Qijiang Park

Qijiang Park

Qijiang Park is situated in the central area of Zhongshan City. It was formerly a shipyard, an industrial heritage site. The theme park was built on the ruins of the old shipyard, introducing design ideas from Western environmentalism, ecological restoration, and urban renewal, serving as a successful example of preserving and repurposing industrial sites. The shipyard, once a symbol of Zhongshan’s socialist industrial development, operated from the early 1950s until the late 1990s.

It encompasses urban environmental redevelopment in a city center, landscape design under specific conditions, and in recent years of park design in China, its site foundation, conceptual origins, structure, and methods have all started from a completely different point of view. Some visitors describe it as an "alternative" park design. The designers retained a large number of original industrial elements from the shipyard, including old factory buildings, machinery, abandoned water towers, as well as dense banyan trees along the riverbank, lush water lilies and iris by the lake, scattered bamboo groves and banana clusters on the embankment—making it a truly unique, large-scale park with an industrial theme.

The park's design has won several prestigious awards, including the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) 2002 Honor Award, the 2003 China Architectural Art Award, the Gold Award at the 10th National Art Exhibition of China in 2004, and the 2004 China Modern Outstanding Ethnic Architecture Comprehensive Gold Award. Later, leveraging its exceptional natural resources, the park developed additional attractions such as an Ice and Snow World, Hollywood Ghost City, Zhongshan’s first sightseeing cable car, human cannonball rides, space flight simulators, outdoor go-karting, hiking, a golf driving range, paintball combat, and a Military Expo Center (where you can drive tanks, ride armored vehicles, or fire cannons). Recently, it has also introduced three major new projects: an Elite Film Stunt City, a Colorful Ocean Aquarium, and Guangdong Province’s first electric rock climbing machine. The resort now offers over 60 recreational activities that are sure to delight visitors. The Xixia Valley Outdoor Activity Base features exciting experiences such as horseback riding and archery.

Along the banks of Qijiang River in Zhongshan, lush green lawns and rows of ancient banyan trees line the area, with hotels and businesses standing nearby. When night falls and the lights come on, the charming scenery along both sides of the Qijiang River unfolds in full view, captivating visitors who find it hard to leave. Qijiang Park, transformed from an old shipyard, not only showcases the beauty of natural ecology in its gardens but also highlights the aesthetics of modern industry.

In the park’s design, the architects and engineers sought to express a richer representation of spirit and meaning. This can be summarized in two phrases: “Pursuing the beauty of time, the beauty of industry, the beauty of wild grass, and the beauty of unexpected elevation contrasts; cherishing the culture beneath our feet—the everyday culture, the culture once overlooked and now fading away.”

The Zhongshan Art Museum is located within Qijiang Park in the West District of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. It is the park’s main building and also the first art museum in the history of Zhongshan City. Qijiang Park was originally the famous Yuezhong Shipyard in Zhongshan. As a symbol of Zhongshan’s socialist industrial development, the shipyard operated from the early 1950s until the late 1990s. In May 2001, the Zhongshan Municipal Government transformed the Yuezhong Shipyard into a park. The site of the Zhongshan Art Museum was originally a factory building of the Yuezhong Shipyard. After the shipyard was converted into Qijiang Park, the municipal government decided to repurpose the factory building as the Zhongshan Art Museum. Construction began in 2002, and the museum officially opened to the public on November 6 of the same year.

The Zhongshan Art Museum covers a construction area of 2,500 square meters, with an exhibition hall area of 1,300 square meters and a total display line of 330 meters. The museum building was designed by experts including Dr. Yu Kongjian from Harvard University in the United States, blending European avant-garde aesthetic concepts with post-industrial era design features. The two-story art museum uses a large number of pipes, steel bars, and I-beams in its structure. It employs a striking color scheme with iron-blue steel frames and bright lemon-yellow walls—two highly contrasting hues—as its main tones. Large floor-to-ceiling windows give it a distinctively European flair, while the exhibition halls and rows of display panels that move freely along tracks create a highly modern atmosphere.

Since its opening in November 2002, the Zhongshan Art Museum has organized over 20 temporary exhibitions each year through various means such as hosting touring exhibitions and collaborative shows—all free of charge. Since its inception, the museum has adopted the concept of “greater art,” focusing its collection efforts primarily on masterpieces by artists from Zhongshan across generations. Through donations from artists who have held exhibitions at the museum and contributions from members of the public, the museum has gradually amassed a collection of works donated by artists at various levels, with its collection capabilities continuously improving.

Zhongshan Art Museum

Opening Hours

All day

Location

On the banks of Qijiang River, West District, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province

West District Subdistrict: The West District is located in the western part of downtown Zhongshan. Serving as the western gateway to the city center, it covers an area of 25.21 square kilometers and governs nine community resident committees, with a permanent population of about 100,000, including over 40,000 registered residents. Major transportation routes such as the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway, National Highway 105, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Road, Jiangzhong Road, New Qijiang Road, North Outer Ring Road, Bo’ai Road, Fuhua Road, Zhongshan Road, as well as the under-construction Ta’ao Expressway and Xiaolan Expressway, crisscross the district, making it an important transportation hub in Zhongshan.

Since its establishment in 1984 and merger with the former Shalang Town in 1999, the West District has... West District Subdistrict — More Details ++