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Guangzhou
Guangzhou (; ; jyutping: Gwong²zau¹; Cantonese Yale: Gwóngjàu), in English and other European languages also known as Canton (which was first romanized from the Cantonese pronunciation of Guangdong by the Portuguese) and also known as Kwangchow, is a sub-provincial city located in southern China in the middle of Guangdong Province north of the Pearl River, about northwest of Hong Kong.
It is the third largest city in China and the capital of Guangdong Province, southern China's largest city and key transportation hub and trading port, located on the Pearl River which is navigable to the South China Sea. As of the 2000 census, the city has a population of 6 million, and an urban area population of roughly 11.85 million, making it the most populous city in the province and the third most populous metropolitan area in China. The provincial government's official estimate of the metropolitan area's population at the end of 2006 was 9,754,600. Guangzhou's urban land area is , the third largest in China, behind only Beijing and Shanghai. Historythumb|left|Site of the first National Congress of Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party)thumb|left|Combat at Guangzhou during the Second Opium Warthumb|right|1919 street sceneright|thumb|Huanghuagang Mausoleum of [[Huanghuagang Uprising|72 Martyrs]]left|thumb|1888 German map of [[Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou]] The first known city built at the site of Guangzhou was Panyu (Fan-Yü) ( 蕃禺, later simplified to 番禺; Poon Yu in Cantonese) founded in 214 BC. The city has been continuously occupied since that time. Panyu was expanded when it became the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom (南越) in 206 BC, the Nanyue Kingdom also included today's Vietnam. The Han Dynasty annexed Nanyue in 111 BC, and Panyu became a provincial capital and remains so today. In 226 AD, the city however became the seat of the Guang Prefecture (廣州; Guangzhou). Therefore, "Guangzhou" was the name of the prefecture, not of the city. However, people grew accustomed to calling the city Guangzhou, instead of Panyu. Although the Chinese name Guangzhou replaced Panyu as the name of the walled city, Panyu was still the name of the area surrounding the walled city until the end of Qing era.. Today, Panyu generally refers to the region to the south of Haizhu District, which is separated by the Pearl River. Arab and Persian pirates sacked Guangzhou (known to them as Sin-Kalan) in AD 758, ² according to a local Guangzhou government report on October 30 758, which corresponded to the day of Guisi (癸巳) of the ninth lunar month in the first year of the Qianyuan era of Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty. The Arab historian Abu Zayd Hasan of Siraf reports that in 878 followers of the Chinese rebel leader Huang Chao besieged the city and killed a large number of foreign merchants resident there. From the tenth to twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Guangzhou, some of them like Mei Zhu in the harem of the Emperor Liu Chang. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the celebrated poet Su Shi (Shisu) visited Guangzhou's Baozhuangyan Temple and wrote the inscription "Liu Rong" (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. It has since been called the Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Guangzhou by sea in 1514, establishing a monopoly on the external trade out of its harbour by 1517. They were later expelled from their settlements in Guangzhou (Cantão in Portuguese), but instead granted use of Macau as a trade base with the city in 1557. They would keep a near monopoly on foreign trade in the region until the arrival of the Dutch in the early 17th century. It is believed that the romanisation "Canton" originated from Portuguese Cantão, which was transcribed from Guangdong. Nevertheless, because at the time of the Portuguese arrival the capital city had no specific appellation other than Shang Sheng(省城, lit. the provincial capital) by its people, the province name was adopted for the walled city by the Europeans. The etymology of Canton, as well as the similar pronunciation with the province name Guangdong might have partly contributed to the recent confusion of Canton and Guangdong by certain English speakers. However, definitive English lexica, such as Merriam–Webster's Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English don't list Guangdong as a synonym (or variant) under Canton. After China gained control of Taiwan in 1683, the Qing government became more open to foreign trade. Guangzhou quickly emerged as one of the most suitable ports for international trade and before long ships arrived from all over the world. The Portuguese in Macau, the Spanish in Manila, Armenians, and Muslims from India were already actively trading in the port by the 1690s, when the French and English began frequenting the port through the Canton System. Other companies were soon to follow: the Ostend General India company in 1717; Dutch East India Company in 1729; the first Danish ship in 1731, which was followed by a Danish Asiatic Company ship in 1734; the Swedish East India Company in 1732; followed by an occasional Prussian and Trieste Company ship; the Americans in 1784; and the first ships from Australia in 1788. By the middle of the 18th century, Guangzhou had emerged as one of the world's great trading ports under the Thirteen Factories, which was a distinction it maintained until the outbreak of the Opium Wars in 1839 and the opening of other ports in China in 1842. The privilege during this period made Guangzhou one of the top 3 cities in the world. In 1918, the city's urban council was established and "Guangzhou" became the official name of the city. Panyu became a county's name to the southern side of Guangzhou. In both 1930 and 1953, Guangzhou was promoted to the status of a Municipality, but each time promotion was rescinded within a year. Japanese troops occupied Guangzhou from October 12, 1938 to September 16, 1945, after violent bombings. In the city, the Imperial Japanese Army conducted bacteriological research unit 8604, a section of unit 731, where Japanese doctors experimented on human prisoners. After the fall of the capital Nanjing in April 1949, the Nationalist government under the acting president Li Zongren relocated to Guangzhou. Communist forces entered the city on October 14, 1949. This led the nationalists to blow up the Haizhu bridge as the major link across the Pearl River and to the acting president's leaving for New York, whereas Chiang Kai-shek set up the capital for the Nationalist government in Chongqing again. The urban renewal projects of the new communist government improved the lives of some residents. New housing on the shores of the Pearl River provided homes for the poor boat people. Reforms by Deng Xiaoping, who came to power in the late 1970s, led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. As labor costs increased in Hong Kong, manufacturers opened new plants in the cities of Guangdong including Guangzhou. As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. Cantonese links to overseas Chinese and beneficial tax reforms of the 1990s have aided the city's rapid growth. In 2000, Huadu and Panyu were merged into Guangzhou as districts, and Conghua and Zengcheng became county-level cities of Guangzhou. Based on a report in the Guangzhou Daily, there might be as many as 100,000 Africans in Guangzhou, a number that the newspaper reports has been increasing at an annual rate of 30 to 40% since 2003. GeographyGuangzhou spans from 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta situated next to the Baiyun Mountain, which is locally referred to as ‘the lung of the city’.ClimateGuangzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa) influenced by the Asian monsoon. Summers are wet with high temperatures, high humidity and a high heat index. Winters are mild and comparatively dry. Guangzhou has a lengthy monsoon season, spanning from April through September. The annual average temperature in Guangzhou is , the relative humidity is approximately 68%, whereas annual rainfall in the metropolitan area is over .Administrative divisionsGuangzhou is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over ten districts (区 qu) and two county-level cities (市 shi) :As of April 28, 2005, the districts of Dongshan and Fangcun have been abolished and merged into Yuexiu and Liwan respectively; at the same time the district of Nansha was established out of parts of Panyu, and the district of Luogang was established out of parts of Baiyun, Tianhe, and Zengcheng, plus a part of Huangpu, making an exclave next to Huangpu. Development planIn January 2009 the National People's Congress approved a development plan for the Pearl River Delta Region. On March 19, 2009 the Guangzhou Municipal Government and Foshan Municipal Government both agreed to establish a framework to merge the two cities.Significant modern buildings
Economythumb|Guangzhou's [[Yuexiu District|Yuexiu CBD and Financial Centres.]]thumb|[[Tianhe District|Tianhe CBD at night with CITIC Plaza]] Guangzhou is the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions. In 2008, the GDP reached ¥821.58 billion (US $118 billion), per capita was ¥81,233 (US $11,696). The China Import and Export Fair, also called "Canton Fair", is held every year in April and October by Ministry of Trading. Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the Fair is a major event for the city. From the 104th session, Liuhua Complex is not in use to hold Canton Fair. All the booths have been transferred to Pazhou Complex. From the 104th session, Canton Fair has been arranged in 3 phases instead of 2 phases. Industrial zones
The zone was founded in 2005. Its total planned area is 1.36sqkm. It is located in Nansha District and it belongs to the provincial capital, Guangzhou. The major industries encouraged in the zone include auto-mobile assembly, biotechnology and heavy industry. It is situated near to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Shenzhen Port.
The zone was founded in 1992. It is located in the east of Huangpu District and located near to Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. It is situated very close to Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. The major industries encouraged in the zone include international trade, logistics, processing industry and computer software. Science CityMallsTransportationthumb|One of the new busesthumb|[[Gongyuanqian Station of Guangzhou Metro]]thumb|Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport thumb|A [[China Railways CRH3|CRH3 Train at Guangzhou South Railway Station]] Public transportGuangzhou MetroWith the first line of Guangzhou Metro opened in 1997, Guangzhou is the fourth city in Mainland China to have an underground railway system, behind Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. Currently the underground network is made up of five lines, covering a total length of , while another four lines are under construction and due to be completed in 2010 before the Asian Games. A long term plan is to make the city's underground system expand over by 2020 with 15 lines in operation.The existing five lines of Guangzhou Metro network:
Buses, taxis and motorcylesFrom January 1, 2007, the municipal government has banned motorcycles in the urban areas. Motorcycles found violating the ban will be confiscated. The Guangzhou traffic bureau claimed to have reported reduced traffic problems and accidents in the downtown area since the ban.According to a report on the China Daily of July 6, 2007, all buses and taxis in Guangzhou will be LPG-fueled by 2010 to promote clean energy for transportation and improve the environment. At present, Guangzhou is the city that uses the most LPG-fueled vehicles in the world. As of the end of 2006, 6,500 buses and 16,000 taxis were using LPG, taking up 85% of all buses and taxis. Air transportGuangzhou's main airport is the Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District opened on August 5, 2004. This airport is also the 2nd busiest airport in terms of traffic movements in China. It replaced the old Baiyun International Airport, which was very close to the city centre and failed to meet the fast-growing air traffic demand.Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport now has three runways, with two more planned to be built. Railway transportGuangzhou now has the JingGuang railway (Beijing-Guangzhou), the GuangShen railway (Guangzhou-Shenzhen), the GuangMao railway (Guangzhou-Maoming) and the GuangMeiShan railway (Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou). In late 2009, the Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway started its service, which enables Multiple unit to cover 610 miles at an average speed of 194 mph.Intercity transport to Hong KongGuangzhou is well connected to Hong Kong by train, coach and ferry. The Guangdong Through Train departs from the Guangzhou East railway station () and arrive at the Hung Hom KCR 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.River transportThere are daily ferry services including an overnight ferry service, which takes eight hours, as well as high-speed catamaran service which takes three hours, to the China Ferry Terminal or Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong. The Nansha Pier (新南沙客運港), located in the distant Nansha District outside the city centre, is also operating six daily 75-minute catamaran services to Hong Kong.Local products
CultureParks and gardens
Tourist attractionsGuangzhou has a humid, hot sub-tropical climate. Annual average temperature is 21.8 degrees. Autumn, from October to December, is very moderate, cool and windy, and is the best travel time. There are many tourist attractions around the city which include:
MediaGuangzhou has two local radio stations, the provincial Radio Guangdong and the municipal Radio Guangzhou. Together they broadcast Cantonese and Mandarin programmes in more than a dozen channels. The Beijing-based China National Radio broadcasts Putonghua programmes in the city. On the other hand, radio stations from cities around Guangzhou mainly broadcast in Cantonese whose programmes can be received in different parts of the city, depending on their locations and power. Radio Guangdong produces a 15-minute weekly English programme, Guangdong Today, which is broadcast globally through the World Radio Network but not in local channels. Daily English news and several other short weekly English programmes are also produced by Radio Guangdong.Both TVB Pearl and ATV World, two major English channels in Hong Kong, can be received through cable TV in Guangzhou. The local Guangzhou Television also has its own English channel which runs all-English programmes from evening to midnight every day. Guangzhou has some of the best Chinese-language newspapers in Mainland China, published by three big newspaper groups in the city. The Guangzhou Daily Press Group, Nanfang Press Corporation and Yangcheng Evening News Group dominate the newspaper market of Guangdong Province or even South Mainland China. The two leading newspaper of the city are Guangzhou Daily and Southern Metropolis Daily. Guangzhou Daily, with a circulation of 1.8 million, has been China's most successful newspaper for 14 years in terms of advertising revenue. In addition to Guangzhou's Chinese-language publications, there are a few English magazines and newspapers, most notably that's PRD (formerly that's Guangzhou) which was started more than a decade ago and has since blossomed into one of China's leading expat magazines with issues in Beijing, Shanghai and formerly Suzhou. EducationHigher education institutesthumb|Sun Yat-sen College of Medical Science, Sun Yat-sen Universitythumb|The main gate of Sun Yat-sen UniversityUniversities and colleges
Note: Institutes without full-time bachelor programs are not listed. Guangzhou Higher Education Mega CentreGuangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre also known as Guangzhou University City is a large university complex located in the southeast suburbs of Guangzhou. This huge higher education centre occupies the entire Xiaoguwei island in Panyu District, covering an area of about 18 square kilometres. It houses new campuses from ten universities, nine of which still maintain their old campuses in downtown Guangzhou. The whole Higher Education Mega Centre can eventually accommodate up to 200,000 students, 20,000 teachers and 50,000 staff.Universities which have campuses in the Mega Centre:
Secondary and high schoolsInternational schoolsSportsthumb|right|240px|Guangdong Olympic StadiumGuangzhou is hosting the 16th Asian Games in 2010 from November 12–27. Guangzhou also hosted the following major events:
Current professional sports clubs (football and basketball) based in Guangzhou include: International relationsSister citiesGuangzhou is twinned with the following cities:Friendship citiesGuangzhou has the following friendship cities:See also |
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