Guangzhou (, ; ;
or ; ), also known as Canton () and
alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the
capital and largest city of
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
in
southern China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
. Located on the
Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
about north-northwest of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and north of
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime
Silk Road; it continues to serve as a major
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
and transportation hub as well as being one of China's three largest cities.
For a long time, the only Chinese port accessible to most foreign traders, Guangzhou was captured by the British during the
First Opium War. No longer enjoying a monopoly after the war, it lost trade to other ports such as Hong Kong and
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, but continued to serve as a major
transshipment port. Due to a high urban population and large volumes of port traffic, Guangzhou is classified as a Large-Port Megacity, the largest type of port-city in the world. Due to worldwide travel restrictions at the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
,
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, the major airport of Guangzhou, briefly became the
world's busiest airport by passenger traffic in 2020.
Guangzhou is at the heart of the
Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area, the most-populous built-up metropolitan area in the world, which extends into the neighboring cities of
Foshan,
Dongguan
Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...
,
Zhongshan
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...
,
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
and part of
Jiangmen
Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants a ...
,
Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...
,
Zhuhai
Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...
and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, forming the largest
urban agglomeration
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...
on Earth with approximately 65,594,622 residents and part of the
Pearl River Delta Economic Zone
The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone () (once called 粤江平原), is a special economic zone on the southeastern coast of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, it consists of the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan ...
. Administratively, the city holds
subprovincial status and is one of China's nine
National Central Cities. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nationals of
sub-Saharan Africa who had initially settled in the Middle East and Southeast Asia moved in unprecedented numbers to Guangzhou in response to the
1997/98 Asian financial crisis. The
domestic migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40% of the city's total population in 2008. Guangzhou has one of the most expensive real estate markets in China.
As of the 2020 census, the registered population of the city's expansive administrative area was 18,676,605 individuals (up to 47% from the previous census in 2010) whom 16,492,590 lived in 9 urban districts (all but
Conghua
Conghua District, alternately romanized as Tsungfa, is one of 11 urban districts and the northernmost district of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Conghua connects the Pearl River Delta with th ...
and
Zengcheng
Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China.
History
was established under the Qin following their conquest ...
).
Guangzhou is the fifth most populous city by urban resident population in China after Shanghai,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Shenzhen and
Chongqing.
In modern commerce, Guangzhou is best known for its annual
Canton Fair
The Canton Fair or China Import and Export Fair, is a trade fair held in the spring and autumn seasons each year since the spring of 1957 in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong, China. It is the oldest, largest, and the most representative trade fair in ...
, the oldest and largest
trade fair
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...
in China. For three consecutive years (2013–2015), Forbes ranked Guangzhou as the best commercial city in mainland China. Guangzhou is highly ranked as an
Alpha- (global first-tier) city together with San Francisco and Stockholm. It is a leading financial centre in the
Asia-Pacific region and ranks 21st globally in the 2020
Global Financial Centres Index
The Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centres based on over 29,000 financial centre assessments from an online questionnaire together with over 100 indices from organisations such as the World ...
.
As an important international city, Guangzhou has hosted numerous international and national sporting events, the most notable being the
2010 Asian Games, the
2010 Asian Para Games, and the
2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The city hosts 65
foreign representatives, making it the third major city to host more foreign representatives than any other city in China after Beijing and Shanghai.
As of 2020, Guangzhou ranks 10th in the world and 5th in China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen) for the number of billionaire residents by the
Hurun Global Rich List.
Guangzhou is a major centre of research and innovation in the Asia-Pacific with a high level of scientific research output, ranking
10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...
globally, 5th in the Asia-Pacific and 4th in China, and is home to many of
China's most prestigious universities, including
Sun Yat-sen University
Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...
,
South China University of Technology
The South China University of Technology (SCUT; ) is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The university is co-sponsored by the China Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Provincial People's Government.
The university is a mul ...
,
Jinan University
Jinan University (JNU, ) is a public research university based in Guangzhou, China. "Jinan" literally means "reaching southward", indicating the university's original mission to disseminate Chinese learning and culture from North to South when ...
,
South China Normal University
South China Normal University (SCNU; ) is a comprehensive university that is part of Double First Class University Plan and Project 211 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, in the People's Republic of China. It is a Chinese state Doubl ...
,
South China Agricultural University
South China Agricultural University (SCAU; ) is a provincial public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Founded in 1909, the university is considered to have an advantage in the field of agricultural science. It is a Double First Cla ...
,
Guangzhou University
Guangzhou University (GU; ) is a state university in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, China.
The university is made up of two campuses. The major campus is located in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center (HEMC, geographically called X ...
,
Southern Medical University
Southern Medical University (), formerly known as First Military Medical University, affiliated to the People's Liberation Army of China, is an institution of higher learning in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, China. It was f ...
,
Guangdong University of Technology
Guangdong University of Technology (abbreviated as GDUT) is a provincial university in Guangdong, China. The university offers a range of courses in engineering, science, technology, management, liberal arts and law, with major emphasis on the st ...
,
Guangzhou Medical University
Guangzhou Medical University (GMU, Chinese: 广州医科大学), formerly known as Guangzhou Medical College, is a Chinese medical school located in Guangzhou, China.
History
It was established in 1958. The internship program began in 2013.
...
,
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine () is a university in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University, included in the state Double First Class University Plan.
History
It was ...
.
Toponymy
![Wuxian Xiadong](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Wuxian_Xiadong.jpg)
''Guǎngzhōu'' is the official
romanization
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...
of the Chinese name . The name of the city is taken from the ancient "
Guang Province" after it had become the prefecture's seat of government. The
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
or means "broad" or "expansive".
Before acquiring its current name, the town was known as Panyu (Punyü; ), a name still borne by
one of Guangzhou's districts not far from the main city. The origin of the name is still uncertain, with 11 various explanations being offered, including that it may have referred to two local mountains. The city has also sometimes been known as Guangzhou Fu or Guangfu after its status as the capital of a
prefecture. From this latter name, Guangzhou was known to medieval Persians such as
Al-Masudi
Al-Mas'udi ( ar, أَبُو ٱلْحَسَن عَلِيّ ٱبْن ٱلْحُسَيْن ٱبْن عَلِيّ ٱلْمَسْعُودِيّ, '; –956) was an Arab historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus ...
and
Ibn Khordadbeh
Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...
as Khanfu (). Under the
Southern Han
Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...
, the city was renamed Xingwang Fu ().
The
Chinese abbreviation
Vehicle registration plates in China are mandatory metal or plastic plates attached to motor vehicles in mainland China for official identification purposes. The plates are issued by the local traffic management offices, which are sub-branches ...
for Guangzhou is "," pronounced Seoi
6 in Cantonese and Suì in Mandarin (although the abbreviation on car license plates, as with the rest of the province, is ), after its nickname "City of Rice" (). The city has long borne the nickname () or () from the five stones at the old
Temple of the Five Immortals said to have been the sheep or goats ridden by the
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
culture heroes credited with introducing
rice cultivation
The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet, ...
to the area around the time of the city's foundation. The former name "City of the
Immortals
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...
" (/) came from the same story. The more recent () is usually taken as a simple reference to the area's fine greenery.
The English name "Canton" derived from
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
'
[ or ', a blend of ]dialectical
Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing ...
pronunciations of "Guangdong" (e.g., Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
''Gwong2-dung1''). Although it originally and chiefly applied to the walled city, it was occasionally conflated with Guangdong by some authors. It was adopted as the Postal Map Romanization
Postal romanization was a system of transliterating Chinese place names developed by postal authorities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For many cities, the corresponding postal romanization was the most common English-language form ...
of Guangzhou, and remained the official name until its name change to "Guangzhou." As an adjective, it is still used in describing the people
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
, language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
, cuisine and culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
of Guangzhou and the surrounding Liangguang region. The 19th-century name was referred ""
History
Prehistory
A settlement now known as Nanwucheng was present in the area by . Some traditional Chinese histories placed Nanwucheng's founding during the reign of Ji Yan, king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of Zhou from 314 to 256 BC. It was said to have consisted of little more than a stockade of bamboo and mud.[
]
Nanyue
Guangzhou, then known as Panyu, was founded on the eastern bank of the Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
in 214 BC. It was the seat of Qin Empire
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), the ...
's Nanhai Commandery Nanhai Commandery ( zh, 南海郡) was a Chinese commandery that existed from Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty. At the greatest extent, Nanhai's territories covered present-day Guangdong, Hainan, southeastern Guangxi and the southern tip of Fujian. The s ...
, and served as a base for the first invasion
''First Invasion'' is the debut EP by South Korean boy band Infinite (South Korean band), Infinite. It was released on June 9, 2010. They promoted the main single of the EP "Come Back Again" and followed with "She's Back (song), She's Back".
Tra ...
of the Baiyue
The Baiyue (, ), Hundred Yue, or simply Yue (; ), were various ethnic groups who inhabited the regions of East China, South China and Northern Vietnam during the 1st millennium BC and 1st millennium AD. They were known for their short hair, b ...
lands in southern China. Legendary accounts claimed that the soldiers at Panyu were so vigilant that they did not remove their armor for three years. Upon the fall of the Qin
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), the ...
, General Zhao Tuo established the kingdom of Nanyue
Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establis ...
and made Panyu its capital in 204 BC. It remained independent throughout the Chu-Han Contention, although Zhao negotiated recognition of his independence in exchange for his nominal submission to the Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
in 196 BC. Archeological evidence shows that Panyu was an expansive commercial center: in addition to items from central China, archeologists have found remains originating from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
, India, and even Africa. Zhao Tuo was succeeded by Zhao Mo
;
, posthumous name = ; vi, Triệu Văn Đế
, predecessor = Zhao Tuo
, successor = Zhao Yingqi
, birth_date = 175 BC
, death_date = 124 BC (aged 51)
, dynasty = Nanyue
}
Zhao Mo (; vi, Triệu Hồ) was the g ...
and then Zhao Yingqi. Upon Zhao Yingqi ;
, posthumous name = ; vi, Triệu Minh Vương
, predecessor = Zhao Mo
, successor = Zhao Xing
, dynasty = Nanyue
}
Zhao Yingqi (; Vietnamese: ''Triệu Anh Tề'', ? – 115 BC) was the son of Zhao Mo and the third r ...
's death in , his younger son Zhao Xing was named as his successor in violation of Chinese primogeniture. By , his chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
mother, the Empress Dowager Jiu () had prevailed upon him to submit Nanyue as a formal part of the Han Empire. The native prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Lü Jia () launched a coup, killing Han ambassadors along with the king, his mother, and their supporters. A successful ambush then annihilated a Han force which had been sent to arrest him. Emperor Wu took offense and launched a massive river- and seaborne war: six armies under Lu Bode
Lu Bode (; –?) was a Chinese military leader during the Western Han dynasty.
Lu was from Pingzhou (平州) in the Xihe (西河) region of western China (present-day Lishi District of Lüliang, Shanxi). In 119 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han dispatche ...
and Yang Pu took Panyu and annexed Nanyue by the end of 111 BC.
Imperial China
Incorporated into the Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, Panyu became a provincial capital. In AD 226, it became the seat of Guang Prefecture, which gave it its modern name. The '' Old Book of Tang'' described Guangzhou as an important port in southern China. Direct routes connected the Middle East and China, as shown in the records of a Chinese prisoner returning home from Iraq twelve years after his capture at Talas. Relations were often strained: Arab and Persian pirates sacked the city on October 30, 758 and about 200,000 foreigners were killed under the revenge of Chinese rebel Huang Chao in 878, along with the city's Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
,[ (Abu Zayd Husayn al-Sirafi, ''Rihlat al-Sirafi'', al-Mujamma' al-thaqafi, Abu Dhabi, 1990)] and Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
s. The port was closed for fifty years after its destruction.
Amid the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concu ...
that followed the collapse of the Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
, the Later Liang governor Liu Yan used his base at Panyu to establish a "Great Yue" or "Southern Han
Southern Han (; 917–971), officially Han (), originally Yue (), was one of the ten kingdoms that existed during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was located on China's southern coast, controlling modern Guangdong and Guangxi. The ...
" empire, which lasted from 917 to 971. The region enjoyed considerable cultural and economic success in this period. From the 10th to 12th century, there are records that the large foreign communities were not exclusively male, but included "Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
women". According to Odoric of Pordenone
Odoric of Pordenone, OFM (1286–1331), also known as Odorico Mattiussi/Mattiuzzi, Odoricus of Friuli or Orderic of Pordenone, was an Italian late-medieval Franciscan friar and missionary explorer. He traveled through India, the Greater Sunda Is ...
, Guangzhou was as large as three Venices in terms of area, and rivaled all of Italy in the amount of crafts produced. He also noted the large amount of ginger available as well as large geese and snakes. Guangzhou was visited by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta during his 14th-century journey around the world; he detailed the process by which the Chinese constructed their large ships in the port's shipyards.
Shortly after the Hongwu Emperor's declaration of the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
, he reversed his earlier support of foreign trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy)
In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...
and imposed the first of a series of sea bans (). These banned private foreign trade upon penalty of death for the merchant and exile for his family and neighbors. Previous maritime intendancies of Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
were closed in 1384 and legal trade became limited to the tribute delegations sent to or by official representatives of foreign governments.
Following the Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
conquest
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms.
Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...
of the Melaka Sultanate, Rafael Perestrello
Rafael Perestrello (fl. 1514–1517) was a Portuguese explorer and a cousin of Filipa Moniz Perestrello, the wife of explorer Christopher Columbus.Brook, 124. He is best known for landing on the southern shores of mainland China in 1516 and 151 ...
traveled to Guangzhou as a passenger on a native junk in 1516. His report induced Fernão Pires de Andrade
Captain Fernão Pires de Andrade (also spelled as Fernão Peres de Andrade; in contemporary sources, Fernam (Fernã) Perez Dandrade) (died 1552) was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat under the explorer and Portuguese Mal ...
to sail to the city with eight ships the next year, but De Andrade's exploration was understood as spying and his brother Simão and others began attempting to monopolize trade, enslaving Chinese women and children, engaging in piracy, and fortifying the island of Tamão
Tamão ( zh, 屯門) was a trade settlement set up by the Portuguese on an island in the Pearl River Delta, China. This was the first time Europeans reached China via the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope. The settlement lasted from 1514 ...
. Rumors even circulated that Portuguese were eating the children. The Guangzhou administration was charged with driving them off: they bested the Portuguese at the Battle of Tunmen
The Battle of Tunmen or Tamão was a naval battle in which the Ming imperial navy defeated a Portuguese fleet led by Diogo Calvo in 1521.
Background
Portuguese diplomat Fernão Pires de Andrade arrived at the mouth of the Pearl River in June ...
and in Xicao Bay; held a diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
hostage in a failed attempt to pressure the restoration of the sultan of Malacca
The Malacca Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Melaka; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Paramesw ...
, who had been accounted a Ming vassal; and, after placing them in cangues and keeping them for most of a year, ultimately executed 23 by lingchi. With the help of local pirates, the " Folangji" then carried out smuggling at Macao
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...
, Lampacau
Lampacau or Lampacao, also known by other names, was a small island in the Pearl River Delta, which in the mid-16th century played an important role in Sino-Portuguese trade. Lampacau no longer exists as a separate island, as sedimentary deposit ...
, and Island (now Shangchuan), until Leonel de Sousa
Leonel de Sousa was the second Captain-Major of Portuguese Macau in 1558 (the equivalent of the later governor of Macau). In 1554 he had negotiated an agreement with the local authorities of Guangzhou known as the first Luso-Chinese agreement whi ...
legalized their trade with bribes to Admiral Wang Bo () and the 1554 Luso-Chinese Accord. The Portuguese undertook not to raise fortifications and to pay customs dues; three years later, after providing the Chinese with assistance suppressing their former pirate allies, the Portuguese were permitted to warehouse their goods at Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
instead of Guangzhou itself.
In October 1646, the Longwu Emperor
Zhu Yujian (; 1602 – 6 October 1646), nickname Changshou (長壽), originally the Prince of Tang, later reigned as the Longwu Emperor () of the Southern Ming from 18 August 1645, when he was enthroned in Fuzhou, to 6 October 1646, when he wa ...
's brother, Zhu Yuyue
Zhu Yuyue (; 1605 – 20 January 1647), the Prince of Tang (), reigned as the Shaowu Emperor () of the Southern Ming from 1646 to 1647.
Biography
He was a descendant of the first Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Before ascending to the throne he fol ...
fled by sea to Guangzhou, the last stronghold of the Ming empire. On December 11, he declared himself the Shaowu Emperor, borrowing his imperial regalia from local theater troupes. He led a successful offense against his cousin Zhu Youlang
The Yongli Emperor (; 1623–1662; reigned 18 November 1646 – 1 June 1662), personal name Zhu Youlang, was a royal member to the imperial family of Ming dynasty, and the fourth and last commonly recognised emperor of the Southern Ming, reign ...
but was deposed and executed on 20 January 1647 when the Ming turncoat Li Chengdong () sacked the city on behalf of the Qing.
The Qing became somewhat more receptive to foreign trade after gaining control of Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
in 1683. The Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
from Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
and Spaniards
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...
from Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
returned, as did private Muslim, Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
, and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
traders. From 1699 to 1714, the French and British East India Companies sent a ship or two each year; the Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
Ostend General India Co. arrived in 1717, the Dutch East India Co. in 1729, the Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
Asiatic Co. in 1731, and the Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
East India Co. the next year. These were joined by the occasional Prussian
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
or Trieste Company
Austrian East India Company (german: Österreichische Ostindien-Kompanie) is a catchall term referring to a series of Austrian trading companies based in Ostend and Trieste. The Imperial Asiatic Company of Trieste and Antwerp (french: Société i ...
vessel. The first independent American ship arrived in 1784, and the first colonial Australia
The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia.
Aboriginal Australians, People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and ...
n one in 1788. By that time, Guangzhou was one of the world's great ports, organized under the Canton System
The Canton System (1757–1842; zh, t=一口通商, p=Yīkǒu tōngshāng, "Single orttrading relations") served as a means for Qing China to control trade with the West within its own country by focusing all trade on the southern port of ...
. The main exports were tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
and porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...
. As a meeting place of merchants from all over the world, Guangzhou became a major contributor to the rise of the modern global economy.
In the 19th century, most of the city's buildings were still only one or two stories. However, there were notable exceptions such as the Flower Pagoda of the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees or Liurong Temple is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, originally built in AD 537.
The temple's proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzhou has made it a regular destination for families partici ...
, and the guard tower known as the Five-Story Pagoda. The subsequently urbanized northern hills were bare and covered with traditional graves. The brick city walls were about in circumference, high, and wide. Its eight main gates and two water gates all held guards during the day and were closed at night. The wall rose to incorporate a hill on its northern side and was surrounded on the other three by a moat which, along with the canals, functioned as the city's sewer, emptied daily by the river's tides. A partition wall with four gates divided the northern "old town" from the southern "new town" closer to the river; the suburb of Xiguan
Saikwan or Xiguan is an ancient town and an area in the Liwan district of Guangzhou, China, which was located west of the old walled city. The Thirteen Factories trading enclave was located on its southern shore and the Shamian enclave was co ...
(Saikwan; "West Gate") stretched beyond and the boats of fishers, traders, and Tanka
is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature.
Etymology
Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
("boat people") almost entirely concealed the riverbank for about . It was common for homes to have a storefront facing the street and to treat their courtyards
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
as a kind of warehouse. The city was part of a network of signal towers so effective that messages could be relayed to Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
—about away—in less than 24 hours.
The Canton System was maintained until the outbreak of the First Opium War in 1839. Following a series of battles in the Pearl River Delta, the British captured Canton on March 18, 1841. The Second Battle of Canton
The Second Battle of Canton () was fought between British and Chinese forces in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong province, China, in May 1841 during the First Opium War.
Background
Canton was the only port in China open to foreign countries, mo ...
was fought two months later. Following the Qing's 1842 treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...
with Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
, Guangzhou lost its privileged trade status as more and more treaty port
Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire.
...
s were opened to more and more countries, usually including extraterritorial enclaves. Amid the decline of Qing prestige and the chaos of the Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856)
The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the Tiandihui ( zh, c=天地會, Heaven and Earth Society) in the Guangdong province of South China.
The initial core of the rebels were Tiandihui secret societies that we ...
, the Punti
''Punti'' ( zh, t=本地, j=bun2 dei6, l=locals) is a Cantonese endonym referring to the native Cantonese people of Guangdong and Guangxi. ''Punti'' designates Weitou dialect-speaking locals in contrast to other Yue Chinese speakers and other ...
and Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
waged a series of clan wars from 1855 to 1867 in which one million people died. The foreign trade facilities were destroyed by local Chinese in the Arrow War (1856–1858). The international community relocated to the outskirts and most international trade moved through Shanghai.
The concession for the was awarded to the American China Development Co. in 1898. It completed its branch line west to Foshan and Sanshui
Sanshui District, formerly romanized as Samshui, is an urban district of the prefecture-level city of Foshan in Guangdong province, China. It had a population of 622,645 as of the 2010 census. It is known for the " Samsui women", emigrants who la ...
before being engulfed in a diplomatic crisis after a Belgian consortium bought a controlling interest and the Qing subsequently canceled its concession. J.P. Morgan was awarded millions in damages and the line to Wuchang
Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...
was not completed until 1936 and the completion of a unified Beijing–Guangzhou Railway waited until the completion of Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
's Yangtze River Bridge
The bridges and tunnels across the Yangtze River carry rail and road traffic across China's longest and largest river and form a vital part of the country's transportation infrastructure. The river bisects China proper from west to east, and eve ...
in 1957.
Modern China
Revolutions
During the late Qing dynasty, Guangzhou was the site of revolutionary attempts such as the Uprisings of 1895 and 1911
A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole.
Events January
* January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...
that were the predecessors of the successful Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...
, which overthrew the Qing dynasty. The 72 revolutionaries whose bodies were found after the latter uprising are honored as the city's 72 Martyrs
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
at the Huanghuagang ("Yellow Flower Mound") Mausoleum.
Republic of China
After the assassination of Sung Chiao-jen and Yuan Shih-kʻai's attempts to remove the Nationalist Party of China
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
from power, the leader of Guangdong Hu Hanmin
Hu Hanmin (; born in Panyu, Guangdong, Qing dynasty, China, 9 December 1879 – Kwangtung, Republic of China, 12 May 1936) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was one of the early conservative right factional leaders in the Kuomintang ...
joined the 1913 Second Revolution against him but was forced to flee to Japan with Sun Yat-sen after its failure. The city came under national spotlight again in 1917, when Prime Minister Duan Qirui
Duan Qirui (; ) (March 6, 1865 – November 2, 1936) was a Chinese warlord and politician, a commander of the Beiyang Army and the acting Chief Executive of the Republic of China (in Beijing) from 1924 to 1926. He was also the Premier of the R ...
's abrogation of the constitution triggered the Constitutional Protection Movement
The Constitutional Protection Movement () was a series of movements led by Sun Yat-sen to resist the Beiyang government between 1917 and 1922, in which Sun established another government in Guangzhou as a result. It was known as the Third Revolut ...
. Sun Yat-sen came to head the Guangzhou Military Government supported by the members of the dissolved parliament and the Southwestern warlords. The Guangzhou government fell apart as the warlords withdrew their support. Sun fled to Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
in November 1918 until the Guangdong warlord Chen Jiongming restored him in October 1920 during the Yuegui Wars. On 16 June 1922, Sun was ousted in a coup and fled on the warship '' Yongfeng'' after Chen sided with the Zhili Clique
The Zhili clique () was one of several mutually hostile cliques or factions that split from the Beiyang clique during the Republic of China's Warlord Era. This fragmentation followed the death of Yuan Shikai, who was the only person capable of ...
's Beijing government. In the following months Sun mounted a counterattack into Guangdong by rallying supporters from Yunnan and Guangxi, and in January established a government in the city for the third time.
From 1923 to 1926 Sun and the Kuomintang used the city as a base to prosecute a renewed revolution in China by conquering the warlords in the north. Although Sun was previously dependent on opportunistic warlords who hosted him in the city, with the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, the KMT developed its own military power to serve its ambition. The Canton years saw the evolution of the KMT into a revolutionary movement with a strong military focus and ideological commitment, setting the tone of the KMT rule of China beyond 1927.
In 1924, the KMT made the momentous decision to ally with the Communist Party and the USSR. With Soviet help, KMT reorganized itself along the Leninist line and adopted a pro-labor and pro-peasant stance. The Kuomintang-CCP cooperation was confirmed in the First Congress of the KMT and the communists were instructed to join the KMT. The allied government set up the Peasant Movement Training Institute
The Peasant Movement Training Institute or Peasant Training School was a school in Guangzhou (then romanized as "Canton"), China, operated from 1923 to 1926 during the First United Front between the Nationalists and Communists. It was based i ...
in the city, of which Mao Zedong was a director for one term. Sun and his military commander Chiang used Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
funds and weapons to build an armed force staffed by communist commissars, training its cadres in the Whampoa Military Academy
The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...
. In August, the fledgling army suppressed the Canton Merchants' Corps Uprising. The next year the anti-imperialist May Thirtieth Movement
The May Thirtieth Movement () was a major labor and anti-imperialist movement during the middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when the Shanghai Municipal Police opened fire on Chinese protesters in Shanghai's International Settl ...
swept the country, and the KMT government called for strikes in Canton and Hong Kong. The tensions of the massive strikes and protests led to the Shakee Massacre.
After the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925 the mood was changing in the party toward the communists. In August the left-wing KMT leader Liao Zhongkai
Liao Zhongkai (April 23, 1877 – August 20, 1925) was a Chinese-American Kuomintang leader and financier. He was the principal architect of the first Kuomintang–Chinese Communist Party (KMT–CCP) United Front in the 1920s. He was assassina ...
was assassinated and the right-wing leader Hu Hanmin
Hu Hanmin (; born in Panyu, Guangdong, Qing dynasty, China, 9 December 1879 – Kwangtung, Republic of China, 12 May 1936) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was one of the early conservative right factional leaders in the Kuomintang ...
, the suspected mastermind, was exiled to the Soviet Union, leaving the pro-communist Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...
in charge. Opposing communist encroachment, the right-wing Western Hills Group
The Western Hills Group was a faction of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or KMT, active in the 1920s. The faction was formed at a meeting of KMT leaders opposed to communist influence held at Biyun Temple in the Western Hills district of Beijing in ...
vowed to expel the communists from the KMT. The "Canton Coup
The Canton Coup of 20 March 1926, also known as the or the was a purge of Communist elements of the Nationalist army in Guangzhou (then romanized as "Canton") undertaken by Chiang Kai-shek. The incident solidified Chiang's power immediate ...
" on 20 March 1926 saw Chiang solidify his control over the Nationalists
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and their army against Wang Jingwei
Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...
, the party's left wing, its Communist allies, and its Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
advisors. By May, he had ended civilian control of the military[ and begun his ]Northern Expedition
The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the "Chinese Nationalist Party", against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The ...
against the warlords
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
of the north. Its success led to the split of the KMT between Wuhan and Nanking and the purge of the communists in the April 12 Incident
The Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident as it is commonly known in China, was the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces supportin ...
. Immediately afterwards Canton joined the purge under the auspice of Li Jishen
Li Jishen or Li Chi-shen (5 November 1885 – 9 October 1959) was a Chinese military officer and politician, general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954 ...
, resulting in the arrest of communists and the suspension of left wing KMT apparatuses and labor groups. Later in 1927 when Zhang Fakui
Zhang Fakui (2 September 1896 – 10 March 1980) was a Chinese Nationalist general who fought against northern warlords, the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces in his military career. He served as commander-in-chief of the ...
, a general supportive of the Wuhan faction seized Canton and installed Wang Jingwei's faction in the city, the communists saw an opening and launched the Guangzhou Uprising
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...
. Prominent communist military leaders Ye Ting
Ye Ting () (September 10, 1896 – April 8, 1946), born in Huiyang, Guangdong, was a Chinese military leader who played a key role in the Northern Expedition to reunify China after the 1911 Revolution. After serving with the Kuomintang, Ye ...
and Ye Jianying
Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the founding Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthre ...
led the failed defense of the city. Soon, control of the city reverted to Li Jishen
Li Jishen or Li Chi-shen (5 November 1885 – 9 October 1959) was a Chinese military officer and politician, general of the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1949–1954 ...
.
Li was deposed during a war between Chiang and the Kwangsi Clique. By 1929, Chen Jitang
Chen Jitang () (January 23, 1890 – November 3, 1954), also spelled Chen Chi-tang, was born into a Hakka Chinese family in Fangcheng, Guangxi. He joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance in 1908 and began serving in the Guangdong Army in 19 ...
had established himself as the powerholder of Guangdong. In 1931 he threw his weight behind the anti-Chiang schism by hosting a separate Nationalist government in Guangzhou. Opposing Chiang's alleged dictatorship, the separatists included KMT leaders like Wang Ching-wei
Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...
, Sun Fo
Sun Fo or Sun Ke (; 21 October 1891 – 13 September 1973), courtesy name Zhesheng (), was a high-ranking official in the government of the Republic of China. He was the son of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China, and his fir ...
and others from diverse factions. The peace negotiations amid the armed standoff led to the 4th National Congress of Kuomintang being held separately by three factions in Nanjing, Shanghai and Canton. Resigning all his posts, Chiang pulled off a political compromise that reunited all factions. While the intraparty division was resolved, Chen kept his power until he was defeated by Chiang in 1936. During the WW2
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the "Canton Operation
The Canton Operation (; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu Zhànyì) was part of a campaign by Empire of Japan, Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to blockade Republic of China (1912-1949), China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world ...
" subjected the city to Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
occupation by the end of December 1938.
People's Republic of China
Amid the closing months before total Communist victory, Guangzhou briefly served as the capital of the Republican government. Guangzhou was captured on 14 October 1949. Amid a massive exodus to Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, defeated Nationalist forces blew up the Haizhu Bridge across the Pearl River in retreat. The Cultural Revolution had a large effect on the city, with much of its temples, churches and other monuments destroyed during this chaotic period.
The People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
initiated building projects including new housing on the banks of the Pearl River to adjust the city's boat people
Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...
to life on land. Since the 1980s, the city's close proximity to Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
and Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
and its ties to overseas Chinese made it one of the first beneficiaries of China's opening up under Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
. Beneficial tax reforms in the 1990s also helped the city's industrialization and economic development.
The municipality was expanded in the year 2000, with Huadu and Panyu
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
joining the city as urban districts and Conghua
Conghua District, alternately romanized as Tsungfa, is one of 11 urban districts and the northernmost district of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Conghua connects the Pearl River Delta with th ...
and Zengcheng
Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China.
History
was established under the Qin following their conquest ...
as more rural counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
. The former districts of Dongshan and Fangcun were abolished in 2005, merged into Yuexiu
Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, political and cultural c ...
and Liwan
Liwan ( ar, ليوان, , from Persian ) is a long narrow-fronted hall or vaulted portal in ancient and modern Levantine homes that is often open to the outside.Abercrombie, 1910, p. 266.Davey, 1993, p. 29. An Arabic loanword to English, it is u ...
respectively. The city acquired Nansha and Luogang. The former was carved out of Panyu
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
, the latter from parts of Baiyun, Tianhe, Zengcheng
Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China.
History
was established under the Qin following their conquest ...
, and an exclave within Huangpu. The National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2,9 ...
approved a development plan for the Pearl River Delta in January 2009; on March 19 the same year, the Guangzhou and Foshan municipal governments agreed to establish a framework to merge the two cities. In 2014, Luogang merged into Huangpu and both Conghua
Conghua District, alternately romanized as Tsungfa, is one of 11 urban districts and the northernmost district of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. Conghua connects the Pearl River Delta with th ...
and Zengcheng
Zengcheng District ( alternately romanized as Tsengshing) is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China.
History
was established under the Qin following their conquest ...
counties were upgraded to districts.
On June 16, 2022, an EF2 tornado struck the city, causing major power outages and knocking out power to the city's subway lines.
Gallery
File:Nieuhof-Ambassade-vers-la-Chine-1665 0744-2.tif, Nieuhof's imaginative 1665 map of "Kanton", made from secondhand accounts when Europeans were still forbidden from entering the walled city
File:Canton factories.jpg, The Thirteen Factories
The Thirteen Factories, also known as the , was a neighbourhood along the Pearl River in southwestern Guangzhou (Canton) in the Qing Empire from to 1856 around modern day Xiguan, in Guangzhou's Liwan District. These warehouses and stores were ...
, displaying the flags of Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, the United States, Sweden, Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, and the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
File:Shop of Tingqua, the painter.jpg, alt=An 1855 painting of the gallery of Tingqua, one of the most successful suppliers of "export paintings" for Guangzhou's foreign traders.Common themes included the Thirteen Factories, the Whampoa Anchorage (now Pazhou), and the Sea-Banner Temple (now Hoi Tong Monastery), An 1855 painting of the gallery of Tingqua, one of the most successful suppliers of "export paintings" for Guangzhou's foreign traders.
Common themes included the Thirteen Factories
The Thirteen Factories, also known as the , was a neighbourhood along the Pearl River in southwestern Guangzhou (Canton) in the Qing Empire from to 1856 around modern day Xiguan, in Guangzhou's Liwan District. These warehouses and stores were ...
, the Whampoa Anchorage
Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China.
, formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...
(now Pazhou), and the Sea-Banner Temple
The Hoi Tong Monastery, also known by many other names, is a Buddhist temple and monastery on Henan Island in Guangzhou, China. It shares its grounds with the city's .
Names
The official English form of the name is "Hoi Tong Monastery", ...
(now Hoi Tong Monastery).
File:Canton1860.jpg, Vrooman's 1860 map of the "City and Entire Suburbs of Canton", one of the first made after the treaties of Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
and Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
permitted foreigners full access to Guangzhou's walled city
File:Flower Pagoda in Canton.jpg, The Flowery Pagoda at the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees or Liurong Temple is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, originally built in AD 537.
The temple's proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzhou has made it a regular destination for families partici ...
in 1863
File:Lai Afong, Five Stories Pagoda Guangzhou, c1880.JPG, The Five-story Pagoda atop Yuexiu Hill
Yuexiu Hill, also known as Yut Sau Shan , Yut Sau Hill or Mount Yuexiu, is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. It once formed the northern end of the old walled city, though most of the walls have been dismantled and the city has now expanded f ...
File:Lai Afong, Sacred Heart Cathedral Guangzhou, c1880.JPG, The Sacred Heart Cathedral towering over the one- and two-story homes of old Guangzhou
File:Canton street scene, 1919.jpg, Street scene in Guangzhou, 1919
File:Canton1920 d006 map of of the city.jpg, The US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's Dept of Navigation's 1920 map of "Canton"
File:Whampoa3.jpg, Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek at the opening of the Whampoa Military Academy
The Republic of China Military Academy () is the service academy for the army of the Republic of China, located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung. Previously known as the the military academy produced commanders who fought in many of China ...
on 16 June 1924
File:The Bund Canton.jpg, alt=The Guangzhou Bund in 1930, with rows of Tanka boats., The Guangzhou Bund in 1930, with rows of Tanka
is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature.
Etymology
Originally, in the time of the '' Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short p ...
boats
File:1937 Canton, China VP8.webm, A short film of Guangzhou in 1937
File:PLA Troops entered to Guangzhou.jpg, The People's Liberation Army entering Guangzhou on 14 October 1949
File:Txu-oclc-10552568-nf49-4-back.jpg, Map of Guangzhou (labeled as KUANG-CHOU (CANTON))
Geography
The old town of Guangzhou was near Baiyun Mountain Baiyun (generally ) may refer to:
Guangzhou
*Baiyun District, Guangzhou
*Baiyun Mountain (Guangdong)
*Baiyun New Town
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, in Huadu District
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), closed down in 2004
...
on the east bank of the Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
(Zhujiang) about from its junction with the South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...
and about below its head of navigation. It commanded the rich alluvial plain of the Pearl River Delta, with its connection to the sea protected at the Humen Strait. The present city spans on both sides of the river from to longitude and to latitude in south-central Guangdong. The Pearl is the 4th-largest river of China. Intertidal ecosystems exist on the tidal flat lining the river estuary, however, many of the tidal flats have been reclaimed for agriculture. Baiyun Mountain is now locally referred to as the city's "lung" ().
The elevation of the prefecture generally increases from southwest to northeast, with mountains forming the backbone of the city and the ocean comprising the front. Tiantang Peak (, "Heavenly Peak") is the highest point of elevation at above sea level.
Natural resources
There are 47 different types of minerals and also 820 ore fields in Guangzhou, including 18 large and medium-sized oil deposits. The major minerals are granite, cement limestone, ceramic clay, potassium, albite, salt mine, mirabilite, nepheline, syenite, fluorite, marble, mineral water, and geothermal mineral water. Since Guangzhou is located in the water-rich area of southern China, it has a wide water area with many rivers and water systems, accounting for 10% of the total land area. The rivers and streams improve the landscape and keep the ecological environment of the city stable.
Climate
Despite being located just south of the Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...
, Guangzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Cfa/Cwa'') influenced by the East Asian monsoon. Summers are wet with high temperatures, high humidity, and a high heat index
The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...
. Winters are mild and comparatively dry. Guangzhou has a lengthy monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
season, spanning from April through September. Monthly averages range from in January to in July, while the annual mean is . Autumn, from October to December, is very moderate, cool and windy, and is the best travel time. The relative humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity dep ...
is approximately 73 percent, whereas annual rainfall in the metropolitan area is over . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 17 percent in March and April to 52 percent in November, the city receives 1,628 hours of bright sunshine annually, considerably less than nearby Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
. Extreme temperatures have ranged from to .[ The last recorded snowfall in the city was on 24 January 2016, 87 years after the second last recorded snowfall.
]
Administrative divisions
Guangzhou is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over eleven districts:
Economy
Guangzhou is the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
's leading commercial and manufacturing regions. In 2021, its GDP reached ¥2,823 billion (US$444.37 billion in nominal), making it the 2nd largest economy in the South-Central China
South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by State Council that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, He ...
region after Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
. Guangzhou's GDP (nominal)
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
was US$444.37 billion in 2021, exceeding that of Nigeria with a GDP of US$ 440.77 billion, the largest economy in Africa. Guangzhou's per capita was ¥151,162 (US$23,794 in nominal). Guangzhou is considered one of the most prosperous cities in China. Guangzhou ranks 10th in the world and 5th in China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen) in terms of the number of billionaires according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2020. Guangzhou is projected to be among the world top 10 largest cities in terms of nominal GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
in 2035 (together with Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
, Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
in China) according to a study by Oxford Economics, and its nominal GDP per capita will reach above US$42,000 in 2030. Guangzhou also ranks 21st globally (between Washington, D.C. and Amsterdam) and 8th in the whole Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
& Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
region (behind Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen and Dubai) in the 2020 Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI). Owing to rapid industrialization, it was once also considered a rather polluted city. After green urban planning was implemented, it is now one of the most livable cities in China.
Canton Fair
The Canton Fair
The Canton Fair or China Import and Export Fair, is a trade fair held in the spring and autumn seasons each year since the spring of 1957 in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong, China. It is the oldest, largest, and the most representative trade fair in ...
, formally the "China Import and Export Fair", is held every year in April and October by the Ministry of Trade. Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the fair is a major event for the city. It is the trade fair
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...
with the longest history, highest level, and largest scale in China. From the 104th session onwards, the fair moved to the new Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center
The Canton Fair Complex (), formerly known as Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center (), is located on Pazhou Island in the Guangzhou (Canton City) in the People's Republic of China. It is possibly the largest convention center in ...
() in Pazhou
Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China.
, formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...
, from the older complex in Liuhua. The GICEC is served by two stations on Line 8 and three stations on Tram Line THZ1. Since the 104th session, the Canton Fair has been arranged in three phases instead of two phases.
File:Guangzhou_Skyline_3.jpg, Guangzhou skyline
File:Canton Fair.jpg, The former Canton Fair site at Yuexiu
Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, political and cultural c ...
's Liuhua Complex
File:Canton Trade Fair (tarotastic).jpg, Interior of the Canton Fair Complex in Pazhou, 2006
Local products
* Cantonese cuisine is one of China's most famous and popular regional cuisines, with a saying
A saying is any concisely written or spoken expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. Sayings are categorized as follows:
* Aphorism: a general, observational truth; "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth".
** Adag ...
stating simply to "Eat in Guangzhou" ().
*Cantonese sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
includes work in jade, wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
, and ( controversially) ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
.
* Canton porcelain developed over the past three centuries as one of the major forms of exportware. It is now known within China for its highly colorful style.
*Cantonese embroidery
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...
is one of china's four main styles of the embroidery.
* Zhujiang Beer, a pale lager
Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness.
The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brew ...
, is one of China's most successful brands.
Industry
*GAC Group
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Founded in 1954, it is currently the fifth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 2.144 million sa ...
*Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone
Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development District (GETDD; ) is one of the first national economic development zones in China.
History
The development zone was established in 1984. It is located at 30 kilometres away east of Guangzhou d ...
*Guangzhou Nansha Export Processing Zone
*: The Export Processing Zone was founded in 2005. Its total planned area is . It is located in Nansha District and it belongs to the provincial capital, Guangzhou. The major industries encouraged in the zone include automobile assembly, biotechnology and heavy industry. It is situated (a 70 minutes drive) south of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and close to Nansha Port. It also has the advantage of Guangzhou Metro line 4 which is being extended to Nansha Ferry Terminal.
*Guangzhou Free Trade Zone
*: The zone was founded in 1992. It is located in the east of Huangpu District and near to Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. It is also very close to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. The major industries encouraged in the zone include international trade, logistics, processing and computer software. Recently the Area has been rebranded and is now being marketed under the name Huangpu District. Next to the industries above, new sectors are being introduced to the business environment, including new energy, AI, new mobility, new materials, information and communication technology and new transport. It is also Home to the Guangzhou IP Court.
* Guangzhou Science City
Business Environment
Guangzhou is a hub for international businesses. According to an article by China Briefing, over 30,000 foreign-invested companies had settled in Guangzhou by 2018, including 297 Fortune Global 500 companies with projects and 120 Fortune Global 500 companies with headquarters or regional headquarters in the city.
Demographics
The 2010 census found Guangzhou's population to be 12.78 million. , it was estimated at 13,080,500, with 11,264,800 urban residents. Its population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
is thus around 1,800 people per km2. The built-up area of the Guangzhou proper connects directly to several other cities. The built-up area of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone
The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone () (once called 粤江平原), is a special economic zone on the southeastern coast of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, it consists of the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan ...
covers around and has been estimated to house 22 million people, including Guangzhou's nine urban districts, Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
(5.36m), Dongguan
Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...
(3.22m), Zhongshan
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...
(3.12m), most of Foshan (2.2m), Jiangmen
Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants a ...
(1.82m), Zhuhai
Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...
(890k), and Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...
's Huiyang District
Huiyang District ( postal: Waiyeung; is a district of Huizhou, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It was renamed in 2003 amid the restructuring of districts and counties in Huizhou. Formerly named Huiyang city (county level), its si ...
(760k). The total population of this agglomeration is over 28 million after including the population of the adjacent Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The area's fast-growing economy and high demand for labor has produced a huge "floating population" of migrant workers
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
; thus, up to 10 million migrants reside in the area least six months each year. In 2008, about five million of Guangzhou's permanent residents were hukouless migrants.
Ethnicity and language
Most of Guangzhou's population is Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
. Almost all Cantonese people speak Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
as their first language, while most migrants speak forms of Mandarin.[ In 2010, each language was the native tongue of roughly half of the city's population, although minor but substantial numbers speak other varieties as well. In 2018, He Huifeng of the '' South China Morning Post'' stated that younger residents have increasingly favored using Mandarin instead of Cantonese in their daily lives, causing their Cantonese-speaking grandparents and parents to use Mandarin to communicate with them. He Huifeng stated that factors included local authorities discouraging the use of Cantonese in schools and the rise in prestige of Mandarin-speaking Shenzhen. Jinan University released a survey result of the Guangzhou youths born in the year 2000 or after that were part of this educational study showed that 69% could still speak and understand Cantonese, 20% can understand Cantonese, but unable to speak it, and 11% completely had no knowledge of Cantonese. Jinan University's study of these Guangzhou youths also indicated when it came to the daily recreational use of Cantonese, roughly 40%-50% of them participated in these recreational functions with the usage of Cantonese with 51.4% of them in mobile games, 47% in Social Platforms, 44.1% in TV shows, and 39.8% in Books and Newspapers. Despite some decline in the use of Cantonese, it is faring better in survival, popularity, and prestige than other Chinese languages due to the historical pride in the language and culture, as well as the wide popularity and availability of mainstream Cantonese entertainment, which encourages locals to retain the Cantonese language. As of the 2020s, additional renewed efforts were introduced to preserve the local Cantonese language and culture with some limited Cantonese language classes now being taught in some schools as well as hosting Cantonese appreciation cultural events along with hosting activities that cater to the local Cantonese culture and language as well as many local Cantonese speaking families are now placing much stronger emphasis on their children to speak Cantonese to preserve the culture and language. In a 2018 report study by Shan Yunming and Li Sheng, the report showed that 90% of people living in Guangzhou are bilingual in both Cantonese and Mandarin, though fluency will vary depending on if they are locally born to the city and the surrounding Guangdong province or migrants from other provinces, which shows how much importance the Cantonese language still has in the city despite the strict policy rules from the government to be using Mandarin as the country's official language. Guangzhou has an even more unbalanced gender ratio than the rest of the country. While most areas of China have 112–120 boys per 100 girls, the Guangdong province that houses Guangzhou has more than 130 boys for every 100 girls.]
Recent years have seen a huge influx of migrants, with up to 30 million additional migrants living in the Guangzhou area for at least six months out of every year with the majority being female migrants and many becoming local Guangzhou people. This huge influx of people from other areas, called the floating population, is due to the city's fast-growing economy and high labor demands. Guangzhou Mayor Wan Qingliang told an urban planning seminar that Guangzhou is facing a very serious population problem stating that, while the city had 10.33 million registered residents at the time with targets and scales of land use based on this number, the city actually had a population with migrants of nearly 15 million. According to the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences researcher Peng Peng, the city is almost at its maximum capacity of just 15 million, which means the city is facing a great strain, mostly due to a high population of unregistered people.
According to the 2000 National Census, marriage is one of the top two reasons for permanent migration and particular important for women as 29.3% of the permanent female migrants migrate for marriage iang et al.,2004 Many of the female economic migrants marry men from Guangzhou in hopes of a better life. but like elsewhere in the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, the household registration system (''hukou'') limits migrants' access to residences, educational institutions and other public benefits. It has been noted that many women end up in prostitution. In May 2014, legally employed migrants in Guangzhou were permitted to receive a ''hukou'' card allowing them to marry and obtain permission for their pregnancies in the city, rather than having to return to their official hometowns as previously.
Historically, the Cantonese people have made up a sizable part of the 19th- and 20th-century Chinese diaspora
Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Terminology
() or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, re ...
; in fact, many overseas Chinese have ties to Guangzhou. This is particularly true in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and Australia.
Demographically, the only significant immigration into China has been by overseas Chinese, but Guangzhou sees many foreign tourists, workers, and residents from the usual locations such as the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Notably, it is also home to thousands of African immigrants, including people from Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
, Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
and the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
.[China cracks down on African immigrants and traders](_blank)
, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 6 October 2010
Metropolitan area
The encompassing metropolitan area was estimated by the OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
(Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) to have, , a population of 25 million.[Linked from the OECD her]
Development of Guangzhou
ScienceDirect provided a report on their website of the development of Guangzhou from 1990 until 2020. Their map report showed in 1990, the developed residential districts were almost exclusively concentrated to a small part of western Guangzhou whereas other parts of Guangzhou had smaller limited amount of developed residential communities being overwhelmingly surrounded by agricultural and forest lands. However, from 2005 until 2020, other parts of the city eventually began to develop more so residential communities and in the 2020 map report, it showed fully developed residential communities going from west to east of the city whereas the very southern part and large portions of northern Guangzhou still remain mainly agricultural and forest lands with very limited developed residential communities.
Transportation
Urban mass transit
When the first line of the Guangzhou Metro
The Guangzhou Metro () ( and ) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be built in mainland China, af ...
opened in 1997, Guangzhou was the fourth city in Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
to have an underground railway system, behind Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, and Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
. Currently the metro network is made up of thirteen lines, covering a total length of . A long-term plan is to make the city's metro system expand to over by 2020 with 15 lines in operation. In addition to the metro system there is also the Haizhu Tram
The Haizhu Island Circular New Tram (), Line THZ1, or YoungTram is a tram system mainly serving the Haizhu District of Guangzhou, between and . It is an at-grade tram system. The whole line (except Party Pier station) began operation on 31 Dece ...
line which opened on 31 December 2014.
The Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit
Guangzhou Bus Rapid Transit (Guangzhou BRT or GBRT) is the bus rapid transit (BRT) system of the city of Guangzhou in the People's Republic of China. Its first line was put into operation on 10 February 2010. It handles approximately 1,000,00 ...
(GBRT) system which was introduced in 2010 along Zhongshan Road
Zhongshan, Chungshan, or Jhongshan () is a common name of Chinese roads, usually in honor of Sun Yat-sen, better known in Chinese as "Sun Chungshan (Zhongshan)", who is considered by many to be the "Father of Modern China".
In Chinese cities, "Zho ...
. It has several connections to the metro and is the world's 2nd-largest bus rapid transit system with 1,000,000 passenger trips daily. It handles 26,900 pphpd
Passengers per hour per direction (p/h/d), passengers per hour in peak direction (pphpd) or corridor capacity is a measure of the route capacity of a rapid transit or public transport system.
Definition
The corridor capacity in the passenger t ...
during the peak hour a capacity second only to the TransMilenio
TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha. The system opened to the public in December 2000, covering Caracas Avenue and 80 street. Other lines were added gradually over the next s ...
BRT system in Bogota. The system averages one bus every 10 seconds or 350 per hour in a single direction and contains the world's longest BRT stations—around including bridges.
Motor transport
In the 19th century, the city already had over 600 long, straight streets; these were mostly paved but still very narrow. In June 1919, work began on demolishing the city wall to make way for wider streets and the development of tramways. The demolition took three years in total.
In 2009, it was reported that all 9,424 buses and 17,695 taxis in Guangzhou would be operating on LPG-fuel by 2010 to promote clean energy for transport and improve the environment ahead of the 2010 Asian Games which were held in the city. At present, Guangzhou is the city that uses the most LPG-fueled vehicles in the world, and at the end of 2006, 6,500 buses and 16,000 taxis were using LPG, taking up 85 percent of all buses and taxis.
Effective January 1, 2007, the municipal government banned motorcycles in Guangdong's urban areas. Motorcycles found violating the ban are confiscated. The Guangzhou traffic bureau claimed to have reported reduced traffic problems and accidents in the downtown area since the ban.
Airports
Guangzhou's main airport is the Baiyun International Airport in Baiyun District; it opened on August 5, 2004. This airport is the second busiest airport in terms of traffic movements in China. It replaced the old Baiyun International Airport, which was very close to the city center but failed to meet the city's rapidly growing air traffic demand. The old Baiyun International Airport was in operation for 72 years. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport now has three runways, with two more planned. Terminal 2 opened on April 26, 2018. Another airport located in Zengcheng District is under planning.
Guangzhou is served by Hong Kong International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
; ticketed passengers can take ferries from the Lianhuashan Ferry Terminal and Nansha Ferry Port in Nansha District to the HKIA Skypier. There are also coach bus services connecting Guangzhou with HKIA.
Railways
Guangzhou is the terminus of the Beijing–Guangzhou railway, Beijing–Guangzhou, Guangzhou–Shenzhen railway, Guangzhou–Shenzhen, Guangzhou–Maoming railway, Guangzhou–Maoming and Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railway, Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou conventional speed railways. In late 2009, the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway started service, with multiple unit trains covering at a top speed of . In December 2014, the Guiyang–Guangzhou high-speed railway and Nanning-Guangzhou railway began service with trains running at top speeds of and , respectively. The Guangzhou–Kowloon through train, Guangdong Through Train departs from the Guangzhou East railway station and arrives at the Hung Hom station in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The route is approximately 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. A number of regional railways radiating from Guangzhou started operating such as the Guangzhou–Zhuhai intercity railway and the Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing intercity railway.
Water transport
There are daily high-speed catamaran services between Nansha Ferry Terminal and Lianhua Shan Ferry Terminal in Guangzhou and the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal, as well as between Nansha Ferry Terminal and Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal, Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong.
File:GongYuanQian-MTR-Gz.JPG, Gongyuanqian Station of the Guangzhou Metro
The Guangzhou Metro () ( and ) is the rapid transit system of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be built in mainland China, af ...
File:GZmtr_Tianhe_Sports_Center_Station_Concourse.JPG, Tianhe Sports Center Station (Guangzhou BRT, GBRT)
File:Guangzhou Baiyun Airport 2.JPG, Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District
File:Guangzhou South Railway Station Platform CRH3 EMU.jpg, A China Railways CRH3, CRH3 Train at Guangzhou South Railway Station
File:Wanshengwei Station with a tram.jpg, A Tram at Wanshengwei Station
Culture
Within China, the culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
of the Cantonese people is a subset of the larger "northern and southern China, Southern" or "Lingnan culture, Lingnan" cultural areas. Notable aspects of Guangzhou's cultural heritage include:
*Cantonese language, the local and Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige variant of Yue Chinese.
* Cantonese cuisine, one of China's eight major culinary traditions
*Cantonese opera, usually divided into martial and literary performances
*Xiguan
Saikwan or Xiguan is an ancient town and an area in the Liwan district of Guangzhou, China, which was located west of the old walled city. The Thirteen Factories trading enclave was located on its southern shore and the Shamian enclave was co ...
(Saikwan), the area west of the former walled city
The Guangzhou Opera House & Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra also perform classical Western music and Chinese compositions in their style. Guangdong music (genre), Cantonese music is a traditional style of Chinese instrumental music, while Cantopop is the local form of pop music and rock-and-roll which developed from neighboring Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.
Religions
Before the postmodern era, Guangzhou had about 124 religious pavilions, halls, and temples. Today, in addition to the Chinese Buddhist Association, Buddhist Association, Guangzhou also has a Chinese Taoist Association, Taoist Association, a Jewish community, as well as a history with Christianity, reintroduced to China by colonial powers.
Taoism
Taoism and Chinese folk religion are still represented at a few of the city's temples. Among the most important is the Temple of the Five Immortals, dedicated to the Xian (Taoism), Five Immortals credited with introducing rice cultivation at the foundation of the city. The five rams they rode were supposed to have turned into stones upon their departure and gave the city several of its nicknames. However, the temple has not been restored as a Taoist temple status yet. Other famous temples include the List of City God Temples in China, City God Temple of Guangzhou and Sanyuan Palace. During the Cultural Revolution, all Taoist temples and shrines were practically destroyed or damaged by the red guards. Only handful of them like Sanyuan Palace were restored during 1980s. Guangzhou, like most of southern China, is also notably observant and continue the practice of Chinese ancestral veneration, Chinese ancestral worship during major festive occasions like the Tomb Sweeping Festival, Qing Ming Festival and Zhong Yuan Festival.
Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism, Buddhism is the most prominent religion in Guangzhou. The Zhizhi Temple was founded in AD 233 from the estate of a Eastern Wu, Wu official; it is said to comprise the residence of Zhao Jiande, the last of the Nanyue
Nanyue (), was an ancient kingdom ruled by Chinese monarchs of the Zhao family that covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Nanyue was establis ...
king of Nanyue, kings, and has been known as the Guangxiao Temple (Guangzhou), Guangxiao Temple ("Temple of Bright Filial Piety") since the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
. The Buddhist missionary, Buddhist missionary monk, Bodhidharma is traditionally said to have visited Panyu during the Liu Song dynasty, Liu Song or Liang dynasty (5th or 6th century). Around AD 520, Emperor Wu of Liang, Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty, Liang ordered the construction of the Baozhuangyan Temple and the Xilai Monastery to store the relics of Cambodian Arahant, Buddhist saints which had been brought to the city and to house the monks beginning to assemble there. The Baozhuangyan is now known as the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees or Liurong Temple is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, originally built in AD 537.
The temple's proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzhou has made it a regular destination for families partici ...
, after a famous poem composed by Su Shi after a visit during the Northern Song dynasty, Northern Song. The Xilai Monastery was renamed as the Hualin Temple (Guangzhou), Hualin Temple ("Flowery Forest Temple") after its reconstruction during the Qing dynasty.
The temples were badly damaged by both the Republic of China, Republican campaign to "Promote Education with Temple Property" () and the People's Republic of China, PRC's Cultural Revolution but have been renovated since the opening up that began in the 1980s. The Ocean Banner Temple on Henan Island, once famous in the west as the only tourist spot in Guangzhou accessible to foreigners, has been reopened as the Hoi Tong Monastery.
Christianity
Nestorianism, Nestorian Christianity in China , Christians first arrived in China via the overland Silk Road, but suffered during Emperor Wuzong of Tang, Emperor Wuzong's 845 Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution, persecution and were essentially extinct by the year 1000. The Qing dynasty, Qing-era ban on foreigners limited Christian mission, missionaries until it Treaty of Nanking, was abolished following the First Opium War, although the Protestantism in China, Protestant Robert Morrison (missionary), Robert Morrison was able to perform some work through his service with the British factory. The Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guangzhou , archdiocese of Guangzhou is housed at Guangzhou's Sacred Heart Cathedral, known locally as the "Stone House". A Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival edifice which was built by hand from 1861 to 1888 under Second French Empire, French direction, its original Latin and French stained-glass windows were destroyed during the wars and amid the Cultural Revolution; they have since been replaced by English ones. The Canton Christian College (1888) and Hackett Medical College for Women (1902) were both founded by missionaries and now form part of Guangzhou's Lingnan University (Guangzhou), Lingnan University. Since the opening up of China in the 1980s, there has been renewed interest in Christianity, but Guangzhou maintains pressure on underground churches which avoid registration with government officials. The Catholic archbishop Dominic Tang was imprisoned without trial for 22 years; however, his present successor is recognized by both the Vatican City, Vatican and China's Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, Patriotic Church.
Islam
Guangzhou has had ties with the Islamic world since the Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
. Relations were often strained: Arab and Persian pirates sacked the city on October 30, 758; the port was subsequently closed for fifty years.[ Their presence Guangzhou massacre, came to an end under the revenge of Chinese rebel Huang Chao in 878, along with that of the Jews in China, Jews, Christians in China , Christians,][ and ]Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
s.[ Nowadays, the city is home to Chinese Islamic cuisine, halal restaurants.
File:WuXianGuan-rams-0484.jpg, Guangzhou's Temple of the Five Immortals
File:John Thomson - Wah Lum Chu, Canton - cropped.jpg, at the (Hualin) in the 1870s
File:The Mahavira Palace of Guangxiaosi.jpg,
File:Guangzhou Chenghuang Miao 2014.01.24 16-47-58.jpg, Guangzhou's City God (China), City God Temple
File:The Sea-screen Temple at Honam Canton.png, The sacred pigs of the Ocean Banner Temple ( in the 1830s
File:Canton pagoda de las flores.JPG, at the ]Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees or Liurong Temple is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, originally built in AD 537.
The temple's proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzhou has made it a regular destination for families partici ...
(Liurong)
File:Hoi Tong Monastery Pagoda.JPG, The Thousand Buddha Tower at the present-day
File:Guangzhou Shishi Shengxin Dajiaotang 2012.11.15 10-46-30.jpg, Sacred Heart Cathedral
File:廣州基督教天河堂.jpg, Tianhe Church, built in 2017
Sport
The 11,468 seat Guangzhou Gymnasium was one of the venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
From 12 to 27 November 2010, Guangzhou hosted the 16th Asian Games. The same year, it hosted the 2010 Asian Para Games, first Asian Para Games from December 12 to 19. Combined, these were the major sporting events the city ever hosted.
Guangzhou also hosted the following major sporting events:
*1987 The 6th National Games of China
*1991 The 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup, 1st FIFA Women's World Cup
*2001 The 2001 National Games of China
*2007 The 8th
*2008 The 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships, 49th World Table Tennis Championships
*2009 The 2009 Sudirman Cup, 11th Sudirman Cup: the world badminton mixed team championships
Current professional sports clubs based in Guangzhou include:
In the 2010s, Guangzhou F.C., Guangzhou has risen to be a Association football, football powerhouse of China, having won eight List of Chinese football champions, national titles between 2011 and 2019. The team has also won the AFC Champions League in 2013 AFC Champions League, 2013 and 2015 AFC Champions League, 2015. The club has competed at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, 2013 and 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, where it lost 3–0 in the semifinal stage to the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League winners FC Bayern Munich and the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona, respectively.
Destinations
Eight Views
The Eight Views of Guangzhou, Eight Views of Ram City are Guangzhou's eight most famous tourist attractions. They have varied over time since the Song dynasty, with some being named or demoted by emperors. The following modern list was chosen through public appraisal in 2011:
*"Towers Shining through the Zhujiang New Town, New Town"
*"The Pearl River Flowing and Shining": The Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
from Bai'etan to Pazhou
Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China.
, formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships parti ...
*"Cloudy Mountain Green and Tidy": Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area
*"Yuexiu's Grandeur": Yuexiu Hill
Yuexiu Hill, also known as Yut Sau Shan , Yut Sau Hill or Mount Yuexiu, is located in Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. It once formed the northern end of the old walled city, though most of the walls have been dismantled and the city has now expanded f ...
and Yuexiu Park, Park
*"The Ancient Academy's Lingering Fame": The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall and its folk art museum
*"Liwan's Wonderful Scenery": Liwan Lake
*"Guangzhou Science City, Science City, Splendid as Brocade"
*"Wetlands Singing at Night": Nansha Wetlands Park
File:Pearl River Night Cruise.jpg, The Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
at Haiyin Bridge
File:Guangzhou BaiyunShan.jpg, Zhujiang New City from Pakwan or Baiyun Mountain Baiyun (generally ) may refer to:
Guangzhou
*Baiyun District, Guangzhou
*Baiyun Mountain (Guangdong)
*Baiyun New Town
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, in Huadu District
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), closed down in 2004
...
File:刘庆伏狼驹3.jpg, A brick carving at the Guangzhou Folk Art Museum, housed in the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall
Parks and gardens
*Baiyun Mountain Baiyun (generally ) may refer to:
Guangzhou
*Baiyun District, Guangzhou
*Baiyun Mountain (Guangdong)
*Baiyun New Town
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, in Huadu District
*Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), closed down in 2004
...
*Nansha Wetland Park
*People's Park (Guangzhou), People's Park
*South China Botanical Garden
*Yuexiu Park
*Dongshanhu Park ()
*Liuhuahu Park ()
*Liwanhu Park ()
*Luhu Park ()
*Martyrs' Park ()
*Pearl River Park ()
*Yuntai Garden ()
*Shimen National Forest Park()
*Haizhu Lake Park()
Tourist attractions
Guangzhou attracts more than 223 million visitors each year, and the total revenue of the tourism exceeded 400 billion in 2018. There are many tourist attractions, including:
*Canton Tower
*Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, housing Guangzhou's folk art museum
*Chime-Long Paradise
*Chime-Long Waterpark ()
*Guangdong Provincial Museum
*
*Mulberry Park (Guangdong), Mulberry Park, public center which demonstrates mulberry growing and silk making
*Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King
*Peasant Movement Training Institute at Guangzhou, Peasant Movement Training Institute, an important Maoist site
*Sacred Heart Cathedral of Guangzhou, Sacred Heart Cathedral (Stone House)
*Guangxiao Temple (Guangzhou), Temple of Bright Filial Piety (Guangxiao)
*Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees or Liurong Temple is a Buddhist temple in Guangzhou, China, originally built in AD 537.
The temple's proximity to foreign consulates in Guangzhou has made it a regular destination for families partici ...
(Liurong), site of the Flowery Pagoda
*Sanyuan Palace
*Shamian Island, Shamian or Shameen Island, the old trading compound
*Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Guangzhou), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, site of Guangzhou's former presidential palace
*Xiguan
Saikwan or Xiguan is an ancient town and an area in the Liwan district of Guangzhou, China, which was located west of the old walled city. The Thirteen Factories trading enclave was located on its southern shore and the Shamian enclave was co ...
(Saikwan), the western suburbs of the old city
Pedestrian streets
In every district there are many shopping areas where people can walk on the sidewalks; however most of them are not set as pedestrian streets.
The popular pedestrian streets are:
*Beijing Road pedestrian street
*Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street
*Huacheng Square (Flower City Square)
Malls and shopping centers
There are many malls and shopping centers in Guangzhou. The majority of the new malls are located in the Tianhe district.
*101 Dynamics
*China Plaza
*Liwan Plaza
*Teem Plaza
*Victory Plaza
*Wanguo Plaza
*Grandview Mall (Grandview Mall Aquarium)
*Wanda square
*Happy Valley (Guangzhou), Happy Valley
*Taikoo Hui Guangzhou, TaiKoo Hui
*Parc Central
*OneLinkWalk
*Rock Square
*Aeon Mall
*GT Land Plaza
*IFC Plaza
*IGC Mall
*Huacheng Square, Mall of the World
*K11
*Fashion Tianhe
Major buildings
*CITIC Plaza
*Canton Tower
*Guangzhou Circle Mansion
*Guangdong Olympic Stadium
*Guangzhou Opera House
*Guangzhou TV Tower
*Pearl River Tower
*The Guangzhou Twin Towers, Twin Towers:
**Guangzhou International Finance Center (West)
**The Guangzhou East Tower, CTF Guangzhou (East)
File:Guangzhou custom house.jpg, Canton Custom House (est. 1916), one of the oldest surviving in China
File:Ai Qun Hotel.JPG, Aiqun Hotel, Guangzhou's tallest building from 1937 to 1967
File:Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel.jpg, Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel on Shamian Island, Shamian
File:Dabenying (Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen%27s Mansion).jpg, The Canton Cement Factory (est. 1907), which housed Sun Yat-sen from 1923 to 1925
File:Guangzhou Guangdong Ziyi Ju Jiuzhi 2014.01.24 15-05-46.jpg, The old provincial capitol, now the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, Museum of Revolutionary History
File:Guangzhou (6344321124).jpg, Guangzhou's Central business district, CBD, including the Guangzhou International Finance Center, IFC (''right'')
Media
Guangzhou has two local radio stations: the provincial Radio Guangdong and the municipal Radio Guangzhou. Together they broadcast in more than a dozen channels. The primary language of both stations is Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
. Traditionally only one channel of Radio Guangdong is dedicated to Standard Mandarin, Mandarin Chinese. However, in recent years there has been an increase in Mandarin programs on most Cantonese channels. Radio stations from cities around Guangzhou mainly broadcast in Cantonese and can be received in different parts of the city, depending on the radio stations' locations and transmission power. The Beijing-based China National Radio also broadcasts Mandarin programs in the city. Radio Guangdong has a 30-minute weekly English programs, ''Guangdong Today'', which is broadcast globally through the WRN Broadcast, World Radio Network. Daily English news programs are also broadcast by Radio Guangdong.
Guangzhou has some of the most notable Chinese-language newspapers and magazines in mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, most of which are published by three major newspaper groups in the city, the Guangzhou Daily Press Group, Southern Daily, Nanfang Press Corporation, and the Yangcheng Evening News Group. The two leading newspapers of the city are ''Guangzhou Daily'' and ''Southern Metropolis Daily''. The former, with a circulation of 1.8 million, has been China's most successful newspaper for 14 years in terms of advertising revenue, while ''Southern Metropolis Daily'' is considered one of the most liberal newspapers in mainland China. In addition to Guangzhou's Chinese-language publications, there are a few English magazines and newspapers. The most successful is ''That's Guangzhou'', which started more than a decade ago and has since blossomed into ''That's PRD'', producing expatriate magazines in Beijing and Shanghai as well. It also produces ''In the Red''.
Education and research
The Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, also known as Guangzhou University Town (), is a large tertiary education complex located in the southeast suburbs of Guangzhou. It occupies the entirety of Xiaoguwei Island in Panyu District, covering an area of about . The complex accommodates campuses from ten higher education institutions and can eventually accommodate up to 200,000 students, 20,000 teachers, and 50,000 staff.
As of 2022, Guangzhou hosts 83 institutions of higher education (excluding adult colleges), ranking 2nd (tie) nationwide with Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
and 1st in South China region. Guangzhou is a major centre of research and innovation in the Asia-Pacific with a high level of scientific research output, ranking 10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...
globally, 5th in the Asia-Pacific, 4th in China after (Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
and Nanjing) and 1st in South Central China region.
The Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center's higher education campuses are as follows:
*Guangdong Pharmaceutical University
*Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
*Guangdong University of Technology
Guangdong University of Technology (abbreviated as GDUT) is a provincial university in Guangdong, China. The university offers a range of courses in engineering, science, technology, management, liberal arts and law, with major emphasis on the st ...
*Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
*Guangzhou University
Guangzhou University (GU; ) is a state university in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, China.
The university is made up of two campuses. The major campus is located in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center (HEMC, geographically called X ...
*Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine () is a university in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University, included in the state Double First Class University Plan.
History
It was ...
*South China Normal University
South China Normal University (SCNU; ) is a comprehensive university that is part of Double First Class University Plan and Project 211 in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, in the People's Republic of China. It is a Chinese state Doubl ...
*South China University of Technology
The South China University of Technology (SCUT; ) is a public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The university is co-sponsored by the China Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Provincial People's Government.
The university is a mul ...
*Sun Yat-sen University
Sun Yat-sen University (, abbreviated SYSU and colloquially known in Chinese as Zhongda), also known as Zhongshan University, is a national key public research university located in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. It was founded in 1924 by and nam ...
*Xinghai Conservatory of Music
Guangzhou's other fully accredited and degree-granting List of universities and colleges in Guangdong, universities and colleges include:
*Guangdong Institute of Science and Technology
*Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University
*Guangdong University of Finance & Economics
*Guangdong University of Finance
*Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology
*Guangzhou Medical University
Guangzhou Medical University (GMU, Chinese: 广州医科大学), formerly known as Guangzhou Medical College, is a Chinese medical school located in Guangzhou, China.
History
It was established in 1958. The internship program began in 2013.
...
*Guangzhou Sports University
*Jinan University
Jinan University (JNU, ) is a public research university based in Guangzhou, China. "Jinan" literally means "reaching southward", indicating the university's original mission to disseminate Chinese learning and culture from North to South when ...
*South China Agricultural University
South China Agricultural University (SCAU; ) is a provincial public university in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Founded in 1909, the university is considered to have an advantage in the field of agricultural science. It is a Double First Cla ...
*Southern Medical University
Southern Medical University (), formerly known as First Military Medical University, affiliated to the People's Liberation Army of China, is an institution of higher learning in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province, China. It was f ...
*Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering
The two main comprehensive libraries are Guangzhou Library and Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province. Guangzhou Library is a public library in Guangzhou. The library has moved to a new building in Zhujiang New Town, which fully opened on 23 June 2013. Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province has the largest collection of ancient books in Southern China.
Notable people
*Zhi Cong Li (born 1993), racing driver
*Kuang Sunmou (1863–?), railway engineer, businessman, and bureaucrat
*Bolo Yeung (born July 3, 1946), is a Hong Kong martial artist, competitive bodybuilder, and a film actor.
*Qi Yuwu (born November 28, 1976), is an actor based in Singapore.
*Szeto Keung (1948-2011), was an internationally known photographer.
*Donnie Yen (born July 3, 1946), is a Hong Kong martial artist, action director and choreographer, and a film director and actor.
International relations
Twin towns and sister cities
Consulates General/consulates
As of October 2020, Guangzhou hosts 65 foreign consulates-general/consulates, excluding the Hong Kong and Macao trade office, making it one of the major cities to host more than 50 foreign representatives in China after Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
.
Honours
Guangzhou Peninsula in Antarctica is named after the city, which was a major market and processing centre for the nineteenth-century Antarctic seal hunting, sealing industry.[L. Ivanov and N. Ivanova. Sealing period. In]
''The World of Antarctica''.
Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 78-84.
See also
*Canton System
The Canton System (1757–1842; zh, t=一口通商, p=Yīkǒu tōngshāng, "Single orttrading relations") served as a means for Qing China to control trade with the West within its own country by focusing all trade on the southern port of ...
and Old China Trade
*World's largest cities
*Historical capitals of China
*Mezitli Producer Women's Market#Guangzhou Innovation Award
*2021 Guangzhou bombing
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
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*Fairbank, John King. ''Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the treaty ports, 1842-1854'' (Cambridge, Harvard U. P, 1953
online
*Farris, Johnathan Andrew. ''Enclave to Urbanity: Canton, Foreigners, and Architecture from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Centuries'' (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2016
online review
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Further reading
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*Chan, May Caroline. "Canton, 1857." ''Victorian Review'' 36.1 (2010): 31–35
online
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External links
Guangzhou International
: Official website of government of Guangzhou municipality
Guangzhou, China Network
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{{Authority control
Guangzhou,
214 BC
210s BC establishments
Populated places established in the 1st century BC
Provincial capitals in China
Sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China
National Forest Cities in China
Articles containing video clips
Prefectures of the Sui dynasty
Prefectures of the Tang dynasty
Prefectures of the Song dynasty
Prefectures of the Yuan dynasty
Prefectures of the Ming dynasty
Prefectures of the Qing dynasty
Prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong
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