Chen Clan Academy

Chen Clan Academy (Photo: Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau)

The Chen Clan Academy, home of the Guangdong Folk Arts Museum, is one of Guangzhou's finest examples of late-Qing Lingnan architecture and a national key cultural relic. Founded in 1959 and designated a national first-grade museum in 2017, the museum collects and interprets folk art from Guangdong and beyond. Its halls are filled with wood, stone and brick carvings, ceramic figures, ivory and jade work, Cantonese embroidery and other crafts. Permanent exhibitions on Lingnan folk art, the academy's own history and old Guangzhou homes reveal how architecture, crafts and everyday life come together.