James Baquet

    MODERN visitors to Guanlan might never suspect the role it played 100 years ago. But the small river here runs north all the way to Guangzhou and thence into the Pearl River, making more believable the idea that this was once one of the four main markets of Shenzhen.

    Little today remains of that past glory. But the nearly deserted streets, the former Gongyi Hotel (1923), and the century-and-a-half-old banyan tree evoke a sense of the past like few places in the city.

    Right in front of the banyan is a Buddhist temple built in 2010 with the incongruous name of Guanlan Old Temple. (There WAS an old temple here, the keeper insisted; hence the name, despite the temple’s shininess.) It’s so new that only one of its seven statue pedestals is occupied so far, by the pop-Buddhist figure of Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion.

    But other than this jarring note, the place reeks of age.

    Yet, all is not lost. In one of the unoccupied buildings, I spied a folk altar, and a crew of old ladies fashioning figures of horses to be decorated for an upcoming celebration. So there’s life in the old place yet!

    To get there, take bus 300B, 312, 332, 370, or others to Jisheng Jiudian (吉盛酒店). Walk north past the Shenzhen Development Bank, through Laojie Park (actually nowhere near the Old Street ), out the north gate, and keep making your way north through alleys and back streets until you hit the river, just half a kilometer or so from the bus stop. Then look for the big tree and the lofty watchtowers.