Site of Southern Yue State

On my last day in China I did a morning tour of my host city: Guangzhou. I started in Shamian Island and then made my way to the city center where I followed the tourist trail to visit the sites of the Southern Yue State. I failed to find the watergate but visited the palace museum and the tomb.

OUV

I found the ruins of the palace and the tomb a bit underwhelming. I know they are 2000 years old, but so are Roman ruins and these tend to be more impressive. The tomb has few decoarations and is very small. Even Svesthari looks great in comparison, let alone a site like Aigai. The musuem in Aigai is also superior in its presentation of the tombs, how it combines the visit of the site with the treasures found and the mood it sets.

I do see, though, that it seems weird not to have a Southern Yue state site considering the size and history of the region. My recommendation to the Chinese would be to go the European way and create a serial nominations including more archeological sites to tell more of the Southern Yue's history.

Getting To

All components are within walking distance in the city center of Guangzhou. I couldn't see/find the watergate. At the noted location is a shopping center. My assumption is that the gate is inside the shopping center, but I couldn't check this out as the shopping center …