The Guangdong Guild Hall is located at 31 Inner Nanmen Street, Nankai District, classified as the important heritage site under state protection and the special protection historic architecture in Tianjin, and it is used as the theater museum right now.
The Hall was constructed in 1907, sponsored by Tang Shaoyi, Governor of Tianjin Customs, and his fellows. It served the people from Guangdong Province for their gatherings. It is regarded as the biggest and best-decorated guild-building complex among this type of the constructions preserved in Tianjin. And it also had got its theater present with the most tasteful environment and acoustics.
It was the place where Dr. Sun Yatsen gave his speech in 1912, Madam Deng Yingchao with the members of her Consciousness Organization came to send round the hat in 1919 and the Tianjin Federation of Trade Unions under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party was founded. Moreover, many masters of the Peking Opera gave their performances here, such as Sun Juxian, Yang Xiaolou, Mei Lanfang and Xun Huisheng, etc.
The complex is a design of a Chinese traditional enclosing layout, further with the characters of the courtyard houses in Chaozhou Area of Guangdong Province. It is brick-wood structured with the fair-faced walls. Elegant carvings made of brick and wood would be seen anywhere from the main rooms and their doors/windows. Brackets and coffers in special shapes were arranged densely against the arched roof, in order to enhance the effects not only of the decoration but also of the acoustics.
