Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east

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, China, forty-three miles north 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 ...

. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

to the west,

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

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 ...

to the southwest,

Shaoguan Shaoguan (; Hakka: Seukoan) is a prefecture-level city in northern Guangdong Province ( Yuebei), South China, bordering Hunan to the northwest and Jiangxi to the northeast. It is home to the mummified remains of the sixth Zen Buddhist patriarch ...

to the north,

Heyuan Héyuán (, Hakka:Fò-Ngiàn) is a prefecture-level city of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,837,686 whom 1,051,993 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yuancheng urban ...

to the northeast,

Shanwei Shanwei (), or Swabue is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Jieyang to the east, Meizhou and Heyuan to the north, Huizhou to the west, and looks out to the South China Sea to the south. I ...

to the east, and

Daya Bay Daya Bay (), formerly known as Bias Bay, is a bay of the South China Sea on the south coast of Guangdong Province in China. It is bordered by Shenzhen's Dapeng Peninsula to the west and Huizhou to the north and east. History The bay was a hideo ...

of 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 ...

to the south. As of the 2020 census, the city has about 6,042,852 inhabitants and is administered as a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

. Huizhou's core metropolitan area, which is within Huicheng and Huiyang Districts, is home to around 2,090,578 inhabitants.

History

During the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, Huizhou was a prefectural capital of the Huiyang prefecture and the cultural center of the region. The West Lake in Huizhou was formerly known as Feng Lake. At the age of 59,

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...

was exiled to Huizhou by the imperial government of Song. When he visited Feng Lake in Huizhou, he found it located in the west of the city and was as beautiful as West Lake in Hangzhou. Therefore, he renamed it the West Lake. In order to solve the traffic problems on both sides of West Lake, he invested to help build two bridges. Later generations named bridges as the bridge Su Di to commemorate his achievements. And the two bridges in the West Lake becomes one of the eight scenic spots in the West Lake, called "Su Di Play Moon". Huizhou used to be a prosperous region, specializing in commerce and trading, which changed during the 20th century due to

wars War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...

. After the 1980s, Huizhou developed as a manufacturing base.

Demographics

Historical demographics

In ancient China, Huizhou and

were a part of the remote Lingnan region. In pre-

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

times, the population included

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 ...

peoples ( Zhuang, Yao,

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...

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 ...

, and

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

) but very few

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 ...

aside from imperial Chinese soldiers. According to the Huiyang County annals (2003), during the late

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...

(14th century), what is now Huizhou had only 45,410 inhabitants in 9,545 households. That corresponds to one household or five people per square kilometer. Most of the 6 million inhabitants in Huizhou and Heyuan are descended from people who migrated during the late Yuan and early

Ming 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 peop ...

dynasties and during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

after the

Great Clearance The Great Clearance (), also translated as the Great Evacuation or Great Frontier Shift, was caused by edicts issued in 1661, 1664, and 1679, which required the evacuation of the coastal areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shandong ...

.潘家懿、林倫倫（2011），粵東惠河片閩南語的分佈及其地理環境特徵，《臺灣語文研究》第6卷第2期,2011, p.16

Population

According to the 2020 census, the city's permanent population was 6,042,852, representing an increase of 1,444,450 people, or 31.43%, from the 2010 census. Between 2000 and 2010, the average annual increase over that 10-year period was 3.64%. As of 2010, the population included 2,419,258 males (52.63%) and 2,177,744 females (47.37%), for a sex ratio of 111.09 males for every 100 females. There were 809,270 children aged 0–14 (17.6%); 3,517,928 people aged 15–64 (76.53%), and 269,804 people aged 65 and older (5.87%).

Ethnicity

The majority of Huizhou's residents are

, with a population of 3,617,800, 97.69% of Huizhou's population. There are 85,500 residents of minority ethnic groups, including Yao and

, representing 2.31% of the population. The Han population includes

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 ...

and Hoklo people. The Hakka are distributed widely in each district and county of the prefecture-level city, and Huizhou has

Hakka walled village A Hakka walled village ( zh, 围龙屋) is a large multi-family communal living structure that is designed to be easily defensible. This building style is unique to the Hakka people found in southern China. Walled villages are typically designed ...

s. The Hoklo are concentrated in Boluo County and Huidong County. In Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, there are more than 800,000 people of Huizhou ancestry.

Economy

Located in the Pearl River Delta, Huizhou is one of the 9 prefecture-level cities in 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 ...

(include Huizhou urban area, Huiyang, Huidong and Boluo only).

TCL TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company **TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

, a major TV and multinational consumer electronics company is headquartered in Huizhou.http://www.bayarea/gov.hk/about Huizhou/Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao Greater Bay Area Huizhou

Development zones

Huizhou Dayawan Economic and Technological Development Zone

The Huizhou Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone (DBETDZ) was approved by the State Council in 1993. It had an initial area of , and in 2006, the State Council expanded the zone to in three phases. Industries encouraged in the zone include Automobile Production/Assembly, Chemical Production and Processing and Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing.

Huizhou Export Processing Zone

The Huizhou Export Processing Zone was approved by Guangdong Provincial Government as a subzone of DBETDZ in June 2005. The planned area was in size. The zone was considered suitable for companies focusing on electronics, auto parts, textiles and chemicals.

Huizhou Zhongkai High-tech Industrial Development Zone

The Huizhou Zhongkai High-tech Industrial Development Zone is connected with Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan by the Huizhou-Shenzhen Highway, Guangzhou-Huizhou Highway and Dongguan-Huizhou Highway. The Beijing-Kowloon Railway and Huizhou-Aotou Railway also run through the zone, linking it with

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 other cities along the railway. Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport is a one-and-a-half hour drive from the zone. The Huizhou Zhongkai HIDZ has also established electronics, information technology and optical-, mechanical- and electronic-integration as its major industries. It also encourages investment in new materials, telecommunications, and other high-tech industries. The zone is one of the National Electronic Information Industry Bases and National Video and Audio Products Parks in China.

Administration

The

of Huizhou administers 5 county-level divisions, including 2 districts and 3

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 ...

Transport

Huicheng, the urban center of Huizhou, is served by the Jingjiu Railway (also known as the Guangmeishan Railway in Guangdong) with two stations: Huizhou West 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 ...

. Huizhou itself is vast as Los Angeles County with sparse rail service as compared with bay peer cities.

Huizhou Pingtan Airport Huizhou Pingtan Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the city of Huizhou in Guangdong Province, China. It is located in the town of Pingtan in Huiyang District, 20 kilometers from the city center. The military airport serv ...

reopened in 2015. Additionally the town is about a one and one half-hour drive by bus from

Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (formerly Shenzhen Huangtian Airport) is the airport serving Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It is located on the east bank of the Pearl River near Huangtian and Fuyong villages in Bao'an District, and is ...

. There are also coach bus services connecting Huizhou with

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 ...

. A mass rapid transit linking it to Shenzhen was under construction . In April 2018, the ''

China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...

'' announced that the world's first automatic railroad was currently under construction between Dongguan and Huizhou. As a pilot project, it would contain ten railway stations, driverless trains and robotic assistance for passengers with luggage and tickets.

Language

The main languages spoken in Huizhou are

Hakka Chinese Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities aroun ...

(Huiyang dialect), Huizhou dialect,

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

dialect, and

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 ...

Military

Huizhou is the headquarters of the 42nd Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies that comprise the

Guangzhou Military Region The Guangzhou Military Region was from 1955 to 2016 one of the People's Liberation Army PLA Military Regions, located in the south of the People's Republic of China. In May 1949, the Central China (Hua Zhong) Military Region (MR) was formed. In Ma ...

responsible for the defense of China's southern coast and its border with

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Education

Educational facilities in Huizhou include: *

Huizhou University Huizhou University () is a provincial undergraduate university in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, southern China. History The school was established in 1921 as the Guangzhou Municipal Normal School. In March 2000 it was granted the status of ...

* Huizhou Radio and Television University * Huizhou Nanshan School *Medi's International school

Sport

Huizhou is a well-known city of sports in China with the opening of

Huizhou Olympic Stadium Huizhou Olympic Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China, that opened in 2010. The stadium holds 40,000 spectators. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches. It served as the ho ...

in 2010.

Climate

Huizhou has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: Cwa). Summers are long, hot and humid. Winters are short, mild and dry.

Tourism

Daya Bay

Daya Bay is located to the southeast of Huizhou City, on the South China Sea, with waters covering an area of nearly . There are nearly 100 islands and reefs in the bay. The climate is described as a typical subtropical oceanic climate, with temperatures averaging over the year. Historically, Daya Bay had whales and turtles. The bay was one of the breeding grounds along the southern coast of China for Asian population of gray whales which are now one of the most endangered whale population in the world. They migrated here to calve in the winter-spring seasons. Other species, such as

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...

s also migrated here historically. All of these were wiped out by Japanese whalers established whaling stations on various sites on Chinese coasts including at nearby Daya Bay. Critically endangered Chinese white dolphins and occasional whales such as humpbacks have been confirmed in the bay recent years.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Huizhou is twinned with: *

Hallstatt Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...

, Austria * North Vancouver, Canada *

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José Marí ...

, United States

Friendly cities

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

, Samoa *

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential ci ...

, South Korea *

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, United Kingdom

References

External links

Government website of Huizhou
{{Authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong