Former Site of French Legation in Guangzhouwan 广州湾法国公使署旧址

About Former Site of French Legation in Guangzhouwan

Its two-storey frontage rises above a bluestone base and basement, with a clock tower marking the roofline. Studying the proportions from outside gives a clear impression of the architecture even when interior access is limited. Haibin Park provides a second, waterfront setting for the visit, across the road from the historic building.

On 16 November 1899, France and the Qing government signed a treaty leasing parts of Leizhou's Suixi County and Gaozhou's Wuchuan County, covering 518 square kilometers, as French territory. The French Legation building (公使堂) was completed in 1903 and the French military headquarters building (绿衣楼) in 1905. From February 1943 to September 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Guangzhouwan, the Japanese military command was based at the legation building and its military police at the headquarters building. In January 1946 the Nationalist government established Zhanjiang City from the former leased territory, with the city government based at the legation building.

From 1950 to 1954 the Zhanjiang municipal government also worked from the legation building; after 1955 it was used successively by the Zhanjiang Children's Palace, the Zhanjiang branch of South China Institute of Technology and the Zhanjiang No. 1 Radio Factory. The military headquarters building became a police station after 1946 and has been used by the Public Security Bureau since 1949.

The Former Site of the French Legation was listed as a Zhanjiang municipal cultural relic protection unit in 1986 and a Guangdong provincial cultural relic protection unit in 2002; in 2013 both this site and the Former Site of the French Military Headquarters were listed together as Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位).

What to look for

• The European-style clock tower breaks the long roofline of the two-storey building.
• The raised bluestone base and basement give the facade a distinctive vertical arrangement.

Location & getting there

Getting to Former Site of French Legation in Guangzhouwan

Use 3 Haibin 1st Road in Xiashan District’s Hankou community. The building is opposite Haibin Park; use the named historic building as the destination rather than another former French administrative site.