Zhongshan is unique for its strong connection to the early 20th-century reformist Sun Yat-sen, so it is no wonder that most of the sights in the city involve the venerable leader and, because of the very same reason, the Memorial Hall of Dr. Sun Yat-sen is a must-see sight of Zhongshan. 

A little farther east on Sunwen Lu, the Memorial Hall of Sun Yat-sen pays homage to this city’s most famous Sun. The memorial hall was built with the generous donation of 10 million HKD by a Zhongshan-origin Hongkongnese, Mr. Guo Desheng; the construction began on February 1, 1982 and was completed in April, 1983. On November 12, it was officially open to tourists 

The memorial hall, together with the lawn in the front, covers 30, 000 square meters. The hall is an imposing and solemn building cluster with an area of 8,400 square meters and a height of 35 meters, featuring the exhibition of the revolutionary experience of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the history of Zhongshan. 

The memorial hall was inscribed by Mr. Liao Chengzhi, the former vice chairman of NPC. The hall is composed of three buildings which are unique in perfectly applying Zhongshan (the Mandarin pronunciation of Yat-sen) to its design. A bird’s eye view enables visitors to find the building cluster arranged in the form of  (the character of Zhong), but looking from the front, visitors will find the buildings in the form of  (the character of Shan). 

The front building is a three-storied structure. On the first floor, a grand white marble bust of Dr. Sun Yat-sen sits in the middle hall and the specialties of Zhongshan are displayed in the side halls. Old photographs, revolutionary scripts, and documentary films fill the second floor dedicated to Dr. Sun’s revolutionary activities. The third floor consists of three pavilion tops, one big octagonal one in the middle, and two square ones on both sides. Such a designs makes the building, looked from the front, resemble the Chinese character ? (Shan in Chinese). The big pavilion top in the middle is a VIP room and the symmetrical pavilion tops on both sides are lounges for VIPs. 

The building in the middle is a modern air-conditioned theatre which can seat an audience of 1,477 and is equipped with hi-tech, theatrical staging and audio visual equipment, so many local and international dance and music performances are often held here. 

The building in the back has 6 showrooms, displaying the historical relics of Zhongshan, the revolutionary history of Zhongshan and the history of oversea Zhongshanese. It houses nearly 8000 historical relics, many of which are unearthed relics, ranging from the faience of Neolithic Period to the historical relics of the Qing Dynasty. These relics are sure to contribute greatly to the research of the history of Pearl River Delta.