Chen clan's compound offers visitors rare insight into past

An ancestral hall in Guangdong province continues to draw visitors thanks to its history, culture and art.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, also known as the Chen Clan Academy, sits in downtown Guangzhou, the provincial capital. Built in 1893 by various clans carrying the same surname during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the ancestral hall is one of the biggest of its kind in Guangdong.

"People often had to visit Guangzhou for business dealings and imperial exams, so they were in need of a place to stay," explains Huang Haiyan, director of the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum, which was established in the ancestral hall in 1959.