|
|
|
|
|
About Us
The Meixi Royal Stone Archways is located at Mei Xi Village in Qianshan town, Zhuhai City. It occupies 126,000 square meters. Its main sceneries are the first Chinese consulate in Hawaii at the end of Qing Dynasty, the oversea Chinese millionaire Mr. Cheng Fang’s hometown, Cheng family’s history, Chinese stone archways exhibition, Zhuhai famous people’s waxwork, art gallery and articles, and so on. It put the famous people, folk-custom and cultural relic protection together. It is an ideal place for relaxation and very popular for sightseeing.
It would be helpful for you to know some basic history regarding Cheng Fang before you visit Meixi Royal Stone Archways. Cheng Fang was born in 1825 in Meixi Village, Zhuhai. He left home for Hongkong and Macau to learn more about commerce. After the Opium War in 1849, he went to Honolulu to do business with his uncle when he was 24 years old. He worked as an apprentice in the store and then began his own business planting cane and making sugar. Later he became a millionaire and was labeled “merchant prince of the sandalwood mountains”. In Hawaii he married the Hawaiian king’s nominal sister Julia in 1857 and was soon elected a member of the privacy of Hawaiian Kingdom. He was appointed as first Chinese consul in the Hawaiian consulate by Guangxu Emperor in Qing Dynasty.
Cheng Fang returned home in 1890, and worked tirelessly and enthusiastically for people in his hometown in his later years. He died in Macau in 1906 and was buried in his hometown Meixi.
Cheng Fang’s home was built from 1891 to 1896. Including a Cheng ancestor’s temple, three big houses, a flat (this was typical Chinese buildings constructed in the Western-Chinese style) and a flower house. The total building area is 2,495 square meters and the building combines western culture with Chinese architectural traditions. The entire building has exquisite engravings. Furthermore, the houses and alleys are separated by flagstones and gray bricks. An abundance of rare flowers and plants were planted in front of the house. The Meixi Royal Stone Archways is surrounded by stone walls and there are some sentries at the west and east of it. All of these aspects compose Cheng family’s manorial style buildings.
Cheng family’s gardens and tombs occupy 72,000 square meters. Now the brand with “胜地佳城”(excellent place),aniseed booth, flagstone road, and the special tree which Cheng Fang brought over from Hawaii has remained for over 100 years and are still healthy.
The Meixi Royal Stone Archways is located at the place of Cheng fang Garden. Now, there are three stone archways left, which were built in 1886 and 1891. They were built by Guangxu Emperor in honor of Cheng Fang and his families. The stone archways are built from granite. It combines the architectural art of the west and east and it has many wonderful engravings. It is regarded as a major artistic treasure of Zhuhai. So highly regarded by the Zhuhai government is this building that it was pointed as the “Special protection item of old architecture” by Guangdong province government in 1989.
The Cheng Fang family’s history exhibition room, Zhuhai famous people’s waxwork, rare pictures and articles in Cheng Fang’s home has showed the content of the architecture, the rare pictures and articles, folk-custom, the famous people and the lives of overseas Chinese.
Exhibition room with model building reproduction has the reproductions from 24 cities, such as Beijing, Shangdong, Anhui, Shanxi, and so on. All of these have shown the Chinese talent and the brilliance in architecture art.
There are 24 famous people’s waxworks in Zhuhai famous people’s waxwork hall, including Cheng Fang’s, Rong Guotu the first Chinese who got the world champion of table tennis and so on. They have contributed a greats deal to our history.
Cheng Fang family’s history exhibition provides an interesting insight into Cheng Fang’s life in Zhuhai before he went abroad, how hard he worked in his business and how he came back to Zhuhai to build his hometown.
The pictures and articles on display also include many famous people, including the pictures from eight famous people from Yangzhou.
The Meixi Royal Stone Archways area has a very beautiful garden scenery, and its service facilities are excellent. It is not far from the city, and making your way there and back easy. It is a good place for you to visit.
|
|
|
