Guangdong

Guangdongis a coastalprovinceinSouth China, on the north shore of theSouth China Sea.The provincial capital isGuangzhou. With a population of 126.84million (as of 2021)across a total area of about 179,800 km(69,400 sq mi),Guangdong isChina's most populous provinceand its15th-largestby area, as well as thethird-most populous country subdivision in the world.
Guangdong's economy is the largest of anyprovincial-level divisionin China, with a GDP of 13.57 trillionRMB($1.9 trillion in GDP nominal) in 2023, contributing approximately 10.6% of mainland China's economic output. It has a diversified economy, and was known as the starting point of ancient China'sMaritime Silk Road.It is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of Chinese and foreign corporations. Guangdong has benefited from its proximity to the financial hub ofHong Kong, which it borders to the south. Guangdong also hosts the largest import and export fair in China, theCanton Fair, in Guangzhou. ThePearl River Delta Economic Zone, aChinese megalopolis, is a core forhigh technology,manufacturingandforeign trade. In this zone are two of thefour top Chinese citiesand thetop two Chinese prefecture-level cities by GDP: Guangzhou andShenzhen, the firstspecial economic zonein the country. These two are among China's most populous and important cities, and have become two of the world's most populousmegacitiesandleading financial centresin theAsia-Pacificregion.
Guangdong surpassedHenanandShandongto become China'smost populous provincein January 2005, registering 79.1 million permanent residents and 31 million migrants who lived in the province for at least six months of the year;the total population was 126,012,510 in the2020 Chinese census, accounting for 8.93 percent ofmainland China's population.This makes it the most populous first-level administrative subdivision of any country outsideSouth Asia. The vast majority of the historical Guangdong Province is administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC).Pratas Islandin theSouth China Seais part ofCijin District,Kaohsiung,Taiwan(ROC); the island was part of Guangdong Province before theChinese Civil War.
After the unification ofLingnanregion during theQin dynasty, immigrants from theCentral Plainsmoved in and formed alocal culturewith a unique style. With the outward movement of theGuangdong people, theHakkaandCantoneselanguages,music,cuisine,operaandtea ceremonyhave spread throughout the nation,Southeast Asia, and other countries. Guangdong was also the birthplace of the father of modern China and the founder of the Republic of China,Sun Yat-sen. He declared amilitary governmentthere in theWarlord Era. The twospecial administrative regionsofHong KongandMacaufall within the scope of Guangdong's cultural influence, and its culture still has profound influences on theChineseinSingaporeandMalaysia, with the vast majority of the Chinese diaspora in the two countries claiming ancestry from Guangdong.
Guangdong is also one of the leading provinces in research and education in China. It hosts 160institutions of higher education, ranking first in theSouth Central Chinaregion and second among all Chinese provinces/municipalities, afterJiangsu.As of 2023, two major cities in the province ranked in the world's top20 cities(Guangzhou 8th and Shenzhen 19th) by scientific research output.
"Guǎng" (traditional Chinese:廣;simplified Chinese:广) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226.The name "Guang" ultimately came from Guangxin (廣信;广信), an outpost established inHan dynastynear modernWuzhou, whose name is a reference to an order byEmperor Wu of Hanto "widely bestow favors and sow trust". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are calledLoeng gwong(兩廣;两广;liǎng guǎng) During the Song dynasty, the Two Guangs were formally separated asGuǎngnán Dōnglù(廣南東路;广南东路; 'EastCircuitin Southern Guang') andGuǎngnán Xīlù(廣南西路;广南西路; 'WestCircuitin Southern Guang'), which became abbreviated asGuǎngdōng Lù(廣東路;广东路) andGuǎngxī Lù(廣西路;广西路).
"Canton", though etymologically derived fromCantão(the Portuguesetransliterationof "Guangdong"), usually by itself refers to the provincial capitalGuangzhou.Historically, Canton was also used for the province itself,but often either specified as a province (e.g. Canton Province),or written asKwangtungin theWade–Gilessystem and now most commonly asGuangdonginPinyin.The local people of the city ofGuangzhou(Canton) and their language are calledCantonesein English. Because of the prestige ofCantonand its accent, Cantonese can also be used, in a wider sense, for the phylogenetically related residents and Chinese dialects outside the provincial capital.
TheNeolithicera began in thePearl River Delta(珠江三角洲) 7,000 years before present (BP), with the early period from around 7000 to 5000 BP (c. 5050–3050 BC), and the late period from about 5000 to 3500 BP (c. 3050–1550 BC). In coastal Guangdong, the Neolithic was likely introduced from the middle Yangtze River area (Jiao 2013). In inland Guangdong, the neolithic appeared in Guangdong 4,600 years before present (BP). The Neolithic in northern inland Guangdong is represented by the Shixia culture (石峽文化), which occurred from 4600 to 4200 BP (c. 2650–2250 BC).
Originally inhabited by a mixture of tribal groups known to the Chinese as theBaiyue("Hundred Yue"), the region first became part of China during theQin dynasty. Under the Qin Dynasty, Chinese administration began and along with it reliable historical records in the region. After establishing the firstunified Chinese empire, the Qin expanded southwards and set upNanhai CommanderyatPanyu, near what is now part of Guangzhou. The region was an independent kingdom asNanyuebetween the fall of Qin and the reign ofEmperor Wu of Han. TheHan dynastyadministered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam asJiaozhi Province; southernmost Jiaozhi Province was used as a gateway for traders from the west—as far away as the Roman Empire. Under theWu Kingdomof theThree Kingdomsperiod, Guangdong was made its own province, the Guang Province, in 226 CE.
Canton was a prosperous port city along a tropical frontier region beset by disease and wild animals, but rich in oranges,banyan, bananas, andlycheefruits. They traded slaves, silk andchinawarewithPersians,BrahmansandMalaysin exchange for their renowned medicines and fragrant tropical woods.Shi'a Muslimswho had fled persecution inKhorasanandBuddhistsfrom India lived side by side in the thriving town each erecting their own houses of worship. A foreign quarter sprang up along theriverwhere many traders of diverse backgrounds including Arabs andSinghalesetook up residence.
The port's importance declined after it was raided by Arabs and Persians in 758 and the foreign residents were at times troubled by the corrupt local officials, sometimes responding violently. During one incident in 684, for example, a merchant vessel's captain murdered a corrupt governor who had used his position to steal from the merchant.
Together withGuangxi, Guangdong was made part ofLingnanCircuit (political division Circuit), or Mountain-South Circuit, in 627 during theTang dynasty. The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamedGuangnan East Circuit(廣南東路) in 971 during theSong dynasty(960–1279). "Guangnan East" (廣南東) is the source of the name "Guangdong" (廣東;广东).
As time passed, the demographics of what is now Guangdong gradually shifted to (Han)Chinese dominance as the populations intermingled due to commerce along the great canals. From the fall of the Han dynasty onwards, it shifted more abruptly through massive migration fromthe northduring periods of political turmoil and nomadic incursions. For example, internal strife in northern China followingthe rebellionofAn Lushanresulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between the 740s–750s and 800s–810s.As more migrants arrived, the local population was graduallyassimilated to Han Chinese cultureor displaced.
AsMongolsfrom the north engaged in theirconquest of Chinain the 13th century, theSouthern Songcourt fled southwards from its capital inHangzhou. The defeat of the Southern Song court by Mongol naval forces in TheBattle of Yamen1279 in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song dynasty (960–1279).
During the MongolYuan dynasty, large parts of current Guangdong belonged toJiangxi.Its present name, "Guangdong Province" was given in earlyMing dynasty.
Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants coming northwards via theStraits of Malaccaand theSouth China Sea, particularly thePortugueseand British, traded extensively through Guangzhou.Macau, on the southern coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in 1557.
In the 19th century, theopium tradedthrough Guangzhou triggered theFirst Opium War, opening an era of Western imperialists' incursion and intervention in China. In addition toMacau, which was then aPortuguese colony, Hong Kong was ceded to the British, andKouang-Tchéou-Wan(modern day area ofZhanjiang) to theFrench.
Due to the large number of people that emigrated out of the Guangdong province, and in particular the ease of immigration from Hong Kong to other parts of theBritish Empire(laterBritish Commonwealth), many overseas Chinese communities have their origins in Guangdong and/or Cantonese culture. In particular, theCantonese,Hakka,Teochewdialects have proportionately more speakers among overseas Chinese people than Mandarin-speaking Chinese. Additionally, many Taishanese-speaking Chineseemigratedto Western countries, with the results that many Western versions of Chinese words were derived from the Cantonese dialects rather than through the mainstream Mandarin language, such as "dim sum".   Some Mandarin Chinese words originally of foreign origin also came from the original foreign language by way of Cantonese. For example, the Mandarin wordníngméng(simplified Chinese:柠檬;traditional Chinese:檸檬), meaning "Lemon", came from Cantonese, in which the characters are pronounced aslìng mung.In the United States, there is a large number of Chinese who are descendants of immigrants from thecounty-level cityofTaishan(Toisan in Cantonese), who speak a distinctive dialect related to Cantonese calledTaishanese(or Toishanese).
During the 1850s, theTaiping Heavenly Kingdom, whose leaderHong Xiuquanwas born in Guangdong and received a pamphlet from a Protestant Christian missionary in Guangdong, was allied with a local GuangdongRed Turban Rebellion (1854–1856). Because of direct contact with the West, Guangdong was the centre of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally acknowledged founder of modern China,Sun Yat-sen, was also from Guangdong.
During the early 1920s of theRepublic of China, Guangdong was the staging area for theKuomintang(KMT) to prepare for theNorthern Expedition, an effort to bring the variouswarlordsof China back under a unified central government. TheWhampoa Military Academywas built near Guangzhou to train military commanders.
At the end of theChinese Civil WarGuangdong became one of theNationalist government's final footholds inMainland China, with Guangzhou temporarily serving as theKuomintang's provisional capitol. ThePeople's Liberation Armyseized control of the province after theretreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan.
The newChinese Communist Partyadministration issued harsh taxes, requisitioning between 22 and 60 percent of grain annually. However, the local party boss Fang Fang tried to moderateChinese land reform policyin order to protect successful businesses in thePearl River Delta, landholdings byoverseas Chineseseeking to eventually return to the country, and commercial relations withBritish Hong Kong. In responseMao Zedongpurged Fang and thousands of cadres from the province in 1952, sendingTao Zhuto implement a much harsher program under the slogan "Every Village Bleeds, Every Household Fights."
DuringReform and Opening Up, Guangdong was supported by the central government to be "one step ahead" of the rest of the country.Most major cities in Guangdong underwent liberalizing economic reforms in the mid-1980s.Since Reform and Opening Up, the province has seen extremely rapid economic growth, aided in part by its close trading links withHong Kong, which borders it. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China.
In 1952, a small section of Guangdong's coastline (Qinzhou, Lianzhou (nowHepu County),FangchenggangandBeihai) was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, and then restored in 1965.HainanIsland was originally part of Guangdong, but it was separated into its own province in 1988.
Guangdong faces theSouth China Seato the south and has a total of 4,300 km (2,700 mi) of coastline. TheLeizhou Peninsulais on the southwestern end of the province. There are a few inactivevolcanoeson Leizhou Peninsula. ThePearl River Deltais the convergent point of three upstream rivers: theEast River,North River, andWest River. Theriver deltais filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by a fewmountain rangescollectively called theNan Mountains(Nan Ling). The highest peak in the province isShikengkongwith an elevation of 6,240 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level.
Guangdong bordersFujianto the northeast,JiangxiandHunanto the north,Guangxiautonomous region to the west, andHong KongandMacauSpecial Administrative Regionsto the south.Hainanis offshore across from theLeizhou Peninsula.Pratas Island, which were traditionally governed as part of Guangdong, are part ofCijin District,Kaoshiung,Taiwan(ROC).The PRC continues to claim Pratas Island as part of Guangdong under the district ofChengqu, Shanwei.
Cities around thePearl River DeltaincludeDongguan,Foshan,Guangzhou,Huizhou,Jiangmen,Shenzhen,Shunde,Taishan,Zhongshan, andZhuhai. Other cities in the province includeChaozhou,Chenghai,Nanhai,Shantou,Shaoguan,Zhanjiang,Zhaoqing,Yangjiang, andYunfu.
Guangdong has ahumid subtropical climate(KöppenCfainland,Cwaalong the coast). Winters are short, mild, and relatively dry, while summers are long, hot, and very wet. Average daily highs in Guangzhou in January and July are 18 and 33 °C (64 and 91 °F), although the humidity makes it feel hotter in summer. Frost is rare on the coast but may happen a few days each winter.
In 2022, Guangdong's GDP was 13.57 trillionRMB($1.9 trillion in GDP nominal, $3.78 trillion inPPP), with a per capita GDP of CN¥102,465 (US$15,234in nominal or US$25,016 inPPP).It is therichest provinceinSouth Central Chinaregion and the seventh richest among all provinces by GDP per capita. Guangdong has been the largest province by GDP since 1989 inMainland China.Its GDP exceeded that of Australia ($1.70 trillion) and South Korea ($1.67 trillion), the world's 12th and 13thlargest economy, respectively.If it was a country, Guangdong would be the12th-largest economyas of 2022 and the11th most populous.Compared to country subdivisions in dollar terms, Guangdong's GDP in nominal is larger than all but fourcountry subdivisions:California,Texas,New York State, andEngland. Compared to country subdivisions in PPP terms, Guangdong's GDP is larger than all, except California.By PPP terms, as of 2022, Guangdong's economy ranked between Turkey and Italy with a GDP of $3.35 trillion and US$3.06 trillion respectively, the11th and 12th largest in the worldrespectively.
After thecommunist revolutionand until the start of theDeng Xiaopingreforms in 1978, Guangdong was an economic backwater, although a large underground, service-based economy has always existed. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces which were weakly joined toGuangdong via transportation links. The government policy of economicautarkymade Guangdong's access to the ocean irrelevant.
Deng Xiaoping's open door policy radically changed the economy of the province as it was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, proximity to Hong Kong, and historical links tooverseas Chinese. Guangdong was one of the first provinces to receive permission from the central government to receive foreign investment.In addition, until the 1990s when theChinese taxation systemwas reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low rate of taxation placed on it by the central government due to its post-Liberation status of being economically backward.
Guangdong's economic boom began with the early 1990s and has since spread to neighboring provinces, and also pulled their populations inward. The economic growth of Guangdong province owes much to the low-value-added manufacturing which characterized (and in many ways still defines) the province's economy followingDeng Xiaoping's reforms. Guangdong is not only China's largest exporter of goods, it is the country's largest importer as well.
The province is now one of the richest in the nation, with the most billionaires in mainland China,the highest GDP among all the provinces, although wage growth has only recently begun to rise due to a large influx of migrant workers from neighboring provinces. By 2015, the local government of Guangdong hopes that the service industry will account for more than 50 percent of the provinces GDP and high-tech manufacturing another 20 percent.
In 2021, Guangdong's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 534 billion RMB (US$79.4 billion), 5.28 trillion RMB (US$785.6 billion), and 7.09 trillion RMB (US$1.05 trillion), respectively.Guangdong contributes approximately 10.6% of the total national economic output.Now, it has three of the sixSpecial Economic Zones:Shenzhen,ShantouandZhuhai. The affluence of Guangdong, however, remains very concentrated near thePearl River Delta.
Guangdong officially became themost populous provincein 2005.Official statistics had traditionally placed Guangdong as the fourth-most populous province of China with about 80 million people, though an influx of migrants, temporary workers, and newly settled individuals numbered around 30 million.The massive influx of migrants from other provinces, dubbed the "floating population", is due to Guangdong's booming economy and high demand for labor. If Guangdong were an independent nation, it would rank among thetwelfth largest countries of the world by population.
In 2021, Guangdong's population is 74.6% urban and 25.4% rural.
Guangdong is the ancestral home of large numbers ofoverseas Chinese. Most of the railroad laborers inCanada, theWestern United StatesandPanamain the 19th century came from Guangdong, especially theSiyiarea. Many people from the region also traveled toCaliforniaand other parts of theUnited Statesduring thegold rush of 1849, and also toAustraliaduring itsgold rusha decade or so later.
The majority of the province's population isHan Chinese, though the Han population is so diverse that the province has been called the "treasure trove of regional languages" (方言寶庫).Within the Han Chinese, the largest subgroup in Guangdong are theCantonese people, with significantHakkaandTeoswapopulations east of the Pearl River Delta. Guangdong is also home to smallMien,She,Hmong,Li, andZhuangminorities.
Guangdong is the traditional heartland of Yue Chinese (simplified Chinese:粤语;traditional Chinese:粵語;pinyin:yuèyǔ;Jyutping:jyutjyu), which has a high degree of internal diversity. The vast majority of these speakers live at or west thePearl River Delta. A total of 35,810,000 Yue Chinese speakers live in Guangdong.
Cantoneseand other Yue varieties spoken at the delta such asWaitauneseandShiqi Yuemake up the greatest number of speakers, numbering at around 20,720,000 speakers.Due to the large overseas population and cultural impact ofCantopopand Cantonese television shows, Cantonese is a well-known variety of Chinese throughout the world.
Siyior Szeyap Yue, includingHoisanese, is spoken in much ofJiangmenprefecture, numbering at around 3,880,000 speakers.Siyi was once the representative variety of Chinese in manyChinese Americancommunities.
The highlands of theJiangxi-Fujian-Guangdong tripoint are the traditional heartland of the Hakka Chinese (simplified Chinese:客家话;traditional Chinese:客家話;pinyin:kèjiāhuà;Jyutping:haakgaawaa;Moiyenese:haggafa)-speaking people, andMeizhouis often dubbed the capital of Hakka culture. Downhill Hakka migrations started in theearly modern period, and due to them being newcomers to the lowlands, they were dubbed "guest families" by the original inhabitants (thePuntis). There are around 20,000,000 Neo-Hakka speakers in Guangdong, of which 2,000,000 live significantly west of the traditional Hakka area.
Teoswa or Chaoshan Min (simplified Chinese:潮汕话;traditional Chinese:潮汕話;pinyin:cháoshànhuà;Jyutping:ciusaanwaa;Peng'im:diêsuanuê) is spoken primarily in theChaoshanarea, that is to say,Chaozhou,Jieyang,Shantou, andShanweiprefectures, by around 14,120,000 speakers.It is aSouthern Minbranch, but has little mutual intelligibility withHokkien.
Leizhou Min (simplified Chinese:黎话;traditional Chinese:黎話;pinyin:líhuà;Jyutping:leoiwaa; Leizhounese: [lɔi˨ue˧˥]) is spoken primarily in the Leizhou peninsula ofZhanjiangprefecture by around 4,510,000 speakers.It is closely related toHainanese.
Around 500,000 speakers ofShaozhou Tuhualive in small communities inShaoguanprefecture, typically surrounded by Hakka speakers.These varieties have been observed to be similar to Hakka, and have been dubbed "Paleo-Hakka" by, for instance,W. South Coblin.
There are also around 40,000Southwestern Mandarinspeakers in Guangdong, with around half of them being remnants of Northernjuntun[zh] that date back to theMing dynasty. These communities largely live in small villages in coastal eastern Guangdong in places such asHaifengandHuidongcounties. The other half live in parts ofLechangclose toHunanprovince, which explains the Mandarin language they use.
Guangdong has a highly unbalanced gender ratio that is among the highest of all provinces in China. According to a 2009 study published inThe British Medical Journal, in the 1–4 age group, there are over 130 boys for every 100 girls.
According to a 2012 surveyonly around 7% of the population of Guangdong belongs to organised religions, the largest groups beingBuddhistswith 6.2%, followed byProtestantswith 1.8% andCatholicswith 1.2%. Around 90% of the population is either irreligious or may be involved inChinese folk religionworshippingnature gods, ancestral deities,popular sects,Taoist traditions,Buddhist religious traditions&Confucian religious traditions.
According to a survey conducted in 2007, 43.71% of the population believes and is involved inancestor veneration,the traditional Chinese religion of the lineages organised intolineage churchesandancestral shrines.
Guangdong is governed by a one-party system like the rest of China. TheGovernoris in charge of provincial affairs; however, the Communist Party Secretary, often from outside of Guangdong, keeps the Governor in check.
Provincial law enforcement in Guangdong is provided by theGuangdong Public Security Department.ThePeople's Armed Police Guangdong Contingent[zh]provides paramilitary law enforcement and disaster relief in the provincewhile theGuangdong Fire and Rescue Corps[zh]provides firefighting and rescue services in the province.
The primary domestic intelligence and security agency in Guangdong is theGuangdong state security department.
Corrections facilities in Guangdong are managed by theGuangdong Prison Administrative Bureau.
According toFreedom House's China Dissent Monitor, Guangdong accounted for 17% of dissent events in the first quarter of 2024 – over 100 events despite heavyCensorship in China.In 2024, Freedom House rated China as below zero on political rights (−2 out of 40).
Hong KongandMacau, while historically parts of Guangdong before becoming colonies of the United Kingdom and Portugal, respectively, arespecial administrative regions(SARs). Furthermore, theBasic Lawsof both SARs explicitly forbidprovincial governmentsfrom intervening in local politics. As a result, many issues with Hong Kong and Macau, such as border policy and water rights, have been settled by negotiations between the SARs' governments and theGuangdong provincial government.
Guangdong and the greater Guangzhou area are served by severalRadio Guangdongstations,Guangdong Television,Southern Television Guangdong,Shenzhen Television, andGuangzhou Television. There is an English programme produced byRadio Guangdongwhich broadcasts information about this region to the entire world through theWRN Broadcast.
The central region, which is also the political and economic center, is populated predominantly byYue Chinesespeakers, though the influx in the last three decades of millions ofMandarin-speaking immigrants has slightly diminished Cantonese linguistic dominance. This region is associated withCantonese cuisine.Dim Sumis one famous example of Cantonese cuisine, dividing Cantonese food into small portions and served with small dishes.Cantonese operais a form ofChinese operapopular in Cantonese speaking areas. Related Yue dialects are spoken in most of the western half of the province.
The area comprising the cities ofChaozhou,ShantouandJieyangin coastal east Guangdong, known asChaoshan, forms its own cultural sphere. TheTeochew peoplehere, along withHailufeng Minpeople inShanwei, speakHokkien, which is aMindialect closely related to mainstreamSouthern Min(Hokkien) and their cuisine isTeochew cuisine.Teochew operais also well-known and has a unique form.
TheHakka peoplelive in large areas of Guangdong, includingHuizhou,Meizhou,Shenzhen,Heyuan,Shaoguanand other areas. Much of the Eastern part of Guangdong is populated by the Hakka people except for the Chaozhou and Hailufeng area. Hakka culture includeHakka cuisine, Han opera (simplified Chinese:汉剧;traditional Chinese:漢劇), HakkaHanyueandsixian(traditional instrumental music) and Hakka folk songs (客家山歌).
The outcastTanka peopletraditionally live on boats throughout the coasts and rivers of Guangdong and much of Southern China.
Zhanjiangin southern Guangdong is dominated by theLeizhou dialect, a variety ofMinnan; Cantonese and Hakka are also spoken there.
Mandarin is the language used in education and government and in areas where there are migrants from other provinces, above all in Shenzhen. Cantonese maintains a strong and dominant position in common usage and media, even in eastern areas of the province where the local languages and dialects are non-Yue ones.
Guangdong Province is notable for being the birthplace of many famousXiangqi(Chinese chess) grandmasters such asLü Qin, Yang Guanli, Cai Furu andXu Yinchuan.
As of 2022, Guangdong hosts 160 institutions of higher education, ranking first inSouth Central Chinaregion and 2nd among all Chinese provinces/municipalities afterJiangsu(168).Guangdong is also the seat of 14 adult higher education institutions.Many universities and colleges are located in major cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, hosts 83 institutions of higher education (excluding adult colleges), ranking 1st inSouth Chinaregion and 2nd (tie) nationwide afterBeijing.Guangdong Province Department of Educationis the department of the provincial government that oversees education.
As of 2023, two major cities in the province ranked in the top20 citiesin the world (Guangzhou 8th and Shenzhen 19th) by scientific research output, as tracked by theNature Index.
List of current professionalsportsbased in Guangdong:
Notable attractions includeDanxia Mountainin Shaoguan,Yuexiu Hill,Baiyun Mountainin Guangzhou,Star Lakeand theSeven Star Crags,Dinghu Mountainin Zhaoqing, theHuangmanzhai waterfallsinJieyang, and theZhongshan Sun Wen Memorial ParkforSun Yat-seninZhongshan. In Shenzhen, there areWindow of the World,Tencent Building, Happy Valley theme park, Rose Beach, Xiaomeisha Beach, etc.
Guangdong is divided into twenty-oneprefecture-level divisions: allprefecture-level cities(including twosub-provincial cities):
The twenty-onePrefectureof Guangdong are subdivided into 122county-level divisions(65districts, 20county-level cities, 34counties, and 3autonomous counties). For county-level divisions, see thelist of administrative divisions of Guangdong.
Guangdong is twinned with: