Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

The Guangdong Folk Arts Museum, housed at Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, was established in1959 and is a National First-Class Museum. The museum site, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (inscribed as Chen's Clan Academy on its plaque), was completed in the 19th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1893). It is an ancestral hall jointly built by Chen clansmen from various parts of Guangdong in Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty, and was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit by the State Council in 1988. Integrating multiple architectural decoration crafts of the Lingnan region, including wood carving, brick carving, stone carving, pottery sculpture, lime sculpture, copper and iron casting, and painted decoration, Chen Clan Ancestral Hall is renowned as a "Pearl of Lingnan Architectural Art" and is the largest-scale, best-preserved, and most exquisitely decorated ancestral hall-style building surviving in China. The Guangdong Folk Arts Museum (Chen Clan Ancestral Hall) is a famous cultural tourism attraction in Guangzhou. It was named one of the "Eight Scenic Spots of Yangcheng in the New Century" in 2002, was rated as a National AAAA Tourist Attraction in 2008, and currently serves as a Guangzhou Patriotic Education Base and a Guangzhou Party Member Education Base.

In addition to its work in preserving, managing, and utilizing its museum site Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum also actively fulfills its responsibilities as a folk arts museum. Over more than sixty years since its establishment, through the generous donations of many patriots, renowned scholars, and national masters of arts and crafts—including Yang Quan, Shang Chengzuo, Rong Geng, Xian Yuqing, Tan Chang, and Li Zhifei—who cared deeply about our collection development, as well as the extensive collecting efforts of generations of museum staff, our museum has amassed a total ofover 20,000 pieces (sets) of precious cultural relics and modern arts and crafts masterpieces, of which nearly 3,000 pieces (sets) are nationally registered precious cultural relics. It is the art museum in Guangdong Province with the richest collection of Guangdong folk arts and crafts since the Ming and Qing dynasties. Our collection spans dozens of categories, forming its own system with distinctive characteristics. They are carriers of various techniques including Shiwan pottery, Guangzhou porcelain (famille rose), ivory carving, Guang embroidery, Guangzhou wood carving, brick carving, and stone carving, covering all categories of Guangdong crafts listed on the national intangible cultural heritage register. In recent years, our museum has strengthened the organization and research of its collections and conducted field investigations across various craft categories, while improving exhibition layouts and upgrading exhibition facilities, planning and holding multiple themed exhibitions, forums, and educational activities, making the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum a platform in the province for connecting with masters of arts and crafts and carrying out the organization, research, display, and education of traditional crafts.

In recent years, the museum has innovatively introduced digital technologies to monitor the safety of Chen Clan Ancestral Hall's historic buildings, as well as fire protection and security systems; built a digital experience hall and constant-temperature, constant-humidity storage rooms to compensate for the limitations of exhibition space and storage facilities; developed a ticketing monitoring system and built accessible restrooms and a visitor center; and fully leveraged its collection and audience resources to strengthen the commissioned development of cultural and creative products, continuously improving public service quality and promoting deep integration of culture and tourism.

Practical Information:

Opening Hours丨9:00-17:30 (last ticket sale and admission at 17:00)

Ticket Booking | https://wx.gzcjc.com.cn/