The actual construction of the cathedral turned out to be very challenging, mostly due to a lack of machinery. The granite stones were quarried in Hong Kong, and then shipped to Guangzhou, where they were polished and manually put into place. In total, the project cost 400,000 francs and took 25 years.

With a total floor space of 2,754 square meters, the cathedral extends 35 meters from east to west and 78.69 meters from north to south, and measures 58.5 meters in height. The Gothic structure is topped with a pair of towers. The east one serves as a clock tower, and the west one as a bell tower, in which there are four gigantic bronze bells shipped from France. It is said that the gigantic clock and bronze bells were already installed prior to the completion of the towers, so that these expensive items could not be stolen through the narrow gates of the towers.

Today, the cathedral is still an important meeting place for Catholics in Guangzhou. It lies near a bustling commercial street, and is often visited by Western merchants, attesting to a long history in Guangzhou of religion and commerce existing side-by-side.

Along Yide Road are countless family-run stores. Typically, each has a business area of no more than four square meters, and bulk transactions are done in the warehouse in the rear. Despite their limited space, these stores earn considerable income. Industry insiders reveal that the annual turnover for the whole of Yide Road may reach 1 billion yuan.

Statistics show that the road makes up 70 percent of Guangzhou’s seafood and dried foods wholesale market. The month before the Chinese New Year usually accounts for 30 percent of annual sales. In Yide Road, customers may find all kinds of groceries from every corner of China, ranging from expensive seafood like shark’s fins and abalones to ten-cent commodities like lotus seeds, dried lily flowers, and vermicelli made from bean starch. Locals proudly declare that shoppers can find any produce imaginable on Yide Road. And due to fierce market competition, goods are often sold much cheaper than elsewhere. Some shoppers even travel from Hong Kong to buy seafood and dried foods.

Yide Road remains little changed from days of old, with the historic buildings on both sides a reminder of a storied past. The biggest difference is that the items on sale are no longer silk, tea and porcelain, but modern electric toys, gifts, stationery, and seafood.