Architecture
Former Soviet Consulate
- Hours
- No published visitor hours were found.
- How to visit
- The building is located at No. 68 Shamian Street. Sources do not state whether the interior is open to visitors or provide visitor rules.
- Hours
- About 15 min
Why it is worth the detour
Known as Shamian's Western Red Building, this consulate was swept into the violence following the failed Guangzhou Uprising in December 1927. Nationalist forces raided the mission, arrested its staff and executed five Soviet employees and several Chinese employees, helping precipitate China's break in relations with the Soviet Union.
The Former Soviet Consulate is a historical architecture landmark in Shamian, known for its role in the 1927 Guangzhou Uprising. It offers a glimpse into the tumultuous history between China and the Soviet Union.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
350 m
Shamian Island
A historical area with colonial European architecture and tranquil pedestrian avenues.
350 m
Shamian West Bridge
Built in 1861 as one of the concession's tightly controlled entrances, this small bridge physically marked the boundary between foreign-administered Shamian and the Chinese city. On June 23, 1925, British and French forces fired toward a huge anti-imperialist procession passing the bridge and canal, killing more than fifty people in the Shakee Massacre.
400 m
Former HSBC Guangzhou Branch
HSBC's monumental Shamian branch stood at the center of foreign finance in treaty-port Guangzhou. Its comprador Chen Lianbo used his banking position to build wealth and influence before leading the armed Canton Merchants' Corps, whose 1924 confrontation with Sun Yat-sen's government turned the concession into a base for political intrigue.
400 m
Guangdong Victory Hotel (Former Victoria Hotel)
Vietnamese revolutionary Phạm Hồng Thái attacked a banquet here in 1924, hurling a concealed bomb at French Indochina governor-general Martial Merlin; Merlin survived, five guests died, and Phạm drowned while fleeing. The bombing became the pretext for discriminatory pass regulations on Chinese workers, triggering the victorious Shamian strike later that year.
500 m
Zhan Tianyou Former Residence
Railway engineer Zhan Tianyou was born and spent his childhood in a Xiguan merchant household here; his ancestors had prospered in the tea trade. The family home once looked toward Liubo Creek and its boats, a vanished waterscape far removed from the mountain railway for which Zhan later became famous.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.