Almost every town in China has a park or road named Zhongshan , a tribute to China's first Republican president, the remarkable Dr Sun Yatsen - "Yatsen" is the Cantonese pronunciation of "Zhongshan". Unless you need to change buses, there's no need to visit ZHONGSHAN itself, a characterless county town 100km from Guangzhou, but 30km east of here on the coastal road to Zhuhai is the good doctor's home village of CUIHENG , now the site of a memorial garden (daily 8.30am-5pm; ¥5) celebrating his life and achievements. Transport from Zhongshan town and from Zhuhai (35km south) sets you down right outside, where there are also a few cheap places to eat and buy ice creams.

 

Along with a banyan tree supposedly brought back from Hawaii and planted by Sun, the grounds incorporate a comprehensive museum of photographs, relics (including the original Nationalist flag) and biographical accounts in English emphasizing the successful aspects of Sun Yatsen's career. There's also the solid, Portuguese-style family home where he lived between 1892 and 1895, "studying, treating patients and discussing national affairs with his friends". Out the back of Sun's home are some rather more typical period buildings belonging to the peasant and landlord classes, restored and furnished with wooden tables and authentic silk tapestries - the main difference between Cuiheng's rich and poor seems to have been the quality and quantity of their possessions. Moving on , public transport heads in both directions along the highway until at least 6pm.