After Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty reunited China in 589 AD, he reorganized the administrative divisions of China, and established the capital of Guangzhou Prefecture at Nanhai County, in modern central Guangzhou.
The government of Guangzhou was then built at the site of People's Park.

For over a millennium, People's Park had been the site of Guangzhou or Guangdong's regional government.
At the end of the Ming dynasty, after most of northern China was conquered by the Manchu Qing dynasty, the Ming prince Zhu Yuyue proclaimed himself the Shaowu Emperor in Guangzhou, with his palace located at People's Park.
After the Qing forces captured Guangzhou in 1647, Shaowu committed suicide and Guangdong became the domain of general Shang Kexi, titled King of Pingnan, who continued to have his palace at People's Park.

After Shang Kexi's son Shang Zhixin participated in the failed Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the Qing court put him to death in 1680 and took direct control of Guangdong.
People's Park became the office and residence of governors and viceroys.
A series of officials, including Ruan Yuan and Zhang Zhidong, made improvements to the area.
Ruan named its garden "Wanzhu" (ten thousand bamboos).

During the Second Opium War (1856–60), the joint British and French force occupied Guangzhou for three years.
Realizing they could not govern the city by themselves, they installed a puppet government headed by Bogui, an ethnic Mongol who had been the Qing acting governor of Guangdong.
A grand inauguration ceremony was held in the park, which was considered a humiliating event by the defeated Chinese.
After Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty reunited China in 589 AD, he reorganized the administrative divisions of China, and established the capital of Guangzhou Prefecture at Nanhai County, in modern central Guangzhou. The government of Guangzhou was then built at the site of People's Park.
For over a millennium, People's Park had been the site of Guangzhou or Guangdong's regional government. At the end of the Ming dynasty, after most of northern China was conquered by the Manchu Qing dynasty, the Ming prince Zhu Yuyue proclaimed himself the Shaowu Emperor in Guangzhou, with his palace located at People's Park. After the Qing forces captured Guangzhou in 1647, Shaowu committed suicide and Guangdong became the domain of general Shang Kexi, titled King of Pingnan, who continued to have his palace at People's Park.
After Shang Kexi's son Shang Zhixin participated in the failed Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the Qing court put him to death in 1680 and took direct control of Guangdong. People's Park became the office and residence of governors and viceroys. A series of officials, including Ruan Yuan and Zhang Zhidong, made improvements to the area. Ruan named its garden "Wanzhu" (ten thousand bamboos).
During the Second Opium War (1856–60), the joint British and French force occupied Guangzhou for three years. Realizing they could not govern the city by themselves, they installed a puppet government headed by Bogui, an ethnic Mongol who had been the Qing acting governor of Guangdong. A grand inauguration ceremony was held in the park, which was considered a humiliating event by the defeated Chinese.
People's Park (Guangzhou)