The newly completely Pawn Museum on the site of the former Dongping Pawn House at the interaction between Zhongshan Si Road and Central Yuexiu Road, will be opened to the public free of charge on August 3, according to Yuexiu district officials. The first one of its kind in china, the new museum will chronicle the history of GuangZhou’s pawn industry and is set to become a new tourist attraction in Guangzhou.

The Dongping Pawn House is a landmark in the city centre. Standing in the middle of Zhongshan Si Road, the pawn house was the second largest one in Guangzhou in the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), during which it was commonly known as the “Eastern Gate Pawn House” and rivaled the Baosheng Pawn House at the western gate on Zhongshan Road VII. The Dongping Pawn House was originally comprised of two buildings, both of which are no longer in existence. The only original structure standing on the site is the storage house, which is more than 100 years old. It has a square shape and has five floors on the north side and four floors on the south side, resembling as a pillbox when seen from the front.

According to the prawn house’s new owner, Xinhengsheng Pawn Co., Ltd., the museum will be open from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM daily, but for heritage preservation considerations, no more than 30 visitors will be allowed into this 400-square-metre museum each time.