Guangzhou Cultural Park （East Gate）

This guide to Guangzhou Cultural Park traces how a flood-wrecked stretch of the old West Embankment became, in just four months in 1951, the grounds for the South China Native Products Exhibition and Trade Fair, meant to get goods moving again after years of war and shortage. It follows architects Lin Keming, Chen Boqi and Xia Changshi and the thousands of workers and volunteers who raced against an opening date they could not miss, and the fair's later life as it was renamed twice and became a gathering place for flower shows and lantern festivals. Walk the paths and picture the mud and debris that once covered the same ground.