# Heshan, Guangdong

Heshan (Chinese: 鹤山), formerly romanized as Hokshan, is a county-level city of Jiangmen City in the southern part of Guangdong Province, China with a total land area of 1,081 square kilometres (417 sq mi) and a population of 530,684 inhabitants as of 2020 census and some 200,000 internal migrants. The city is now being conurbated with Jiangmen and so included in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Pearl River conurbation with more than 65,57 million inhabitants. There are approximately 360,000 people of Heshan origin or descent living in other parts of the world, particularly in the Americas such as Chile, Peru and the United States.
Situated about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south west of the provincial capital, Guangzhou, Heshan occupies a strategic location on the Pearl River Delta, commanding the northern gateway to Jiangmen's five prefectures. Along the opposite bank of the same river, lie the two municipalities of Nanhai and Shunde. Heshan is around three hours from Hong Kong and one hour from Macau by road. The city's harbour can accommodate vessels of up to 3,000 long tons (3,050 t). Ships ply from here to Hong Kong directly.

## Name

Heshan—one of several places in China whose name means "Mount Crane"—takes its name from a nearby mountain thought to resemble the shape of the bird. The spelling Heshan derives from the pinyin romanization of the name's Mandarin pronunciation. The Postal Map spelling Hokshan was a combination of the local Cantonese pronunciation of the first character and the Mandarin pronunciation of the second. Heshan has also been romanized as Ho Shan and Ho-shan.

## History

Heshan was made a prefecture in 1732 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing. By the 19th century, Heshan County made up part of the commandery of Zhaoqing. In 1993, it was promoted to a county-level city.

## Administrative divisions

Heshan Municipality administers ten towns:
| Name | Chinese (S) | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2010) |
| Shaping Subdistrict | 沙坪街道 | Shāpíng Jiēdào | 197,155 |
| Longkou town | 龙口镇 | Lóngkǒu Zhèn | 36,625 |
| Yayao town | 雅瑶镇 | Yǎyáo Zhèn | 38,851 |
| Gulao town | 古劳镇 | Gǔláo Zhèn | 35,606 |
| Taoyuan town | 桃源镇 | Táoyuán Zhèn | 25,902 |
| Hecheng town | 鹤城镇 | Hèchéng Zhèn | 32,170 |
| Gonghe town | 共和镇 | Gònghé Zhèn | 41,338 |
| Zhishan town | 址山镇 | Zhǐshān Zhèn | 32,009 |
| Zhaiwu town | 宅梧镇 | Zháiwú Zhèn | 26,254 |
| Yunxiang town | 云乡镇 | Yúnxiāng Zhèn | 12,453 |
| Shuanghe town | 双合镇 | Shuānghé Zhèn | 16,575 |

## Industry

Heshan is located at the center of one of China's largest furniture producing areas, with approximately 10% of the world's furniture produced on its outskirts.

## Culture

Heshan is the birthplace of the Southern lion dance style known as the Hok San lion dance.

## Notable individuals

Heshan is the birthplace of NBA player Yi Jianlian.
Singaporean community leader and businessman, Yam Kok Yuen (任國源), was born in Ha Lok Village (下六村) in Heshan. He was a founding member of the Malayan Chinese Association in Singapore and was Chairman of the Nanyang Hok San Association and Siew Heng Association in the 1950s. His grandson, Alex Yam, is a current Member of Parliament and Mayor of North West District in Singapore.
* Leung, Wai Ng (梁慧吾): born in Guangzhou city in 1890, Mr Leung was an bibliophie and artist, and he passed away in 1965. (Source: local chronicle of Heshan county)
* Robin Lee Mae Sann (李美珊): biologist, Robin was the champion of Miss Hong Kong pageant 1986.

## Climate

Climate data for Heshan, elevation 47 m (154 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 29.0 (84.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.8 (89.2) | 34.1 (93.4) | 35.3 (95.5) | 38.1 (100.6) | 39.6 (103.3) | 38.2 (100.8) | 36.8 (98.2) | 35.8 (96.4) | 33.1 (91.6) | 29.8 (85.6) | 39.6 (103.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 17.7 (63.9) | 19.4 (66.9) | 22.0 (71.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 30.1 (86.2) | 31.9 (89.4) | 33.2 (91.8) | 33.1 (91.6) | 31.7 (89.1) | 29.1 (84.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 19.9 (67.8) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.7 (56.7) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.2 (64.8) | 22.7 (72.9) | 26.1 (79.0) | 27.9 (82.2) | 28.9 (84.0) | 28.8 (83.8) | 27.7 (81.9) | 24.9 (76.8) | 20.4 (68.7) | 15.7 (60.3) | 22.5 (72.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.0 (51.8) | 12.9 (55.2) | 15.7 (60.3) | 20.2 (68.4) | 23.4 (74.1) | 25.4 (77.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.8 (76.6) | 21.9 (71.4) | 17.3 (63.1) | 12.7 (54.9) | 19.8 (67.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) | 2.6 (36.7) | 3.7 (38.7) | 8.8 (47.8) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 22.2 (72.0) | 22.3 (72.1) | 16.4 (61.5) | 10.5 (50.9) | 4.6 (40.3) | 1.5 (34.7) | 1.5 (34.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 52.7 (2.07) | 52.4 (2.06) | 89.8 (3.54) | 164.9 (6.49) | 279.6 (11.01) | 312.3 (12.30) | 239.8 (9.44) | 275.6 (10.85) | 206.0 (8.11) | 80.8 (3.18) | 40.4 (1.59) | 36.0 (1.42) | 1,830.3 (72.06) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 7.3 | 9.9 | 14.7 | 15.3 | 17.7 | 19.2 | 16.3 | 17.0 | 12.8 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 147 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 73 | 78 | 82 | 83 | 83 | 84 | 81 | 81 | 77 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 78 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 112.5 | 83.0 | 68.7 | 88.4 | 137.3 | 161.0 | 210.2 | 190.0 | 178.7 | 192.4 | 160.7 | 147.0 | 1,729.9 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 33 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 33 | 40 | 51 | 48 | 49 | 54 | 49 | 44 | 39 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||