, but I enjoyed myself as I walked down the neighborhood without having to stop for other tourists.

The Five Treasures of Pun Tong

The mushy, low lying fresh water ponds of Pun Tong have enabled the abundance of the “five treasures of Pun Tong.” They are aquatic plants and food crops. The five treasures are lotus roots, arrowhead, water chestnuts, water bamboo, and buffalo nuts.

Panxi Restaurant

Like Tong Kee Chicken Congee and Noodles, Panxi Restaurant is also a Michelin Guide restaurant with a long history. In 1947, it began as a village eatery serving dim sums and dishes made from the five treasures of Pun Tong.

In 1958, the government invested in the construction of the restaurant’s current site. The landscaping, which really is quite amazing on the shore of Liwan Lake, was the work of architect Bozhi Mo. During the Cultural Revolution, the restaurant bore the typical name of Friendship Restaurant. In 1972, the prime minister of Nepal came to China for a visit, and he requested to visit Panxi. The restaurant then changed its name back to its original in order to greet the VIP guest. At the time, most other restaurants could not use their former names.

I passed by Panxi Restaurant before it officially opened for business at 7:30. The restaurant is on the way to the Pun Tong Cultural District.  Surely, there was a crowd waiting for morning dim sum there, and they were mostly older diners. I first toured the Pun Tong Cultural District, then stopped at Panxi for the last proper meal I would have in Guangzhou.

Although I was eating alone, I ordered generously because I wanted to try out different dim sums. The restaurant has clearly positioned itself as a high-end establishment, as you can tell from the grand décor inside.

What amazed me however was the manicured garden space that one must pass through before entering the dining hall. It really was very beautiful.

As to the food, I have a feeling that what earned the restaurant a spot in the Michelin Guide was rather its supper menu and not the dim sum. The ha gow (steamed shrimp dumplings) were incredibly satisfying. Each morsel took me three bites to finish. All the other dim sums were also fair in terms of taste and generous in terms of portion. But it would not really be a Michelin grade in my opinion.

Time was running out, and I had in mind two more sightseeing spots. The Liwan Museum was next.

Sources

Descriptions on site.

The Wikipedia on Pun Tong (Chin).

The Wikipedia on Panxi Restaurant (Chin).

After touring at the Yongqing Fang, I returned to the guesthouse to rest a bit. I was very eager to see my room. I also hoped to take a quick shower to cool down.

It was rainy season in Guangzhou and literally ten minutes after I returned to my room, a thunderstorm came. That stalled all my plans for sightseeing in the late afternoon.

The next morning, I was ready to go at 7:00am. Just as I was tying my shoelace, another storm came. The rain seemed to have stopped 20 minutes later, so I decided to head out as planned. The itinerary of the day was Shamian.

The Shamian Island

Shamian is a sandbank island on the southern edge of Liwan District in Guangzhou. Situated on the riverside of the Pearl River, the area was, for centuries, a foreign trading post. Shamian’s role as the conduit of trade spanned the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was also a place of leisure and tourism as well.

In the more recent 19^th century, Shamian was a location of heavy foreign presence. Many countries have set up their consular offices in this area. In fact, the Polish Consulate of Guangzhou is still in Shamian today. Needless to say, it was also a prime location for business operations, such as foreign banks and trader offices (the “Hongs”—like the Thirteen Factories).

This would be the appropriate moment to bring back the memory of the Thirteen Hongs of Canton. This history is closely related to Shamian as we know it now. In 1856, the Second Opium War broke out. Great Britain launched extensive firepower against Guangzhou. This touched off a wave of local protests that resulted in the Thirteen Factories Enclave being burnt to the ground. The Second Opium War would last till 1860, during this time the British had taken control of Guangzhou.

Given Shamian’s historic role as a trading post, it came as no surprise that Shamian was eyed by the foreign powers as their foothold in Guangzhou. Shamian became a concession area for Great Britain and France beginning in the 11^th year of the Xianfeng Reign (1861). The British abandoned the plans for rebuilding the Thirteen Factories Enclave, and instead looked to build Shamian.

Shamian was made into an island when the British dug a canal that cuts off the 0.3km² area from its natural terrestrial attachment. A cluster of buildings with exceptional colonial architecture came into being when Great Britain and France took over. The colonial-style buildings, which came in a variety of European architectural styles such as Neo-Baroque, imitated Gothic, neo-classical and Chinese eclectic, made this whole area an “open space museum” that it is today.

The concession area would remain under British and French control until around 1943. By that time Japan had already launched a full-on war in the pacific. The control of the area was handed to the puppet government of Wang Jingwai. He had agreement with the Japanese government, and his administration was short-lived and limited in scope.

Shamian Today

One of the main reasons why I went to Guangzhou was to see Shamian. The area’s quasi-colonial history is in the same vein as the history of the Thirteen Factories, which was in shamian’s vicinity. This history of Liwan is furthermore closely related to Hong Kong. After the Second Opium War, Kowloon was ceded to Great Britain pursuant to the Convention of Peking. As I was born and raised in British Hong Kong, the developments of this history in Guangzhou were what will eventually shape my early life.

Shamian spans an area of 0.3km² and land access is by bridges.

When I arrived, I first noticed the wonderful old trees that are everywhere in the district. Although in a somewhat rainy morning they looked a little eerie, I found them to add a touch of antiquity to the scenery.

It is a pity that there was no individual introduction to the buildings themselves and their former use. But most of the buildings were in good condition. There were a wide array of architectural styles. Every building looked different.

A very pleasing sight is the thoughtful placement of bronze statues all over the Shamian area.

I also took some time to see the Pearl River. It supplies the water that I drink daily in Hong Kong, and therefore it is literally mother nature for me.

In any park space in China, you can always observe recreational activities. It is no exception in Shamian. People do their taichi, play their badminton and practice dancing.

Allow for two hours of touring to see all the nice colonial architecture in the area. The many food and dining establishments in the area offer you the opportunity to sip coffee in a heritage building.

Yangcheng Tong

The Yangcheng Tong is the store-value payment card that enables convenient e payment in Guangzhou’s public transportation system, including the Metro and the buses. You may acquire one at the 7-11’s, but only with cash. The card itself costs 20 yuan, and you should top up at least 50 yuan to start.

If you do not have Yangcheng Tong, then you must set up Alipay or WeChat Pay for public transportation, and for bus fares I do believe you need another app that requires a China telephone number for registration. In all likelihood the Yangcheng Tong is a better option for tourists.

The reason why I needed Yangcheng Tong was that I had to take a bus to see the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the Yuexiu district. I could not activate the app for paying bus fare without a Chinese telephone number, so I acquired a Yangcheng Tong.

How to Get There

The closest Metro station to Shamian is the Huangsha Station on Line 1.

Sources

The Wikipedia on Shamian.

The  Wikipedia on the Second Opium War.

The Wikipedia on Shamian (Chin).

Baidu on Shamian (Chin).

I walked for about 8-10 minutes from the Changshou Lu Metro Station to the Origin Antique House and Hotel. Even from afar it looked delightful. It was clearly an old and a much larger structure even compared to the many old houses I saw on the way.

The feeling of a déjà vu continued as I walked along Baoyuan Road. Besides old buildings, there are also some retro-looking restaurants. Some have revitalized the antique buildings and they offer food in reasonable prices as well.

The Origin Antique House and Hotel

The Origin Antique House and Hotel is located in a convenient location in the Liwan District of Guangzhou. The hotel (it’s more like a guesthouse, but certainly more luxurious than a hostel) opened its doors for business three years ago, during the beginning of the pandemic. Thankfully the owner does own this property and so there was at least no rental obligations for the business.

The building that gives home to Origin Antique House and Hotel was formerly owned by a military general of the Kuomintang and it was his home. After New China, the building went through different phases. There was a time that it became a public rental and many residents cramped in its space. The descendants of the military general negotiated for ten years before they could regain their exclusive possession of the premises. Because the descendants live in different places in the world now, it took the owner, Ms. Ding Xiang and her husband, more than a year before they closed the deal.

Ding Xiang’s husband is a collector of antiques. This building then becomes the venue where he showcases his antique collection. For example, at the reception on second floor, there lies a set of Chinese mahogany table and chairs as the main workplace for the housekeeper. Further in the corner sits a beautiful 200-year antique sofa, from the Qing Dynasty.

I do believe that some rooms are indeed furnished with the antique furniture, such as a Qing Dynasty bed frame. My room came with the normal furnishing, since it likely was the cheapest room in the whole establishment. There are a total of eight private rooms in this guesthouse.

Chan Tim Kee and its Wonderful Fish Skin

I decided to head out to lunch first. My destination was Chan Tim Kee, which is a highly reputed neighborhood restaurant known firstly for its cold blanched fish skin in soya sauce, and then congee and other small plates.

Fish skin is no longer so commonly available in Hong Kong, because people worry about parasites. Therefore this dish does bring back some nostalgia for me. It comes out super chewy and the soya sauce is a wonderful accompaniment. Topped with a handful of peanuts, the crunch matches the savory taste perfectly. I also ordered a boneless pig trotter, it came in hearty slices, and I dipped the meat into the soya sauce of the fish skin. That was also heavenly.

There was still a bit of time before my hotel room would be ready, so I decided to head out to Yong Qing Fang, which lies in the vicinity of the restaurant, for a first look at Guangzhou.

Source

The Origin Antique House and Hotel, introduction on-site.