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Liwan is the name of Guangzhou’s southwest district, bordered by Renmin Lu to the south and west. Not so long ago, in the (26) 1900s, this area of the city was renowned (27) its Cantonese restaurants, gardens, teahouses and boat rides on (28) many waterways. This was at a time (29) the Liwan area was (30) into a new town in much the same way (31) the Tianhe area is now becoming the place to be in Guangzhou.
Today, though, the Liwan district (32) rapid development (33) new high-rise apartment buildings are mushrooming everywhere. Most of the rivers that crossed the area (34) now disappeared, and (35) we can get to a boat ride is hiring a pedal boat on Liwan Lake. Fortunately, some attempt is (36) to preserve the area’s architectural and cultural heritage, particularly on the streets around Liwan Lake Park.
On Longjin Xi Lu, for instance, you can still see some of the Xiguan houses and (37) unique wooden doors. These large three or four-story grey-brick houses were built (38) a Western style, and the interiors were decorated with the best of local crafts, (39) stained glass windows and (40) wooden furniture. They were the (41) of the neighborhood at the turn of the last century.
As well as these Xiguan houses, the area (42) has some large European-style stone buildings. The Liwan Museum is (43) in one of these colonial buildings. It was built in 1912 for the local branch manager of a Hong Kong bank. The museum is stocked (44) with memorabilia (大事记) from Liwan’s colorful past—old photographs, maps, Cantonese opera costumes and (45) scrolls (名册). To find the museum, walk south along Longjin Xi Lu from the Liwan Lake Park’s entrance till the crossroads, then turn right.