Meixian Songkou Zhongshan Park

Meixian Songkou Zhongshan Park

Zhongshan Park is situated in the heart of Songkou Town, Meixian. It was established in 1933 in the areas of Niujiaotang and Saibu Gang to honor Mr. Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary deeds during his visit to the local Tongmenghui branch in 1918. The park was initiated by local gentry such as Qiu Zhe and Zhang Zuoxin under the banner of the Songkou Education Association, with support from overseas Chinese and local patrons. It is one of the few renowned town-level parks in China. The park was named “Zhongshan Park” to commemorate President Sun’s personal visit to Songkou, where he encouraged the public to join the revolutionary cause—his merit and legacy deemed worthy of remembrance. Zhongshan Park serves not only as a leisure and exercise venue for the town’s tens of thousands of residents and a base for revolutionary tradition education, but also as an important part of the tourism resources of Songkou, a millennium-old town. Zhongshan Park today

Geographic Location

Location of the Park

Zhongshan Park is located in the center of Songkou Town, Meixian. Songkou Town is a township under the jurisdiction of Meixian County, Guangdong Province. It lies in the northeast of Meixian, downstream of the Meijiang River, in a small basin surrounded by mountains and water. Blessed with a superior geographic location and convenient land and water transportation, it serves as an important trade hub for surrounding towns. Once the second-largest inland river port in Guangdong, Songkou Town, after a thousand years of development, boasts rich Hakka cultural heritage and enjoys the titles of “Hometown of Culture,” “Hometown of Overseas Chinese,” and “Hometown of Mountain Songs.” Zhongshan Park covers an area of 37,180 square meters, including 7,000 square meters of land and 30,180 square meters of water surface.

Attractions

Marble Bust of Dr. Sun Yat-sen

In November 1986, to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s birth, a white marble bust of Dr. Sun was placed at the entrance of the park’s archway.

Luoyang Bridge

After the Anti-Japanese War, to honor the martyr Li Ai, an 83-meter-long “Luoyang Bridge” was built across the lake from south to north within the park. Luoyang Bridge

Mi’an Pavilion

In 1940, in admiration of the local hero Liang Miyin for his support of the revolution and his dedication to education, the community added “Mi’an Pavilion” to the park. Inside the pavilion are replicas of the “Certificate of Merit” specially awarded to Liang Miyin by Dr. Sun Yat-sen when he was the Provisional President, as well as calligraphy works and elegiac couplets by notable figures such as Chiang Kai-shek, Yu Youren, and Lin Sen.

Statue of Liu Hulan

Later Renovations

After more than 70 years of weathering, Songkou Zhongshan Park had become somewhat dilapidated. In response to the municipal government’s call to actively build a tourist city, the Songkou Town Party Committee and government carried out comprehensive renovations of the park. Building on previous investments of several hundred thousand yuan in repairing the perimeter wall, renovating Mi’an Pavilion, and constructing pathways around the lake, they recently raised over 100,000 yuan to build a small plaza in front of the Sun Yat-sen statue, establish a 60-meter green corridor by Luoyang Bridge, install sewage pipelines to divert and block pollution sources, and bring in mountain spring water from two kilometers away to improve the water quality of the lake. Additionally, over 2,000 square meters of turf were laid, and green spaces within the park were landscaped.

Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), also known as Wen, courtesy name Zaizhi, pseudonyms Jixin and Yixian, childhood name Dixiang, and alias Zhongshan Qiao, often used the name Zhongshan. He was born into a farming family in Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), Guangdong Province. Influenced by the revolutionary spirit of the people of Guangdong during his youth and inspired by the Taiping Rebellion, he became a pioneer of China’s modern national democratic revolution, a great forerunner of the Chinese democratic revolution, the founder of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang, an advocate of the Three Principles of the People, and the creator of the Five-Power Constitution. He was the first to raise the banner of complete anti-feudalism… More about Sun Yat-sen ++

Songkou Town: Located in the northeast of Meixian, downstream of the Meijiang River, Songkou is a small basin nestled between mountains and water. Following the merger of Songkou, Songdong, and Songnan towns, it has become the largest town in Meixian. The town has 41 village committees and 5 neighborhood committees, with a total population of over 69,000 and an area of 328.6 square kilometers. Blessed with a prime location and convenient transport links, it is served by the Meikan Railway, Provincial Highways S223 and S332, and the Meixian BaiDu to Dabu Sanheba National Defense Highway, making it a vital trade hub for surrounding towns. Once the second-largest inland river port in Guangdong, Songkou, after a millennium of development, possesses… More about Songkou Town ++