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About Mei Family Compound
Taishan's own official publicity account, carrying a China News Service feature, records that returnee overseas Chinese Mei Bingran and Mei Jianxing, back from studying in Japan, founded Tingjiang Market in their home area; the compound covers 80 mu and comprises 108 two-to-three-storey arcaded buildings arranged in a rectangle. Of the 104 founding shares, more than half were held by shareholders surnamed Mei, giving the compound its common name, Meijia Dayuan. The buildings were designed by Hong Kong designers and built with cement imported from Britain on a unified frame structure, with individual owners incorporating the style of the countries where they had lived overseas into the traditional Lingnan buildings.
The report describes roof sculptures reflecting individual owners' overseas origins: a double-coin sculpture for a self-made businessman, a windmill for a returnee from the Netherlands, a crowned figure modelled on a deity from the Palace of Versailles for a returnee from France, and a dragon-boat-flower sculpture for a returnee from Myanmar. Taishan retains nearly 90 surviving qiaoxu market towns of this kind, of which the report says Meijia Dayuan is the best known, and the compound has more recently served as a location for screen productions including Let the Bullets Fly and The Knockout.
What to look for
- The 108 two-to-three-storey arcaded buildings arranged in a rectangle.
- The roof sculptures on individual buildings, each reflecting a different owner's country of overseas residence, including a windmill, a crowned Versailles-style figure and a dragon-boat flower.
- The compound's unified frame construction and British-imported cement, described by Wu Zhenping, who has lived in the compound since childhood, as very advanced at the time.
Location & getting there
Getting to Mei Family Compound
Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.
- Search for 梅家大院 with 江门市 and 台山市.
Find Mei Family Compound
梅家大院 · 台山市
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Sources & visit information
The linked sources support the identity and background described in this introduction. Opening hours, admission, activity availability and exact arrival arrangements have not been comprehensively checked. Confirm current visitor information with the venue; the original catalogue locality and editorial review flag are retained.