Guangzhou (;
jyutping :
Gwong²zau¹;
Yale:
Gwóngjàu), in English formerly known as
Canton (which was first romanized from the
Cantonese pronunciation of
Guangdong by the Portuguese) and also known as
Kwangchow, is a
sub-provincial city and the
capital of
Guangdong Province in the
southern part of the
People's Republic of China.
It is a
port on the
Pearl River,
navigable to the
South China Sea, and is located about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of
Hong Kong. As of the 2000
census, the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of roughly 8.5 million (though some estimates are as high as 15.3 million) making it the most populous city in the province and the
third most populous metropolitan area in mainland
China. The official estimate of the metropolitan area's population at end 2006 by the provincial government was 9,754,600. Guangzhou's urban land area is the third largest in China, behind only
Beijing and
Shanghai.
Administrative divisions
Guangzhou is a
sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over ten
districts (区
qu) and two
county-level cities (市
shi) :
As of April 28, 2005, the districts of
Dongshan and
Fangcun have been abolished and merged into
Yuexiu and
Liwan respectively; at the same time the district of
Nansha was established out of parts of
Panyu, and the district of
Luogang was established out of parts of
Baiyun,
Tianhe, and
Zengcheng, plus a part of
Huangpu, making an exclave next to Huangpu.
Development plan
In January 2009 the
National People's Congress approved a development plan for the
Pearl River Delta Region. On March 19, 2009 the Guangzhou Municipal Government and
Foshan Municipal Government both agreed to establish a framework to merge the two cities.
History
thumb|left|Site of the first National Congress of Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party)
thumb|left|Combat at Guangzhou during the Second Opium Warthumb|left|1919 street scenethumb|Guangzhou's [[Yuexiu District|Yuexiu CBD and Financial Centres.]]
left|thumb|Huanghuagang Mausoleum of 72 Martyrsleft|thumb|Sunset on Xingang West Roadleft|thumb|1888 German map of [[Hong Kong,
Macau, and Guangzhou]]
Guangzhou's monopoly on English trade ended with the
Treaty of Nanking, signed in 1842 to end the
First Opium War between
Britain and
China. The treaty opened four new
treaty ports, allowing British merchants to trade in
Fuzhou,
Xiamen,
Ningbo, and
Shanghai in addition to Guangzhou.
The first known city built at the site of Guangzhou was
Panyu (Fan-Yü) ( 蕃禺, later simplified to 番禺;
Poon Yu in Cantonese) founded in 214 BC. The city has been continuously occupied since that time. Panyu was expanded when it became the capital of the
Nanyue Kingdom (南越) in 206 BC.
The
Han Dynasty annexed Nanyue in 111 BC, and Panyu became a provincial capital and remains so today. In 226 AD, the city however became the seat of the Guang Prefecture (廣州; Guangzhou). Therefore, "Guangzhou" was the name of the prefecture, not of the city. However, people grew accustomed to calling the city Guangzhou, instead of Panyu.
Although the Chinese name Guangzhou replaced Panyu as the name of the walled city, Panyu was still the name of the area surrounding the walled city until the end of
Qing era.. Today, Panyun generally refers to the region to the south of Haizhu District, which is separated by the
Pearl River.
Arab and
Persian pirates sacked Guangzhou (known to them as
Sin-Kalan) in AD 758, ² according to a local Guangzhou government report on October 30 758, which corresponded to the day of
Guisi (癸巳) of the ninth
lunar month in the first year of the
Qianyuan era of
Emperor Suzong of the
Tang Dynasty. The Arab historian Abu Zayd Hasan of
Siraf reports that in 878 followers of the Chinese rebel leader
Huang Chao besieged the city and killed a large number of foreign merchants resident there.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the celebrated poet
Su Shi (Shisu) visited Guangzhou's
Baozhuangyan Temple and wrote the inscription "Liu Rong" (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. It has since been called the Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees.
The
Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Guangzhou by sea, establishing a monopoly on the external trade out of its harbor by 1511. They were later expelled from their settlements in Guangzhou (Cantão in Portuguese), but instead granted use of
Macau as a trade base with the city in 1557. They would keep a near monopoly on foreign trade in the region until the arrival of the Dutch in the early seventeenth century.
thumb|The pedestrian-only Beijing Road, Guangzhou's historical shopping promenade.thumb|[[Pearl River (China)|Pearl River at night]]
It is believed that the romanization "Canton" originated from Portuguese Cantão, which was transcribed from
Guangdong. Nevertheless, because at the time of the Portuguese arrival the capital city had no specific appellation other than
Shang Sheng(省城, lit. the provincial capital) by its people, the province name was adopted for the walled city by the Europeans. The etymology of Canton, as well as the similar pronunciation with the province name Guangdong might have partly contributed to the recent confusion of Canton and Guangdong by certain English speakers. However, definitive English lexica, such as
Merriam–Webster's Dictionary,
American Heritage Dictionary and
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English don't list Guangdong as a synonym(or variant) under Canton.
After China gained control of
Taiwan in 1683, the Qing government became more open to foreign trade. Guangzhou quickly emerged as one of the most suitable ports for international trade and before long ships arrived from all over the world.
The Portuguese in
Macau, the Spanish in
Manila,
Armenians, and Muslims from India were already actively trading in the port by the 1690s, when the French and English began frequenting the port through the
Canton System.
Other companies were soon to follow: the
Ostend General India company in 1717;
Dutch East India Company in 1729; the first Danish ship in 1731, which was followed by a
Danish Asiatic Company ship in 1734; the
Swedish East India Company in 1732; followed by an occasional
Prussian and
Trieste Company ship; the Americans in 1784; and the first ships from
Australia in 1788.
By the middle of the 18th century, Guangzhou had emerged as one of the world's great trading ports under the
Thirteen Factories, which was a distinction it maintained until the outbreak of the
Opium Wars in 1839 and the opening of other ports in China in 1842. The privilege during this period made Guangzhou one of the top 3 cities in the world.
In 1918, the city's urban council was established and "Guangzhou" became the official name of the city. Panyu became a county's name to the southern side of Guangzhou.
In both 1930 and 1953, Guangzhou was promoted to the status of a Municipality, but each time promotion was rescinded within a year.
Japanese troops occupied Guangzhou from October 12, 1938 to September 16, 1945, after
violent bombings. In the city, the
Imperial Japanese Army conducted bacteriological research
unit 8604, a section of
unit 731, where Japanese doctors experimented on human prisoners.
After the fall of the capital Nanjing in April 1949, the Nationalist government under the acting president
Li Zongren relocated to Guangzhou.
Communist forces entered the city on October 14, 1949. This led the nationalists to blow up the Haizhu bridge as the major link across the Pearl River and to the acting president's leaving for New York, whereas
Chiang Kai-shek set up a the capital for the Nationalist government in Chongqing again. Their urban renewal projects of the new communist government improved the lives of some residents. New housing on the shores of the Pearl River provided homes for the poor
boat people. Reforms by
Deng Xiaoping, who came to power in the late 1970s, led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to
Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River.
As labor costs increased in Hong Kong,
manufacturers opened new plants in the cities of
Guangdong including Guangzhou. As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. Cantonese links to overseas Chinese and beneficial tax reforms of the 1990s have aided the city's rapid growth.
In 2000,
Huadu and
Panyu were merged into Guangzhou as districts, and
Conghua and
Zengcheng became county-level cities of Guangzhou.
Based on a report in the
Guangzhou Daily, there might be as many as 100,000 Africans in Guangzhou, a number that the newspaper reports has been increasing at an annual rate of 30 to 40% since 2003.
Significant modern buildings
Economy
thumb|CITIC Plazathumb|Shangxiajiu One of Guangzhou's most famous Pedestrian malls.
Guangzhou is the main manufacturing hub of the
Pearl River Delta, one of
mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions. In 2008, the GDP reached ¥821.58 billion (US $118 billion), per capita was ¥81,233 (US $11,696),
ranking 6th among the other 659 Chinese cities.
The
China Import and Export Fair, also called "Canton Fair", is held every year in April and October by Ministry of Trading. Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the Fair is a major event for the city. From the 104th session, Liuhua Complex is not in use to hold Canton Fair. All the booths have been transferred to Pazhou Complex. From the 104th session, Canton Fair has been arranged in 3 phases instead of 2 phases.
Industrial zones
Science City
Geography and climate
Guangzhou is located at 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The city is part of the
Pearl River Delta.
Guangzhou has a
humid subtropical climate influenced by the Asian monsoon. Summers are wet with high temperatures, high humidity and a high
heat index. Winters are mild, dry and sunny.
Transportation
thumb|One of the new busesthumb|[[Gongyuanqian Station of
Guangzhou Metro]]
thumb|Guangzhou Baiyun International Airportthumb|Colonial buildings on Shamian Islandthumb|Towers in Guangzhou's CBD (left-center) with
[[Guangzhou International Finance Center|IFC/West Tower (right) and Guangzhou Opera House (front) under construction]]
With the first line of
Guangzhou Metro opened in 1997, Guangzhou is the fourth city in
Mainland China to have an underground railway system, behind
Beijing,
Tianjin and
Shanghai. Currently the underground network is made up of four lines, covering a total length of 116 km, while another four lines are under construction and due to be completed in 2010 before the
Asian Games. A long term plan is to make the city's underground system expand over 500 km by 2020 with 15 lines in operation.
The existing four lines of
Guangzhou Metro network:
Guangzhou's main airport is the
Baiyun International Airport in
Huadu District opened on August 5, 2004. It replaced the
old Baiyun International Airport, which was very close to the city centre and failed to meet the fast-growing air traffic demand.
Guangzhou is well connected to
Hong Kong by train, coach and ferry. Express trains depart from the
Guangzhou East railway station () and arrive at the
Hung Hom KCR station in
Kowloon, Hong Kong. The route is approximately 182 km in length and the ride takes less than two hours. Frequent coach services are also provided with coaches departing every day from different locations (mostly major hotels) around the city.
There are daily ferry services including an overnight steamer service, which takes eight hours, as well as high-speed catamaran service which takes three hours, to the
China Ferry Terminal or
Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong. The Nansha Pier (新南沙客運港), located in the distant
Nansha District outside the city centre, is also operating six daily 75-minute catamaran services to Hong Kong.
From January 1, 2007, the municipal government has banned motorcycles in the urban areas. Motorcycles found violating the ban will be confiscated. The Guangzhou traffic bureau claimed to have reported reduced traffic problems and accidents in the downtown area since the ban.
According to a report on the
China Daily of July 6, 2007, all buses and taxis in Guangzhou will be
LPG-fueled by 2010 to promote clean energy for transportation and improve the environment. At present, Guangzhou is the city that uses the most LPG-fueled vehicles in the world. As of the end of 2006, 6,500 buses and 16,000 taxis were using LPG, taking up 85% of all buses and taxis.
Local products
- Canton Province Sculpture is legendary and includes Guangzhou Ivory Carvings, Jade Sculpture, Wood Sculpture and Olive Sculpture.
- Cantonese Enamel includes Guangzhou Colorful Pottery. It has a history of over 300 years.
- Cantonese Embroidery, namely "Yue 粤 Embroidery" (meaning literally "Guangdong embroidery")is one of the Four Famous Chinese Embroideries together with Su Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery and Shu Embroidery.
- Canton Province Bacon is the general designation of cured meat in the Guangzhou and surrounding areas.
Culture
Parks and gardens
Tourist attractions
right|thumb|Temple of the Six Banyan Treesthumb|right|[[Sacred Heart Cathedral of Guangzhou|Shishi Sacred Heart Cathedral]]
thumb|right|The Huaisheng MosqueGuangzhou has a humid, hot sub-tropical climate. Annual average temperature is 21.8 degrees. Autumn, from October to December, is very moderate, cool and windy, and is the best travel time. There are many tourist attractions around the city which include:
Media
Guangzhou has two local radio stations, the provincial
Radio Guangdong and the municipal
Radio Guangzhou. Together they broadcast
Cantonese and
Mandarin programmes in more than a dozen channels. The
Beijing-based
China National Radio broadcasts
Putonghua programmes in the city. On the other hand, radio stations from cities around Guangzhou mainly broadcast in Cantonese whose programmes can be received in different parts of the city, depending on their locations and power. Radio Guangdong produces a 15-minute weekly English programme,
Guangdong Today, which is broadcast globally through the
World Radio Network but not in local channels. Daily English news and several other short weekly English programmes are also produced by Radio Guangdong.
Both
TVB Pearl and
ATV World, two major English channels in
Hong Kong, can be received through
cable TV in Guangzhou. The local
Guangzhou Television also has its own English channel which runs all-English programmes from evening to midnight every day.
Guangzhou has some of the best Chinese-language newspapers in
Mainland China, published by three big newspaper groups in the city. The
Guangzhou Daily Press Group,
Nanfang Press Corporation and
Yangcheng Evening News Group dominate the newspaper market of
Guangdong Province or even South Mainland China. The two leading newspaper of the city are
Guangzhou Daily and
Southern Metropolis Daily.
Guangzhou Daily, with a circulation of 1.8 million, has been China's most successful newspaper for 14 years in terms of advertising revenue. In addition to Guangzhou's Chinese-language publications, there are a few English magazines and newspapers, most notably
that's PRD (formerly that's Guangzhou) which was started more than a decade ago and has since blossomed into one of China's leading expat magazines with issues in Beijing, Shanghai and formerly Suzhou.
Education
Higher education institutes
thumb|Sun Yat-sen College of Medical Science, Sun Yat-sen Universitythumb|The main gate of Sun Yat-sen UniversityNational universitiesPublic universities and collegesNote: Institutes without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre
Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre also known as
Guangzhou University City is a large university complex located in the southeast suburbs of Guangzhou. This huge higher education centre occupies the entire
Xiaoguwei island in
Panyu District, covering an area of about 18 square kilometres. It houses new campuses from ten universities, nine of which still maintain their old campuses in downtown Guangzhou. The whole Higher Education Mega Centre can eventually accommodate up to 200,000 students, 20,000 teachers and 50,000 staffs.
Universities which have campuses in the Mega Centre:
Secondary and high schools
International schools
Sports
Current professional sports clubs (football and basketball) based in Guangzhou include:
International relations
thumb|Pearl River at night
thumb|Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower, June 2009
Twin towns — Sister cities
Guangzhou is
twinned with the following cities:
See also
