Guangdong

Guangdong

As one of the locations of China's Special Economic Zones, and bordering Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong has marked advantages in utilizing overseas capital and technology and carrying out foreign economic and technical cooperation. It is also one of the home provinces of oversea Chinese.

Situated in the southern part of China on the South China Sea, Guangdong province borders on Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian and Guangxi, and is separated from Hainan Province by the Qiongzhou Strait. As the southern gateway of China, Guangdong has an area of more than 180,000 square kilometers (69,498 square miles), more than 170,000 square meters (65,637 square miles) of which is land. It has a long zigzag coastal line of 3,368.1 kilometers (2,093 miles), and 651 islands with a total coastal line of 1,649.5 kilometers (1,025 miles). It's mountainous in north, and in the south there are coastal plains, hills and tablelands. From north to south, the altitude of landforms decreases. The deltas of the Pearl River and Han River are its chief plains. Leizhou Peninsula is on the southwestern end of the province. There are a few inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula.

Thousands of years ago, the Yue people resided here. That is why Guangdong is also called Yue. In the 887BC, during the reign of King Yi of the Zhou Dynasty (11th century – 256 BC), the capital of the Chu State was in Guangzhou. After the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) unified the whole China, Nanhai Prefecture was founded in Guangdong. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Guangdong Province was established, and this name has been in use ever since.

The Tropic of Cancer runs through Guangdong, the southwest part of which and the Leizhou Peninsula are in the tropical zone, and other parts in the subtropical zone. So it has long summers and warm winters. The average annual temperature rises gradually from the north to the south, that is, from about 19 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees Celsius (66.2 to 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Therefore the whole province is green all the year round and is seething with life everywhere.

Guangdong is now seeing more and more of its cities designated as 'Excellent Tourist Cities'. Xinghu Lake in Zhaoqing, and Mt. Danxia in Renhua are the national major famous scenic areas. Mt. Dinghu in Zhaoqing, Yuexiu Hill, Qinghui Garden in Shunde,Keyuan Garden in Dongguan, Liangyuan Garden in Foshan, the newly built miniature landscape 'Splendid China' and 'China Folk Culture Villages' in Shenzhen, etc, are all attractive places. Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, the former residences of the celebrities in modern times, important sites and cemeteries are also well-known tourist spots.