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Guangzhou (Traditional Chinese: 廣州, Simplified Chinese: 广州, pinyin: Guǎngzhōu, Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou) (23n06, 113e16 AWST) is the capital of the Guangdong Province in southern China. It was formerly known as Canton.
The Chinese abbreviation of Guangzhou is Sui (TC: 穗;; SC: 穗;; pinyin: suì). Population (1999): city: 6.85 million; urban population: 4.05 million. This city has a nickname Wuyangcheng (city of five rams), Yangcheng(city of rams), Huacheng(city of flowers) or Suicheng.
Administration
Guangzhou has direct jurisdiction over twelve districts: Yuexiu, Dongshan, Liwan, Haizhu, Tianhe, Baiyun, Huangpu, Fangcun, Huadu, Conghua, Zengcheng, Panyu.
History
It is believed that the first city was built in 214 BC, named Panyu (番禹 the locals pronounced this in Cantonese as Poon Yu) and have had a continuous occupation since that time.
In 206 BC, it became the capital of Kingdom Nanyue (南越), and the city was expanded.
Han Dynasty annexed Nanyue in 111 BC, and Panyu became a provincial capital and remains so until this day.
Panyu was renamed Guangzhou in AD 226.
Guangzhou was sacked by Arabs ¹ and Persians in AD 758, ² based on 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 Tang Dynasty. ³
During Song Dynasty, Su Shi, a celebrated poet, visited Baozhuangyan Temple (founded in AD 537), and left his hand-writing "liu rong" (six banyan trees) to the temple, so the name "Liu Rong Temple".
In 1711, the British East India Company established a trading post in Guangzhou.
1888 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now Guangzhou)
Guangzhou was one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing (signed in 1842) at the end of the First Opium War between United Kingdom and China. The other ports were Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai.
Geography
Guangzhou is located at 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The Municipality is part of the Pearl River Delta.
Economy
The Pearl River Delta is one of mainland China's leading economic regions and a massive manufacturing centre.
Guangzhou's main airport is Baiyun International Airport, a hub for China Southern Airlines. The New Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District opened on 5 August 2004.
The GDP per capita was ¥38568 (ca. US$4660) in 2003, ranked no. 8 among 659 Chinese cities.
Culture
Touristic highlights
Other buildings
Colleges and Universities
[National]
[Public]
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
Footnotes
- ¹ Frank Welsh, A Borrowed Place: The History of Hong Kong, Maya Rao (editor), p. 13, ISBN 1568361343
- ² Joseph Needham, Science & Civilization in China, 1, pp.179 - Cambridge University Press 1954
- ³ Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian, ch. 220.
External link
de:Kanton (Stadt)
eo:Kantono (Cxinio)
fr:Guangzhou
ja:広州
pl:Guangzhou
zh:广州市
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