The Yuexiu District Museum is set in the Five Celestials Shrine on West Huifu Road, which is a corn god temple built in 1377 for the worshipping of five celestial beings.
It's said that during the reign of King Yi of the Zhou Dynasty (894-879 BC), five celestial beings came to Guangzhou riding through the air on five rams holding rice ears in their mouths. The celestial beings presented the rice ears to the people as an auspicious sign from heaven that the area would be free from famine forever, and then flew back into the sky and the rams turned into stone; hence, the nickname of "City of Rams" and "City of Rice Ear" for Guangzhou. The Five Celestials Shrine was built in honor of the five celestial beings.
The Yuexiu District Museum is an integrated historic museum founded in 1999. The large hollow in the rock in the shrine courtyard is said to be the impression of a celestial being's foot. The museum contains the No. 1 Tower of Lingnan, a rear palace, statues of the five celestial beings, and historic artifacts. It also presents a bonsai show, a show of historic maps of the ancient Guangzhou town, a show of black and white photography of places of historic interest in Yuexiu, and a show of folk arts and crafts on a long-term basis.
The Five Celestials Shrine is a provincial-level protected cultural heritage site.
※ Address: Five Celestials Shrine, West Huifu Road, Guangzhou
※ Opening Hours: 9:00-17:00
※ Admission: RMB 5
※ Tel: 83323508
※ Fax: 83336853
※ Transportation: Take Bus No. 3, 6, 66, 74, 82, 124, 217, 227 or 541 and get off at the West Huifu Road station.
(Translated by Guangzhou Association of Foreign Affairs Translators)
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