Completed in 1910, it is the only well-preserved example of guildhall architecture from the late Qing Dynasty, with open compounds and a 10-metre-high scarlet dry-brick boundary wall.

After construction, it was first used as a gathering and sacred place by some fruit merchants from East China's Fujian Province, receiving the name "Heavenly Queen Palace". The "Sanshan" were actually three famous mountains in Fujian Province - Yu Mountain, Ye Mountain and Niaoshi Mountain.

Located on 239 Bansongyuan Lu of the old Nanshi District, now 1551 Zhongshan Nanlu, the hall was surrounded by deep alleys and numerous residential buildings. Covering an area of about 1,000 square metres, it was richly ornamented with carved beams and painted ridgepoles.

The distinctively lofty and elegant eaves exemplify a unique construction style. The top of the bluestone doorframe is a vast transversal stone upon which the building's name is engraved, along with other fancy basso-relievo serving as decoration.

The whole compound looks refined but with primitive simplicity.

Upon entering, an old stage can be seen set up just opposite the main hall, also graced by delicate craftsmanship.

The ceiling is splendidly decorated, all in wood construction which - though bearing the marks of weathering - has remained intact. And, miraculously, the stage even has a sound-amplification effect during performances, which attests yet again to the ingenuity of the designers of that time. A couplet carved on the double-stone column facing the hall reads, "Gather grand sights at all times whilst passing through different times, with fervent music can we gain the sublimation of sentiment and grace."

The contemporary development of Shanghai has endowed the hall with something more than aesthetic value. The west wing of the guildhall was used as a Party headquarters in 1927, during the third armed uprising and it is now regarded as a historic site commemorating the Revolution.

In 1985, during the construction of the Zhongshan Nanlu, the local government earmarked funds to relocate the main hall, a project that lasted for another three years.

The municipal government appropriates funds each year for refurbishment and protection. Now the Sanshan Guildhall has been reborn as the Shanghai Exhibition Hall of Folk Collections, with a host of photographs, artifacts and drawings, mostly form Fujian Province.

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