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GUANGZHOU
(long known as
Canton in the West) is the capital of Guangdong Province and the most
important industrial and foreign trade center in south China. This
steamy, subtropical metropolis, with its gray- green hues, lush parks,
boisterous atmosphere, and world-famous cuisine, has an aura that is
unique among China's largest cities.
Guangzhou, which
administers 5 urban districts and six surrounding counties, has a
population of about 5.3 million, densely packed into an area of 4,330
sq.km. (1,678 sq miles) on the northern bank of the Pearl River (Zhu
Jiang) Delta. It has an area of 11,300 square kilometers, of which the
city proper covers 4,000 sq km.
Guangzhou's Huangpu Harbor,
which handles 20 million tons of cargo annually, is still the largest
export-import harbor in South China. About 1.3 million natives of
Guangzhou are living in Hong Kong, Macao and overseas.
China's
Window to Outside World
After 1949, when the PRC was
largely inaccessible to foreign visitors, Guangzhou continued to
receive compatriots from neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, many of whom
had originally emigrated from Guangdong Province. With the
establishment of the semi-annual Chinese Export Commodities Fair
(Guangzhou Trade Fair) in 1957, the city has been drawing an average of
25,000 foreign business people twice a year.
Guangzhou is the
largest city in south China and the political, economic, cultural and
communication center in this area. It has long been the oldest
foreign-trade port in China, which 1,000 years ago attracted merchants
from all over Asia and Africa who were housed in a special quarter in
the city.
In recent years, the commerce and lifestyle of
Guangzhou have become increasingly integrated with those of Hong Kong
182 km to the southwest). Official PRC encouragement of joint business
ventures between China and foreign firms and the creation of three
"special economic zones" in Guangdong Province since 1979 have led to
substantial investment in Guangzhou by Hong Kong business people.
Furthermore, compatriots from Hong Kong who stream across the border to
conduct business, to visit relatives, or to do sightseeing have
acquainted the citizens of Guangzhou nor only with various types of
consumer goods that are not yet produced in China, but also with
fashions and hairstyles that are quickly emulated by Guangzhou's youth.
The
Goat City
Legend has it that Guangzhou was
founded by
five celestial beings that descended from the heaven astride five
goats, each animal bearing a stalk of rice in its mouth. The rice was
the symbol of a promise by the gods that the region would never suffer
from famine. Although the promise was not always kept, the legend stuck
and Guangzhou is still referred to as Yangcheng (Goat City). Indeed,
many products manufactured in Guangzhou today carry the "Goat Brand"
and the statue of five goats standing in Yuexiu Park has
virtually become the logo of the city.
Guangzhou
in History
The region is originally the home
of tribal
peoples over 2,000 years ago. During the Qin Dynasty(221-206 BC), large
numbers of Han Chinese were rounded up and sent to settle in the area
around Guangzhou, which became an active trading port known as Panyu.
In 714, the Tang Dynasty officially sanctioned Guangzhou as a foreign
trade center.
The town already contained a sizable Muslim
population, and as a result of its trade with India, Persia, and
Southeast Asia, Guangzhou became subject to a number of positive and
negative foreign influences. From the 10th to the 17th century, it
developed into a major port and shipbuilding town.
The
earliest European influence in Guangzhou was Portuguese. Portugal
established an embassy here in 1557. Soon afterwards, the Spanish and
Dutch arrived, followed by the British, the French, and the Americans
in the 18 century. Conflict between China and the West did not erupt
until the 19th century when Commissioner Lin Zexu destroyed 20,000
chests of opium dumped into Guangzhou by the British and
Americans sneakily.
This event triggered the first Opium War of
1839-42. Guangzhou subsequently became one of the five Chinese ports
opened to foreign trade in accordance with the unequal Treaty of
Nanjing. Following the second Opium War(1856-60), sections of Guangzhou
were parceled out to foreign nations.
The decay of China's
dynastic systems and the loss of national economic independence
profoundly transformed Guangzhou. Western settlements in the city
(remnants of which are visible today on Shamian Island) contained large
compounds and spacious buildings, contrasting sharply with the squalid
slums and cluttered canal boats inhabited by the local people. As a
result of pervasive poverty and overcrowding, large numbers of Chinese
migrated during this period to other Asian countries, North America,
and Europe, the vast majority exiting via the port of Guangzhou.
Renewal of City Proper
Prior to 1949, Guangzhou
was a city of sprawling slums and dilapidated houseboats. Since 1949, a
tremendous amount of urban renewal has occurred. Much of the new
housing built along the shores of the Pearl River accommodates the
60,000 previously wretched boat people.
The rich alluvial
soil of Pearl River Delta provides the Guangzhou region with highly
productive agricultural base. Some 92,000 hectares (227,000 acres) are
under cultivation. In addition to growing three rice crops a year, the
area produces wheat, fruit, vegetables, sugarcane, and oil-bearing
crops. Guangzhou City itself includes 33 communes and 16 state farms.
The city also has over 3,200 factories producing newsprint, refined
sugar, ships, cement, steel, chemicals, automobiles, machinery,
textiles, rubber goods, canned goods, and fertilizer. Clothing (about
one-third of which is exported), bamboo and rattan products, pottery,
ivory, jade, and jewelry are also manufactured here.
Cultural
Undertakings
Guangzhou has over a dozen
colleges and research
institutes, including the renowned Zhong Shan (Sun Yetsan)
University, famous for its medical school. It is also the home to the
Guangdong Province Historical Museum, and several children's cultural
palaces.
Guangzhou has staunchly maintained its unique
cultural traditions, including its distinctive earthy dialect,
vernacular literature, lively music, colorful opera, and splendid
varied cuisine.
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