Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

The most ornate Lingnan-style courtyard complex in China, built 1894 as the academy and ancestral hall for the Chen clan of Guangdong.

The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (also Chen Clan Academy, 1894) was built jointly by Chen-surnamed families across 72 counties of Guangdong as a clan academy and ancestral hall. The 19-building complex is the highest expression of Lingnan (southern-Chinese) decorative arts: brick relief, stone carving, woodcarving, ceramic figural roof ornaments, iron casting, painted plaster. Now functions as the Guangdong Folk Art Museum.