Tucked inside Dongguan People's Park, a two-story concrete building stands as a quiet observer of the city's modern history. Constructed between 1929 and 1931, the Former Site of the Dongguan County Museum and Library retains the distinct Western-style architectural features of the Republic of China era. Reaching a height of eleven and a half meters, the structure faces southeast, offering visitors a rare, intact physical reference to early twentieth-century public infrastructure in Guangdong Province.

The building's origins reflect a period of cultural ambition. Advocated by Xu Jingtang in 1928 and eventually funded for its public opening by County Magistrate Chen Dacai in 1932, it became one of the earliest museums in the region. In its early days, the first floor housed taxidermy displays of local poultry and animals alongside a modest collection of ceramics. The second floor operated as a library and reading room. A dedicated printing department operated on the premises, publishing works by local figures and reprinting ancient regional texts.

As the decade progressed, the quiet halls of the museum absorbed the shocks of global conflict. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the building became a center for resistance. Young activists gathered here to organize anti-Japanese activities and publish political literature. The site served as the cradle for the Dongguan Anti-Japanese Model Conscript Team before falling under Japanese occupation in 1938, a period that saw the destruction of its original collections. Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the building continued its civic role, hosting the first training classes organized by the local Communist Party committee.

Today, the structure operates as the Deng Erya and Huang Banruo Document Exhibition Hall. Following extensive restorations, the space now celebrates the lives and artistic achievements of these two historical cultural figures. Visitors walking through the preserved rooms encounter exhibitions of traditional painting, calligraphy, and local art history. The building holds the memory of its varied past—from a pioneering museum and a wartime resistance hub to a modern center for traditional arts—inviting a close reading of the generations that have passed through its doors.