Shantou Intangible Cultural Heritage Cunxin Charitable Hall

The original site of Shantou Cunxin Charitable Hall is located at No. 57 Waima Road, Shantou City. Built in the 25th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1899 AD), it is a complex of three interconnected temple-style buildings covering an area of approximately 2,500 square meters. The founder, Zhao Jinhua (also known as Jiaozao Bo, circa 1851–1921), was a native of Chaoyang who worked in Shantou. He invited the wooden statue of Master Song Dafeng from Mian'an Charitable Hall in Chaoyang to be enshrined in the ancestral hall and vigorously promoted Master Song Dafeng's spirit of performing good deeds and accumulating virtue. The original buildings feature exquisite decorative arts such as ceramic inlays, wood carvings, stone engravings, and painted lacquer, representing the crystallization of traditional local architectural artistry. Charitable halls are highly developed in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and have even become a distinctive part of Chaoshan culture. Among them, Shantou Nan Cunxin Charitable Hall is the most influential and serves as a living specimen of Chaoshan's charitable hall culture. Nearby attractions along the same route include the Water Dragon Bureau (Firefighting History Museum), Christian Zion Church (Shixi Church), and the Shantou Diocese Cathedral.