Guangzhou, China Guangzhou, China in Asia Guangzhou , or Canton square. Guangzhou is a city in southern China with 3,152,825 residents in the geographical urban area and 7.95 million inhabitants in administrative urban area (as at the end of 2009). It is the capital of the province Guǎngdōng (also called “Canton Province” known), and an important industrial and commercial site. Guangzhou is also known as the “factory of the world.” guangzhou In China, the city is also Sui or Yangcheng (City of goats) called. The landmark of the city is a statue of five goats. Its proximity to Hong Kong has – as in the entire Pearl River Delta – had a positive impact on economic development. In Guangzhou, held twice a year – in spring and autumn – China’s largest import and export fair held. In October 2010, here was the tallest TV tower in the world (600 meters) opens. Guangzhou is located on the Pearl River . The geographical location in Guangzhou due there a subtropical and humid monsoon climate with an annual average temperature of 22 ° C .

Most of the precipitation (annual average: 1,982 mm) falls during the rainy season from April to August. In China, it says: “The Cantonese eat everything that swims, flies or has four legs, except submarines, aircraft, and tables.” . The Cantonese cuisine is very diverse with some very tasty, for Europeans, partly to get used to courts, among other things, be eaten cats, dogs and snakes, but these are on the menu of most Cantonese found either not or only rarely. Cantonese food is generally not sharp. Typical dishes are traditional Cantonese soup , porridge and Dim Sum .The Chinese food in Europe and North America is most strongly influenced Cantonese (mainly by immigrants from Hong Kong), but mostly in a modified form.

guangzhou tower Guangzhou G Guangzhou Guangzhou (simplified Chinese: 广州; traditional Chinese: 廣州; pinyin: Guǎngzhōu; jyutping : Gwong²zau¹; Yale: Gwóngjàu), in English formerly known as Canton (which was first romanized from the Cantonese pronunciation of Guangdong by the Portuguese) and also known as Kwangchow, is a sub-provincial city and the capital of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the People's Republic of China . It is a port on the Pearl River, navigable to the South China Sea , and is located about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Hong Kong . As of the 2000 census , the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of roughly 8.5 million (though some estimates are as high as 15.3 million) making it the most populous city in the province and the third most populous metropolitan area in mainland China . The official estimate of the metropolitan area's population at end 2006 by the provincial government was 9,754,600.

Guangzhou's urban land area is the third largest in China, behind only Beijing and Shanghai. Administrative divisions Guangzhou is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over ten districts (区 qu) and two county-level cities (市 shi) : As of April 28, 2005, the districts of Dongshan and Fangcun have been abolished and merged into Yuexiu and Liwan respectively; at the same time the district of Nansha was established out of parts of Panyu, and the district of Luogang was established out of parts of Baiyun, Tianhe, and Zengcheng, plus a part of Huangpu, making an exclave next to Huangpu. Development plan In January 2009 the National People's Congress approved a development plan for the Pearl River Delta Region. On March 19, 2009 the Guangzhou Municipal Government and Foshan Municipal Government both agreed to establish a framework to merge the two cities. History Guangzhou's monopoly on English trade ended with the Treaty of Nanking, signed in 1842 to end the First Opium War between Britain and China.

The treaty opened four new treaty ports, allowing British merchants to trade in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai in addition to Guangzhou. The first known city built at the site of Guangzhou was Panyu (Fan-Yü) ( 蕃禺, later simplified to 番禺; Poon Yu in Cantonese) founded in 214 BC. The city has been continuously occupied since that time. Panyu was expanded when it became the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom (南越) in 206 BC. The Han Dynasty annexed Nanyue in 111 BC, and Panyu became a provincial capital and remains so today. In 226 AD, the city however became the seat of the Guang Prefecture (廣州; Guangzhou). Therefore, "Guangzhou" was the name of the prefecture, not of the city. However, people grew accustomed to calling the city Guangzhou, instead of Panyu. Although the Chinese name Guangzhou replaced Panyu as the name of the walled city, Panyu was still the name of the area surrounding the walled city until the end of Qing era..

Today, Panyun generally refers to the region to the south of Haizhu District, which is separated by the Pearl River . Arab and Persian pirates sacked Guangzhou (known to them as Sin-Kalan) in AD 758, ² according to 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 the Tang Dynasty. The Arab historian Abu Zayd Hasan of Siraf reports that in 878 followers of the Chinese rebel leader Huang Chao besieged the city and killed a large number of foreign merchants resident there. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the celebrated poet Su Shi (Shisu) visited Guangzhou's Baozhuangyan Temple and wrote the inscription "Liu Rong" (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. It has since been called the Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Guangzhou by sea, establishing a monopoly on the external trade out of its harbor by 1511.

They were later expelled from their settlements in Guangzhou (Cantão in Portuguese), but instead granted use of Macau as a trade base with the city in 1557. They would keep a near monopoly on foreign trade in the region until the arrival of the Dutch in the early seventeenth century. It is believed that the romanization "Canton" originated from Portuguese Cantão, which was transcribed from Guangdong. Nevertheless, because at the time of the Portuguese arrival the capital city had no specific appellation other than Shang Sheng(省城, lit. the provincial capital) by its people, the province name was adopted for the walled city by the Europeans. The etymology of Canton, as well as the similar pronunciation with the province name Guangdong might have partly contributed to the recent confusion of Canton and Guangdong by certain English speakers. However, definitive English lexica, such as Merriam–Webster's Dictionary, American Heritage Dictionary and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English don't list Guangdong as a synonym(or variant) under Canton. After China gained control of Taiwan in 1683, the Qing government became more open to foreign trade.

Guangzhou quickly emerged as one of the most suitable ports for international trade and before long ships arrived from all over the world. The Portuguese in Macau, the Spanish in Manila, Armenians, and Muslims from India were already actively trading in the port by the 1690s, when the French and English began frequenting the port through the Canton System. Other companies were soon to follow: the Ostend General India company in 1717; Dutch East India Company in 1729; the first Danish ship in 1731, which was followed by a Danish Asiatic Company ship in 1734; the Swedish East India Company in 1732; followed by an occasional Prussian and Trieste Company ship; the Americans in 1784; and the first ships from Australia in 1788. By the middle of the 18th century, Guangzhou had emerged as one of the world's great trading ports under the Thirteen Factories, which was a distinction it maintained until the outbreak of the Opium Wars in 1839 and the opening of other ports in China in 1842.

The privilege during this period made Guangzhou one of the top 3 cities in the world. In 1918, the city's urban council was established and "Guangzhou" became the official name of the city. Panyu became a county's name to the southern side of Guangzhou. In both 1930 and 1953, Guangzhou was promoted to the status of a Municipality, but each time promotion was rescinded within a year. Japanese troops occupied Guangzhou from October 12, 1938 to September 16, 1945, after violent bombings. In the city, the Imperial Japanese Army conducted bacteriological research unit 8604, a section of unit 731, where Japanese doctors experimented on human prisoners. After the fall of the capital Nanjing in April 1949, the Nationalist government under the acting president Li Zongren relocated to Guangzhou. Communist forces entered the city on October 14, 1949.

This led the nationalists to blow up the Haizhu bridge as the major link across the Pearl River and to the acting president's leaving for New York, whereas Chiang Kai-shek set up a the capital for the Nationalist government in Chongqing again. Their urban renewal projects of the new communist government improved the lives of some residents. New housing on the shores of the Pearl River provided homes for the poor boat people. Reforms by Deng Xiaoping , who came to power in the late 1970s, led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. As labor costs increased in Hong Kong, manufacturers opened new plants in the cities of Guangdong including Guangzhou. As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. Cantonese links to overseas Chinese and beneficial tax reforms of the 1990s have aided the city's rapid growth. In 2000, Huadu and Panyu were merged into Guangzhou as districts, and Conghua and Zengcheng became county-level cities of Guangzhou.

Based on a report in the Guangzhou Daily, there might be as many as 100,000 Africans in Guangzhou, a number that the newspaper reports has been increasing at an annual rate of 30 to 40% since 2003.

Significant modern buildings Guangdong Olympic Stadium (simplified Chinese: 广东奥林匹克体育场; traditional Chinese: 廣東奧林匹克體育場; pinyin: guǎngdōngàolínpǐkètǐyùchǎng; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Dung1 Ou3 Lam4 Pat1 Haak1 Tai2 Yuk6 Ceung4) CITIC Plaza (simplified Chinese: 中信广场; traditional Chinese: 中信廣場; pinyin: zhōngxìnguǎngchǎng; Cantonese Jyutping=Zung1 Seon3 Gwong2 Ceung4) Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower (simplified Chinese: 广州电视观光塔; traditional Chinese: 廣州電視觀光塔; pinyin: guǎngzhōudiànshìguānguāngtǎ; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Din6 Si6 Gun1 Gwong1 Taap3) Guangzhou TV Tower (simplified Chinese: 广州电视塔; traditional Chinese: 廣州電視塔; pinyin: guǎngzhō

udiànshìtǎ; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Din6 Si6 Taap3) Pearl River Tower (simplified Chinese: 珠江城; traditional Chinese: 珠江城; pinyin: zhūjiāngchéng; Cantonese Jyutping=Zyu1 Gong1 Sing4) West Tower / Guangzhou International Finance Centre (simplified Chinese: 西塔/广州国际金融中心; traditional Chinese: 西塔/廣州國際金融中心) Economy Guangzhou is the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta, one of mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions.

In 2008, the GDP reached ¥821.58 billion (US $118 billion), per capita was ¥81,233 (US $11,696), ranking 6th among the other 659 Chinese cities. The China Import and Export Fair, also called "Canton Fair", is held every year in April and October by Ministry of Trading. Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the Fair is a major event for the city. From the 104th session, Liuhua Complex is not in use to hold Canton Fair. All the booths have been transferred to Pazhou Complex. From the 104th session, Canton Fair has been arranged in 3 phases instead of 2 phases. Industrial zones Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Guangzhou Nansha Development Zone Guangzhou Science City Geography and climate Guangzhou is located at 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta.

Guangzhou has a humid subtropical climate influenced by the Asian monsoon. Summers are wet with high temperatures, high humidity and a high heat index. Winters are mild, dry and sunny. Transportation With the first line of Guangzhou Metro opened in 1997, Guangzhou is the fourth city in Mainland China to have an underground railway system, behind Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. Currently the underground network is made up of four lines, covering a total length of 116 km, while another four lines are under construction and due to be completed in 2010 before the Asian Games. A long term plan is to make the city's underground system expand over 500 km by 2020 with 15 lines in operation.

The existing four lines of Guangzhou Metro network: Line 1 (Fangcun Line): From Guangzhou East Railway Station to Xilang Station Line 2 (Jiahe Line): From Sanyuanli Station to Wanshengwei Station Line 3 (Shiqiao Line): From Guangzhou East Railway Station and Tianhe Coach Terminal Station to Panyu Square Station Line 4 (Guangzhou University Town Line): From Wanshengwei Station to Jinzhou Station Guangzhou's main airport is the Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District opened on August 5, 2004. It replaced the old Baiyun International Airport, which was very close to the city centre and failed to meet the fast-growing air traffic demand. Guangzhou is well connected to Hong Kong by train, coach and ferry. Express trains depart from the Guangzhou East railway station (simplified Chinese: 广州东站; traditional Chinese: 廣州東站; pinyin: Gǔangzhōu Dōngzhàn) and arrive at the Hung Hom KCR station in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The route is approximately 182 km in length and the ride takes less than two hours. Frequent coach services are also provided with coaches departing every day from different locations (mostly major hotels) around the city. There are daily ferry services including an overnight steamer service, which takes eight hours, as well as high-speed catamaran service which takes three hours, to the China Ferry Terminal or Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong. The Nansha Pier (新南沙客運港), located in the distant Nansha District outside the city centre, is also operating six daily 75-minute catamaran services to Hong Kong. From January 1, 2007, the municipal government has banned motorcycles in the urban areas. Motorcycles found violating the ban will be confiscated. The Guangzhou traffic bureau claimed to have reported reduced traffic problems and accidents in the downtown area since the ban. According to a report on the China Daily of July 6, 2007, all buses and taxis in Guangzhou will be LPG -fueled by 2010 to promote clean energy for transportation and improve the environment.

At present, Guangzhou is the city that uses the most LPG-fueled vehicles in the world. As of the end of 2006, 6,500 buses and 16,000 taxis were using LPG, taking up 85% of all buses and taxis. Local products Canton Province Sculpture is legendary and includes Guangzhou Ivory Carvings, Jade Sculpture, Wood Sculpture and Olive Sculpture. Cantonese Enamel includes Guangzhou Colorful Pottery. It has a history of over 300 years. Cantonese Embroidery, namely "Yue 粤 Embroidery" (meaning literally "Guangdong embroidery")is one of the Four Famous Chinese Embroideries together with Su Embroidery, Xiang Embroidery and Shu Embroidery. Canton Province Bacon is the general designation of cured meat in the Guangzhou and surrounding areas.

Zhujiang Beer(Pearl River Beer) Guangdong music (genre) Parks and gardens Baiyun Mountain (simplified Chinese: 白云山; traditional Chinese: 白雲山; pinyin: Báiyúnshān; literally "White Cloud Mountain"; Cantonese Jyutping=Bak6 Wan4 Saan1) Yuexiu Park (simplified Chinese: 越秀公园; traditional Chinese: 越秀公園; pinyin: yuèxiùgōngyuán; Cantonese Jyutping=Jyut6 Sau3 Gung1 Jyun2) Luhu Park (simplified Chinese: 麓湖公园; traditional Chinese: 麓湖公園; Cantonese Jyutping=Luk1 Wu4 Gung1 Jyun2) Dongshanhu Park (simplified Chinese: 东山湖公园; traditional Chinese: 東山湖公園; Cantonese Jyutping=Dung1 Saan1 Wu4 Gung1 Jyun2) Liuhuahu Park (simplified Chinese: 流花湖公园; traditional Chinese: 流花湖公園; Cantonese Jyutping=Lau4 Faa3 Wu4 G

ung1 Jyun2) Liwanhu Park (simplified Chinese: 荔湾湖公园; traditional Chinese: 荔灣湖公園; Cantonese Jyutping=Lai6 Waan1 Wu4 Gung1 Jyun2) Yuntai Garden (simplified Chinese: 云台花园; traditional Chinese: 雲台花園; Cantonese Jyutping=Wan4 Toi4 Faa1 Jyun2) Martyrs' Park (simplified Chinese: 广州起义烈士陵园; traditional Chinese: 廣州起義烈士陵園; pinyin: lièshìlíngyuán; Cantonese Jyutping=Lit6 Si6 Ling4 Jyun4) Zhujiang Park (simplified Chinese: 珠江公园; traditional Chinese: 珠江公園; Cantonese Jyutping=Zyu1 Gong1 Gung1 Jyun2) South China Botanical Garden (simplified Chinese: 华南植物园; traditional Chinese: 華南植物園; Cantonese Jyutping=Waa4 Naam4 Zik6 Mat6 Jyun4) Tourist attractions Guangzhou has a humid, hot sub-t

ropical climate.

Annual average temperature is 21.8 degrees. Autumn, from October to December, is very moderate, cool and windy, and is the best travel time.

There are many tourist attractions around the city which include: Chen Clan Academy/Chan Clan Ancestral Hall (simplified Chinese: 陈氏书院/陈家祠; traditional Chinese: 陳氏書院/陳家祠; pinyin: ChénShìShūYùan/ChénJiāCí; Cantonese Jyutping=Can4 Si6 Syu1 Jyun2/Can4 Gaa1 Ci4) Guangdong Museum of Folk Handcraft Shamian Island / Shameen Island (simplified Chinese: 沙面岛; traditional Chinese: 沙面島; pinyin: Shāmàndăo; Cantonese Jyutping=Saa1 Min2 Dou2; literally, "Sand Face Island") Guangdong Provincial Museum (simplified Chinese: 广东省博物馆; traditional Chinese: 廣東省博物館; pinyin: Guǎngdōngshěng Bówògǔan; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Dung1 Saang2 Bok3 Mat6 Gun2) Museum of the Tomb of the King of Southern Yue in Western Han Dynasty; Traditional Chinese=西漢南越王博物館;

 Cantonese Jyutping=Sai1 Hon3 Naam4 Jyut6 Wong4 Bok3 Mat6 Gun2 Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (simplified Chinese: 六榕寺; traditional Chinese: 六榕寺; pinyin: liùróngsì; Cantonese Jyutping=Luk6 Jung4 Zi2) Sacred Heart Cathedral / Stone House; Traditional Chinese=聖心石室大教堂/石室; Cantonese Jyutping=Sek6 Sat1 Huaisheng Mosque (simplified Chinese: 怀圣寺; traditional Chinese: 懷聖寺; pinyin: huáishèngsì; Cantonese Jyutping=Waai4 Sing3 Zi2) Temple of Bright Filial Piety (simplified Chinese: 光孝寺; traditional Chinese: 光孝寺; pinyin: GuāngXiàosì; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong1 Haau3 Zi2) Chime-Long Paradise (simplified Chinese: 长隆欢乐世界; traditional Chinese: 長隆歡樂世界; pinyin: chánglónghuānlèshìjiè; Canton

ese Jyutping=Ceung4 Lung4 Fun1 Lok6 Sai3 Gaai3) Chime-Long WaterPark (simplified Chinese: 长隆水上乐园; traditional Chinese: 長隆水上樂園; pinyin: chánglóngShǔiShànglèYúan; Cantonese Jyutping=Ceung4 Lung4 Seoi2 Seung6 Lok6 Jyun4) Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King南越王墓(simplified Chinese: 南越王墓; traditional Chinese: 南越王墓; pinyin: nányuėwángmù; Cantonese Jyutping=Naam4 Jyut6 Wong4 Mou6) Guangzhou Peasant Movement Institute (simplified Chinese: 广州市农民运动讲习所; traditional Chinese: 廣州農民運動講習所; pinyin: GuǎngZhōuNóngMíngJiǎngXíSuǒ; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Nung4 Man4 Wan6 Dung6 Gong2 Zaap6 So2) Media Guangzhou has two local

 radio stations, the provincial Radio Guangdong and the municipal Radio Guangzhou.

Together they broadcast Cantonese and Mandarin programmes in more than a dozen channels. The Beijing-based China National Radio broadcasts Putonghua programmes in the city. On the other hand, radio stations from cities around Guangzhou mainly broadcast in Cantonese whose programmes can be received in different parts of the city, depending on their locations and power. Radio Guangdong produces a 15-minute weekly English programme, Guangdong Today, which is broadcast globally through the World Radio Network but not in local channels. Daily English news and several other short weekly English programmes are also produced by Radio Guangdong. Both TVB Pearl and ATV World, two major English channels in Hong Kong, can be received through cable TV in Guangzhou. The local Guangzhou Television also has its own English channel which runs all-English programmes from evening to midnight every day. Guangzhou has some of the best Chinese-language newspapers in Mainland China, published by three big newspaper groups in the city. The Guangzhou Daily Press Group, Nanfang Press Corporation and Yangcheng Evening News Group dominate the newspaper market of Guangdong Province or even South Mainland China. The two leading newspaper of the city are Guangzhou Daily and Southern Metropolis Daily.

Guangzhou Daily, with a circulation of 1.8 million, has been China's most successful newspaper for 14 years in terms of advertising revenue. In addition to Guangzhou's Chinese-language publications, there are a few English magazines and newspapers, most notably that's PRD (formerly that's Guangzhou) which was started more than a decade ago and has since blossomed into one of China's leading expat magazines with issues in Beijing, Shanghai and formerly Suzhou.

Education National universities Sun Yat-sen University (中山大学) (founded in 1924) South China University of Technology (华南理工大学) South China Normal University (华南师范大学) Jinan University (暨南大学) (founded in 1906) Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (广东外语外贸大学) South China Agricultural University (华南农业大学) (founded in 1909) Public universities and colleges Guangdong University of Finance (广东金融学院) Zhongkai Agrotechnical College (仲恺农业技术学院) (founded in 1927) Guangzhou Medical College (广州医学院) Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (广州中医药大学) Guangdong Pharmaceutical University (广东药学院) Guangdong University of Technology (广东工业大学) Guangzhou University (广州大学) Guangdong Institute of Science and Technology (广东省科技干部学院) Guangdong University of Business Studies (广东商学院) Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (广州美术学院) Xinghai Conservatory of Music (星海音乐学院) Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University (广东技术师范学院) Guangzhou Sports University (广州体育学院) Note: Institutes without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre also known as Guangzhou University City is a large university complex located in the southeast suburbs of Guangzhou. This huge higher education centre occupies the entire Xiaoguwei island in Panyu District, covering an area of about 18 square kilometres. It houses new campuses from ten universities, nine of which still maintain their old campuses in downtown Guangzhou. The whole Higher Education Mega Centre can eventually accommodate up to 200,000 students, 20,000 teachers and 50,000 staffs.

Universities which have campuses in the Mega Centre: Sun Yat-sen University (中山大学) South China University of Technology (华南理工大学) South China Normal University (华南师范大学) Guangdong University of Technology (广东工业大学) Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (广东外语外贸大学) Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (广州中医药大学) Guangdong Pharmaceutical University (广东药学院) Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (广州美术学院) Xinghai Conservatory of Music (星海音乐学院) Secondary and high schools The Affiliated High School of South China Normal University (simplified Chinese: 华南师范大学附属中学; traditional Chinese: 華南師範大學附屬中學; pinyin: HuáNánShĩFànDàXúeFùShǔZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Waa4 Naam4 Si1 Faan6 Daai6 Hok6 Fu6 Suk6 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou Zhi Xin Middle School (simplified Chinese: 广州市执信中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市執信中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuZhíXìnZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jy

utping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Zap1 Seon3 Zung1 Hok6) Guangdong Experimental High School (simplified Chinese: 广东实验中学; traditional Chinese: 廣東實驗中學; pinyin: GuăngDōngShíYànZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Dung1 Sat6 Yim6 Zung1 Hok6) Guangdong Guangya Middle School (simplified Chinese: 广东广雅中学; traditional Chinese: 廣東廣雅中學; pinyin: GuăngDōngGuăngYàZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Dung1 Gwong2 Ngaa5 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou Tieyi Middle School (simplified Chinese: 广州市铁一中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市鐵一中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuShìTiěYīZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Tit3 Jat1 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou No.2 High School (simplified Chinese

: 广州市第二中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市第二中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuDìErZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Daai6 Yi6 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou No.6 High School (simplified Chinese: 广州市第六中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市第六中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuDìLìuZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Daai6 Luk6 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou No.7 High School (simplified Chinese: 广州市第七中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市第七中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuDìQiZhōngXúe; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Daai6 Cat1 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou No.8 High School (simplified Chinese: 广州市第八中学(培英中学); traditional Chinese: 廣州市第八中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuDìBaZhōngXúe

; Cantonese Jyutping=Gwong2 Zau1 Si5 Daai6 Baat3 Zung1 Hok6) Guangzhou No.4 High School (Simplified Chinese:广州市第四中学 Traditional Chinese:廣州市第四中學 Guangzhou No.47 High School (simplified Chinese: 广州市第四十七中学; traditional Chinese: 廣州市第四十七中學; pinyin: GuăngZhōuDìSìShíQiZhōngXúe;) International schools American International School of Guangzhou The British School of Guangzhou Guangzhou Japanese School Utahloy International School of Guangzhou Clifford International School Guangzhou | China | Britannica.com Guangzhou Alternative Titles: Canton, Kuangchou, Kwangchow Related Topics John Woo Guangzhou, Wade-Giles romanization Kuang-chou, conventional Canton or Kwangchow, city, capital of Guangdong sheng (province), southern China .

Its city centre lies near the head of the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) Delta , more than 90 miles (145 km) inland from the South China Sea . Because of its position at the meeting point of inland rivers and the sea, it has long been one of China’s main commercial and trading centres. It has served as a doorway for foreign influence since the 3rd century ce and was the first Chinese port to be regularly visited by European traders, who called it Canton. The city is a historic centre of learning. And as a centre of political activity for the Chinese Nationalist leader Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan), it was one of the cradles of the Chinese Revolution of 1911–12. Area central city districts, 108 square miles (280 square km); all city districts, 1,484 square miles (3,843 square km); mun., 2,870 square miles (7,434 square km). Pop.

(2007 est.) central city districts, 3,461,100; all city districts, 6,367,700; mun., 7,734,800. Nighttime view of central Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. © konglinguang/Shutterstock.com Landscape City site Located in the south-central part of Guangdong province, Guangzhou is a regional centre in southern China. The main part of the city is situated on the north bank of the Pearl River , which branches off the Xi (West) River before meeting with the Dong (East) River and forms the northern border of the immense Pearl River Delta to the south. Narrow street in an older part of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. © Iamleilei/Shutterstock.com The central districts of the city lie to the south of Baiyun (“White Cloud”) Mountain, which rises to 1,253 feet (382 metres) above sea level about 4 miles (6 km) from the city centre. At the southern extension of Baiyun Mountain is Yuexiu Mountain, on which lived the earliest known inhabitants of the region.

Archaeological work revealed that the site of the city during the Qin (221–206 bce) and the Han (206 bce–220 ce) dynasties was slightly north of the modern urban centre. Later the city expanded southward as river-borne silt and sand were deposited and the Pearl gradually became narrower. Similar Topics Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies South of the Pearl is Haizhu district. It was long characterized by modern residential quarters and large industrial centres, but since the late 1980s a growing number of financial and business firms have established themselves there. Of great significance was the completion in the early 21st century of the first phase of the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center (Pazhou Complex) on Pazhou Island in the Pearl River. One of the largest such venues in the world, it hosts Guangzhou’s major trade shows (including the Guangzhou Trade Fair) and has spurred rapid development of Haizhu’s commerce and tourism-related service sectors.

Also located in the district are the south campus of Sun Yat-sen University (founded 1924) and the Pearl River (Zhujiang) Film Studio (now called Pearl River Film Group), one of the major film producers in China. People Guangzhou is one of the most densely inhabited areas in China; most of its residents live in the central districts of the city. The local people, called Cantonese, speak the Cantonese language (Yueyu), which is distinctly different from the Mandarin spoken by most Chinese. However, with growing numbers of immigrants from northern and eastern China coming to live and work in the city, both Cantonese and Mandarin are now popularly used. Street scene in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. © Monika Lie/Shutterstock.com The earliest inhabitants, of Tai or Shan origin, were assimilated by the Chinese (Han) long ago. There are, however, small groups of Manchu and Chinese Muslims (Hui) in the city. A notable demographic feature is the large number of “overseas Chinese” who emigrated to Southeast Asia , the United States , Europe, and other parts of the world.

Since the 1980s many of them returned and resettled in and around Guangzhou. Another phenomenon that emerged since the 1980s is the presence of a large transient population of workers from other provinces or even overseas. These workers temporarily reside in the Guangzhou area to work in factories or at other jobs before returning to their home regions. Audrey Siek of Chinese broadcaster CCTV describing the challenges that African immigrants face in … © CCTV America (A Britannica Publishing Partner) Economy Administration and society Government Guangzhou’s municipal government is part of the hierarchical structure of the Chinese government—and the parallel structure of the Chinese Communist Party—that extends from the national organization, through the provincial apparatus, to the municipal and, ultimately, neighbourhood levels. The principal responsibilities of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Congress, the major decision-making body, include issuing administrative orders, determining the budget, and implementing economic plans. A standing committee selected from its members recommends policy decisions and oversees the operation of municipal government.

Executive authority rests with the People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, the officers of which are elected by the congress; it consists of a mayor, executive vice mayors, vice mayors, and numerous bureaus in charge of public security, the judicial system, and other civil, economic, social, and cultural affairs. The municipality is now divided into 10 districts (qu) and 2 county-level cities (xianjishi), each of which has a district or city mayoralty. Under a district there are police substations and street mayoralties. Neighbourhood associations have various functions, including mediating disputes, conducting literacy campaigns, supervising sanitation and welfare, and promoting family planning. Health Health conditions improved dramatically during the 20th century, especially after 1950. Epidemics have been eliminated through the control of disease-carrying pests. Guangzhou has many high-quality hospitals with modern medical equipment. In addition, the city is a national hub of traditional Chinese medicine, centred around Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (established 1956) and its network of affiliated hospitals and clinics. Education Guangzhou is one of China’s most progressive cities in regard to education.

In addition to a large number of kindergartens, primary schools, and middle schools, it has dozens of institutions of higher learning. In addition to Sun Yat-sen University and the school of Chinese medicine, these include Jinan University (1906), South China University of Technology (1952), South China Normal University (1933), Southern Medical University (1951), South China Agricultural University (1909), and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (1953). An ambitious project named Guangzhou University City was launched at the beginning of the 21st century, with the goal of creating a concentrated, multiple-campus college town on an island in the Pearl River south of the central city in Panyu district. Cultural life Guangzhou is a vibrant city. Large tracts of parkland, many of them created since 1949, help give the city its characteristically lush appearance and provide the citizenry with a wide variety of recreational facilities. The colourful flower show held during the annual Spring Festival is a major highlight. Although the Cantonese share some aspects of the modern lifestyle of Hong Kong’s residents, they also prize their own historical and cultural roots.

Throngs of people are usually found visiting the city’s many museums and monuments of historical importance, and productions of Yue opera and Chao opera and of musical performances are well attended. Guangzhou is noted for its puppet plays that feature large puppets with finely carved wooden heads. Five Goats (Wuyang) statue, symbol of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China. © Bill Perry/Shutterstock.com The library of Sun Yat-sen University has one of the largest holdings in China, including an extensive collection of vernacular-language works. Notable historic sites include the tomb of Zhao Mei, second ruler of Nanyue, a state that was incorporated into the Xi (Western) Han dynasty (206 bce–25 ce); the restored campus of Huangpu (Whampoa) Military Academy; and the residence of Sun Yat-sen. The octagonal Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall is a 3,200-seat auditorium and has a bronze statue of Sun in front of the main entrance.

Bronze statue of Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) in front of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou, … © iStockphoto/Thinkstock The vitality of the Cantonese people is exemplified by their passion for food. Cantonese cuisine is world-renowned, and the city’s hundreds of restaurants offer a seemingly endless variety of dishes. Many feature fresh ingredients, including locally caught seafood, that are quickly cooked, often by stir-frying. Congees (porridges made from rice or millet) and soups are often part of the meal. Some unusual local dishes include fried snake, cooked fish maw (swim bladder), fried shark’s fin, and fried chicken feet. Modern recreational facilities have also enriched the city’s cultural life. Sports facilities, including stadiums, natatoriums, tennis courts, and a rowing centre, have added to the leisure diversions available to city residents. In addition, several new sports venues—including three gymnasiums, an aquatic centre, and an 18,000-seat indoor arena—were built when Guangzhou hosted the 2010 Asian Games .

The tall, slender Canton Tower, constructed for both television broadcasting and recreational use, opened in 2010 on the south bank of the Pearl River in Haizhu district. Designed with a spiraling lattice exterior frame, the tower and its antenna have a total height of 1,969 feet (600 metres). Among its visitor facilities are restaurants and bars, a staircase that winds around the outside of its cylindrical core for more than 30 floors, and an open-air observation deck at the top of its 1,490-foot- (454-metre-) tall main structure. Canton Tower (right) on the bank of the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang), Guangzhou, Guangdong province, … © iStockphoto/Thinkstock A Short History of Guangzhou A Short History of Guangzhou A Short History of Guangzhou Colonial concession district, Shamian Island, Guangzhou. Peter Stuckings / Getty Images By Sara Naumann Overview Always a center of trade to outsiders, the city of Guangzhou was established during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

By the year 200 AD, Indians and Romans were coming to Guangzhou and in the next five-hundred years, trade grew with many neighbors far and near from the Middle East and Southeast Asia . Europe Comes Knocking The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive buying Guangdong's silk and porcelain and in 1557 Macau was established as their base of operations in the area. After several attempts, the British also gained a foothold into Guangzhou and in 1685, China's Imperial Qing government gave in to the pesky foreigners seeking its wares and opened Guangzhou to the West. But trade was restricted to Guangzhou and the foreigners restricted to Shamian Island. Ever Heard of Canton? A quick aside about the name: the Europeans called the area Canton which came from the Portuguese transliteration of the Chinese regional name, Guangdong. continue reading below our video Tipping Etiquette Around the World Canton referred to the region and the city where the Europeans were forced to live and trade. Today "Guangdong" refers to the province and "Guangzhou" refers to the name of the city formerly known as Canton.

Enter Opium Annoyed by the trade imbalance, the British gained the upper hand over the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by dumping opium on Guangzhou. The Chinese generated quite a habit for the stuff and by the nineteenth century, trade was heavily weighted against the Chinese. The British were feeding the Chinese addiction with cheap Indian opium and ferrying away silk, porcelain and tea. First Opium War and the Treaty of Nanking A very large thorn in the Qing 's paw, the imperial commissioner was ordered to eradicate the opium trade and in 1839, Chinese forces seized and destroyed 20,000 chests of the drug. The British didn't take this very well and soon the First Opium War was fought and won by Western forces. The 1842 Treaty of Nanking ceded Hong Kong Island to the British. It was during these tumultuous times that thousands of Cantonese left home to seek their fortunes in the US, Canada, Southeast Asia, Australia and even South Africa. Dr. Sun In the twentieth century, Guangzhou was the seat of the Chinese Nationalist Party founded by Dr. Sun Yatsen. Dr.

Sun, the first president of the Republic of China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty , was from a small village outside Guangzhou. Guangzhou Today Guangzhou today is struggling to overcome its image as Hong Kong's little sister. An economic powerhouse in southern China, Guangzhou enjoys relative wealth compared with many other parts of China and is a bustling and vibrant city. Guangzhou Guangzhou Coordinates: 23°20′N 113°30′E Country 3718.8 km² (1436.1 sq mi) Elevation Postal map spelling: Canton Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in southern mainland China. The city was formerly known internationally as Canton City or simply Canton, after a French language transliteration of the name of the province in Cantonese. It is a port on the Pearl River, navigable to the South China Sea . As of the 2000 census, the city has a population of 6 million, and a metropolitan population of 12.6 million, making it the most populous city in the province and the fifth most populous in China .

Name The Chinese abbreviation of Guangzhou is Sui (穗; pinyin: sùi; Jyutping: seoi6; Yale: seuīh) or sometimes GZ. The city has the nicknames of Wuyangcheng (City of Five Rams), Yangcheng (City of Rams), Huacheng (City of Flowers), or Suicheng (City of Wheats). The city can also be referred to as the MuMengCheng (City of Wood Wools), a reference to a tall, native tree that produces wool fibre in its gorgeous red blossoms. "Canton" was the convenient Portuguese romanisation of "Guangdong" Province, and the city Guangzhou is the capital of the province and frequently referred as 廣東省城 ("the Canton Province Capital City") or simply 省城 ("the Province City") by Cantonese people. The city naturally represents the province and thus was erroneously used as the city's name. It was more convenient for Europeans who during the colonial period generally did not understand ideographic characters (see exonym and endonym). When the term "Canton" is pronounced in Portuguese it provides a closer oral rendering of the name in its original Cantonese.

Guangzhou is a Mandarin pronunciation of the Han ideographs. Geography Guangzhou is located at 112°57'E to 114°3'E and 22°26'N to 23°56'N. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta. CITIC Plaza Administrative divisions Guangzhou is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over ten districts and two county-level cities. Districts Zengcheng City Conghua City As of April 28, 2005, the districts of Dongshan and Fangcun have been abolished and merged into Yuexiu and Liwan respectively; at the same time the district of Nansha is established out of parts of Panyu, and the district of Luogang is established out of parts of Baiyun, Tianhe, Huangpu, and Zengcheng. History It is believed that the first city built at the site of Guangzhou was Panyu (蕃禺, later simplifed to 番禺; the locals pronounced this in Cantonese as Poon Yu) founded in 214 BC. The city has been continuously occupied since that time.

Panyu was expanded when it became the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom (南越) in 206 BC. Recent archaeological founding of her palace suggests that the city might have traded frequently with foreigners by the sea routes. The foreign trade continued every dynasty and the city remains a major international trading port to this day. Guangzhou jurisdiction (in yellow) The Han Dynasty annexed Nanyue in 111 BC, and Panyu became a provincial capital and remains so until this day. In 226 AD, the city became the seat of the Guang Prefecture (廣州; Guangzhou). Therefore, "Guangzhou" was the name of the prefecture, not of the city. However, people grew accustomed to calling the city Guangzhou, instead of Panyu. Although the Chinese name of Guangzhou replaced Panyu as the name of the walled city, Panyu was still the name of the area surrounding the walled city until the end of Qing era.

Arabs and Persians sacked Guangzhou (known to them as Sin-Kalan) in AD 758, ² according to 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 the Tang Dynasty. During the Northern Song Dynasty, a celebrated poet called Su Shi visited Guangzhou's Baozhuangyan Temple and wrote the inscription "Liu Rong" (Six Banyan Trees) because of the six banyan trees he saw there. It has since been called the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive to the city by sea, obtaining the monopoly for external trade with its harbour by 1511. They were later expelled from their settlements in Guangzhou (in Portuguese Canton or Cantao), but instead granted use of Macao (first occupied in 1511) as a trade base with the city in 1557. They would keep a near monopoly of foreign trade in the region until the arrival of the Dutch in the early XVII century.

After China brought Taiwan under its control in 1683, the Qing government became open to encouraging foreign trade. Guangzhou quickly emerged as one of the most adaptable ports for negotiating commerce and before long, many foreign ships were going there to procure cargos. Portuguese in Macao, Spanish in Manila, and Armenians and Muslims from India were already actively trading in the port by the 1690s, when the French and English East India companies' ships began frequenting the port. Other companies were soon to follow: the Ostend General India Company in 1717; Dutch East India Company in 1729; the first Danish ship in 1731, which was followed by a Danish Asiatic Company ship in 1734; the Swedish East India Company in 1732; followed by an occasional Prussian and Trieste Company ship; the Americans in 1784; and the first ships from Australia in 1788.

By the middle of the 18th century, Guangzhou had emerged as one of the world's great trading ports, which was a distinction it maintained until the outbreak of the Opium War in 1839 and the opening of other ports in China in 1842. Guangzhou was one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanking (signed in 1842) at the end of the First Opium War between Britain and China . The other ports were Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai . 1888 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now Guangzhou) In 1918, "Guangzhou" became the official name of the city, when an urban council was established in Guangzhou. Panyu became a county's name south of Guangzhou. In both 1930 and 1953, Guangzhou was promoted to the status of a Municipality, but each promotion was cancelled within the year. Japanese troops occupied Guangzhou from 1938- 10-12 to 1945- 09-16.

After the communist take-over, urban renewal projects in the city improved the lives of many residents. New housing on the shores of the Pearl River provided homes for the poor boat people. Reforms by Deng Xiaoping, who came to power in the late 1970s, led to rapid economic growth due to the city's close proximity to Hong Kong and access to the Pearl River. As labor costs increased in Hong Kong, manufacturers opened new plants in the cities of Guangdong including Guangzhou. As the largest city in one of China's wealthiest provinces, Guangzhou attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. Cantonese links to overseas Chinese and beneficial tax reforms of the 1990s have aided the city's rapid growth. In 2000, Huadu and Panyu were merged into Guangzhou as districts, and Conghua and Zengcheng became county-level cities of Guangzhou. Modern Guangzhou Economy Guangzhou is the economic centre of the Pearl River Delta, placing it in the heart of one of mainland China's leading commercial and manufacturing regions.

In 2005, the GDP per capita was ¥58,000 (about US $7,000), ranking the city third among 659 Chinese cities. The Chinese Export Commodities Fair, also called "Canton Fair", is held each spring and autumn by Bo Liu. Inaugurated in the spring of 1957, the Fair is a major event for the city. Transportation The Guangzhou Metro station at Sun Yat-Sen University is among several stations that serve the city. The Guangzhou Metro opened in 1999. Guangzhou's main airport is the New Baiyun International Airport in Huadu District, that opened on 5 August 2004 replacing old Baiyun International Airport close to the city centre. Guangzhou is connected to Hong Kong by train, bus and ferry services. Express trains arrive in Hong Kong at the Hung Hom KCR station. They cover the 182 km route in approximately two hours. Daily ferry sailings include an overnight steamer, which takes eight hours, and high-speed catamarans and hydrofoils which take three hours to reach the China Ferry Terminal or Macau Ferry Pier in Hong Kong.

Tourist attractions Guangdong Museum of Folk Handcraft Shamian Island Museum of the Tomb of the King of Southern Yue in Western Han Dynasty Temple of the Six Banyan Trees Shishi Holy Heart Cathedral Lie shi ling yuan （ 烈士陵园） Yue Xiu Park ( 越秀公园) MIT Visualizing Cultures This British map of Canton shows the city walls, “Old” and “New City,” the “Five-Storey Watchtower” at the top, and the river with both Chinese and English names “Choo-Keang or Pearl River” at the bottom. The text reads: “A Plan of the City of Canton and its Suburbs Shewing [sic] the principal Streets and some of the conspicuous Buildings from a Chinese Survey on an Enlarged Scale with additions and References, by W. Bramston, Late of Her Majesty’s Superintendents Office at Canton, 1840.” A British Map of Canton, 1840 by W.

Bramston” Hong Kong Museum of Art [cwC_1840_AH64115] The Ming emperors confined Western traders to the town of Macau, but the Qing emperors expanded their access in the 18th century. The Qing rulers were Manchus from northeast China who conquered the core of Han China in the mid 17th century. As people from the borderlands, they were accustomed to relations with many different kinds of peoples and gave each group its place. They called many of the foreign peoples “tributaries,” meaning those who came to give tribute or gifts to the emperor out of gratitude for his benevolent rule. The Westerners who arrived in China to trade in the 18th century joined these tributary peoples. From the Qing official point of view, Westerners were just one of hundreds of different peoples who admired and sought to profit from their relationship with the flourishing empire. Since the early 17th century, the Dutch and the English had tried to gain trading privileges with China as the Portuguese had done in Macau, but the Chinese rulers prevented regular access until they had secured control of Taiwan in 1683.

Then the Chinese and foreigners began to negotiate regular terms of trade at several different ports. By the early 18th century, Canton had emerged as the most convenient port for both the Chinese and foreigners. The Manchu court favored foreign trade as long as it was conducted in a stable and predictable fashion under government regulation. They appointed the superintendent of customs, or hoppo, as the official responsible for collecting customs duties and managing orderly trade in Canton. Since the Cantonese already had over a century of experience dealing with the Portuguese in Macau, they could take care of the new arrivals without much difficulty. The Qing government tightened control in 1741 by requiring all foreigners to leave Canton and return to Macau when the trading season ended, and officially restricted all trade to Canton after 1757. The foreigners constantly complained about these restrictions, but the fact that trade grew steadily through the 18th century shows that they could do very profitable business despite the regulations. While in Canton, the foreign merchants formed a separate community. On the Chinese side, a special guild of merchants, the Co-hong, obtained a monopoly over trade with the foreigners.

After paying the hoppo substantial sums for the privilege of trading with foreigners, these hong merchants profited greatly from their access to foreign trade. Although the Qing emperors kept their distance from the foreign traders, they gained a great deal of personal revenue from them. The duties from trade went directly to the imperial household. England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60 England and China: The Opium Wars, 1839-60 Philip V. Allingham , Contributing Editor, Victorian Web; Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario [ Victorian Web Home —> Victorian Political History —> Victorian Social History —> The British Empire —> Opium Wars ] The Opium Trade, Seventh through Nineteenth Centuries he Anglo-Chinese Opium Wars were the direct result of China's isolationalist and exclusionary trade policy with the West. Confucian China's attempts to exclude pernicious foreign ideas resulted in highly restricted trade. Prior to the 1830s, there was but one port open to Western merchants, Guangzhou (Canton) and but one commodity that the Chinese would accept in trade, silver.

British and American merchants, anxious to address what they perceived as a trade imbalance, determined to import the one product that the Chinese did not themselves have but which an ever-increasing number of them wanted: opium. Before 1828, large quantities of the Spanish silver coin, the Carolus, flowed into China in payment for the exotic commodities that Europeans craved; in contrast, in the decade of the 1830s, despite an imperial decree outlawing the export of yellow gold and white silver, "only $7,303,841 worth of silver was imported, whereas the silver exported was estimated at $26,618, 815 in the foreign silver coin, $25,548,205 in sycee, and $3,616,996 in gold" (Kuo, p. 51).

although the Chinese imperial governed had long prohibited the drug except for medicinal use, the "British Hong" (companies such as Dent, Jardine, and Matheson authorized to operate in Canton) bought cheaply produced opium in the Begal and Malwa (princely) districts under the auspices of the British East India Company , the number 150 lb. chests of the narcotic being imported rising from 9,708 in 1820 to 35,445 in 1835. With the British government's 1833 cancellation of the trade monopoly enjoyed by the East India Company, cheap opium flooded the market, and China's net outflow of silver amounted to some 34 million Mexican silver dollars over the course of the 1830s. 67th Foot taking [a] fort. [Clock on thumbnail for larger image/] As the habit of smoking opium spread from the idle rich to ninety per cent of all Chinese males under the age of forty in the country's coastal regions, business activity was much reduced, the civil service ground to a halt, and the standard of living fell.

The Emperor Dao guang's special anti-opium commissioner Lin Ze-xu (1785-1850), modestly estimated the number of his countrymen addicted to the drug to be 4 million, but a British physician practising in Canton set the figure at 12 million. Equally disturbing for the imperial government was the imbalance of trade with the West: whereas prior to 1810 Western nations had been spending 350 million Mexican silver dollars on porcelain, cotton, silks, brocades, and various grades of tea, by 1837 opium represented 57 per cent of Chinese imports, and for fiscal 1835-36 alone China exported 4.5 million silver dollars. The official sent in 1838 by the Emperor Dao guang (1821-1850) of the Qing Dynasty to confiscate and destroy all imports of opium, Lin Ze-xu, calculated that in fiscal 1839 Chinese opium smokers consumed 100 million taels' worth of the drug while the entire spending by the imperial government that year spent 40 million taels.

He reportedly concluded, "If we continue to allow this trade to flourish, in a few dozen years we will find ourselves not only with no soldiers to resist the enemy, but also with no money to equip the army" quoted by Chesneaux et al., p. 55). By the late 1830s, foreign merchant vessels, notably those of Britain and the United States, were landing over 30,000 chests annually. Meantime, corrupt officials in the hoppo (customs office) and ruthless merchants in the port cities were accumulating wealth beyond "all the tea in China" by defying imperial interdictions that had existed in principle since 1796. The standard rate for an official's turning a blind eye to the importation of a single crate of opium was 80 taels. Between 1821 and 1837 the illegal importation of opium (theoretically a capital offence) increased five fold. A hotbed of vice, bribery, and disloyalty to the Emperor's authority, the opium port of Canton would be the flashpoint for the inevitable clash between the governments of China and Great Britain.

The Outbreak of the First Opium War This war with China . . . really seems to me so wicked as to be a national sin of the greatest possible magnitude, and it distresses me very deeply. Cannot any thing be done by petition or otherwise to awaken men's minds to the dreadful guilt we are incurring? I really do not remember, in any history, of a war undertaken with such combined injustice and baseness. Ordinary wars of conquest are to me far less wicked, than to go to war in order to maintain smuggling, and that smuggling consisting in the introduction of a demoralizing drug, which the government of China wishes to keep out, and which we, for the lucre of gain, want to introduce by force; and in this quarrel are going to burn and slay in the pride of our supposed superiority. — Thomas Arnold to W. W. Hull, March 18, 1840 ritish merchants were frustrated by Chinese trade laws and refused to cooperate with Chinese legal officials because of their routine use of torture.

Upon his arrival in Canton in March, 1839, the Emperor's special emissary, Lin Ze-xu, took swift action against the foreign merchants and their Chinese accomplices, making some 1,600 arrests and confiscating 11,000 pounds of opium. Despite attempts by the British superintendent of trade, Charles Elliot, to negotiate a compromise, in June Lin ordered the seizure another 20,00 crates of opium from foreign-controlled factories, holding all foreign merchants under arrest until they surrendered nine million dollars worth of opium, which he then had burned publicly. Finally, he ordered the port of Canton closed to all foreign merchants. Elliot in turn ordered a blockade of the Pearl River. In an ensuing naval battle, described as a victory by Chinese propagandists, in November 1839 the Royal Navy sank a number of Chinese vessels near Guangzhou. By January 1841, the British had captured the Bogue forts at the Pearl's mouth and controlled the high ground above the port of Canton. Subsequently, British forces scored victories on land at Ningbo and Chinhai, crushing the ill-equipped and poorly trained imperial forces with ease.

Viewed as too moderate back at home, in August 1841 Elliot was replaced by Sir Henry Pottinger to launch a major offensive against Ningbo and Tiajin. By the end of June British forces occupied Zhenjiang and controlled the vast rice-growing lands of southern China. The key to British victory was Her Majesty's Navy, which used the broadside with equal effect against wooden-hulled vessels, fortifications are river mouths, and city walls. The steel-hulled Nemesis , a shallow-draft armed paddle-wheeler loaned to the campaign by the British East India Company, quickly controlled the river basins and the Pearl River between Hong Kong and Canton, regardless of winds or tides that limited the effectiveness of Chinese junks. On land, Chinese bows and primitive firelocks proved no match for British muskets and artillery. For leading the Royal Marines to victory General Anthony Blaxland Stransham was knighted by Queen Victoria .

His forces utterly defeated on land and sea, Lin Ze-xu in September 1840 had been recalled to Peking in disgrace, and Qi-shan, a Manchu aristocrat related to the Emperor, installed in Lin's place to deal with the foreign devils whose decisive victories were undermining the authority of the Qing Dynasty, which gradually lost control of a population of 300 million. The Cost of Peace i-shan's first major concession was to ransom Canton in the spring of 1841 from the British for six million silver dollars rather than try to defend it. By the middle of 1842, the British controlled the mouth of the Yangtze and Shanghai, and forced the Chinese to sign the first of a series of "unequal" treaties that turned control of much of the coast over to the West.

While Chinese officials earnestly entreated Sir Henry Pottinger to cut the problem off at its source by recommending that the British government ban the cultivation of the poppy in India, Sir Henry argued that, as long as there remained substantial numbers of opium-addicts and corrupt customs officers in China, prohibiting the cultivation of opium in India "would merely throw the market into other hands" (cited by Ssu-Yu Teng, p. 70). Under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking (29 August 1842), signed as seems fitting now aboard a British warship at the mouth of the Yangtze, and a further "supplementary" treaty in 1843, China ceded the island of Hong Kong to Great Britain, opened five "Treaty" ports (Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai, and Ningbo) to Western trade and residence, granted Great Britain most-favoured nation status for trade, and paid nine million dollars in reparations to the merchants whose 20,000 chests of opium Lin Ze-xu had destroyed. China was compelled to abolish trading monopolies and limit tariffs to five per cent.

Finally, and perhaps most important to China's loss of nationhood, the Manchu signatories accepted the principle of " extraterritoriality ," whereby Western merchants were no longer accountable to China's laws, but rather to those of their mother countries. (In 1844, the United States and France extracted similar concessions from the imperial government, and the stage was set for the partition of the world's most populous nation by the numerically inferior but technologically superior Western powers.) No sooner had peace been negotiated than merchants began to hawk opium at fire-sale prices, and the conclusion of the Second Opium War (1856-58) removed all residual restraints on the trafficking of the drug as the Chinese themselves began poppy cultivation: by 1880, China was still importing 6,500 tons annually, but by 1900 it was producing some 22,000 tons itself. The Second Opium War he outbreak of fresh hostilities under such circumstances was almost inevitable because Chinese officials were extremely reluctant to enact the terms of the treaties of 1842-44.

Since the French and Americans had extracted additional concessions since the signing of the Treaty of Nanking, including clauses about renegotiation after twelve years, Great Britain insisted upon exercising its "most-favoured nation status" in 1854. This time, the British demanded that China open all her ports to foreign trade, legalise the importation of opium from British possessions in India and Burma, exempt British goods from all import duties, and permit the establishment of a full embassy in Peking. For two years Qing court officials stalled, trying to buy time. However, events ran out of their control when on 8 October 1856 officials boarded the Chinese-registered but Hong Kong-based merchant vessel Arrow, which they suspected of involvement in both smuggling and piracy. The British trade officials naturally argued that as a foreign vessel the Arrow's activities did not fall under Chinese legal jurisdiction, and that therefore the sailors who had been arrested should be released under the extraterritoriality clause of the Treaty of Nanking. Having dealt with the temporary distraction of the Sepoy Mutiny in India, in 1857 Great Britain dispatched forces to Canton in a coordinated operation with American warships.

France, seething over the recent Chinese execution of a missionary, Father August Chapdelaine, joined Russia, the U. S. A., and Great Britain against China. However, a joint Anglo-French force, without other military assistance, under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, Lord Elgin, and Marshall Gros seized Canton late in 1857 after valiant but futile resistance by the city's citizens and Chinese soldiers. In May 1858, the Anglo-French naval taskforce captured the Taku forts near Tiensin (Tianjin), effectively ending hostilities. France, Russia, the United States, and Great Britain then forced China to agree to open eleven more major ports to Western trade under the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin (June 1858). When the Chinese once again proved slow to enact the terms of the treaty, Britain order Admiral Sir James Hope to shell the Chinese forts at the mouth of the Peiho River in 1859. The Chinese capitulated, permitting all foreigners with passports to travel freely in China, and granting Chinese who converted to Christianity full property rights.

Since Chinese officials once again refused to enact a treaty provision, namely the establishment of Western embassies in Peking, an Anglo-French force launched a fresh offensive from Hong Kong in 1860, ultimately destroying the Emperor Xianfeng's Summer Palace in Chengde, and the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace in Peking amidst wide-spread looting by both troops and civilians. Under the terms of the Convention of Peking, signed by Prince Gong, brother of the Emperor Xianfeng, on 18 October 1860, the ports of Hankou, Niuzhuang, Danshui, and Nanjing were opened to foreign vessels, as were the waters of the Yangtze, and foreign missionaries were free to proselytize. China had to pay further reparations, this time ten million taels, to each of France and Britain, and another two million taels to British merchants for destruction of property. Finally, China ceded the port of Kowloon to Great Britain, and agreed to permit the export of indentured Chinese labourers to the Americas.

Arguably, without such a massive injection of cheap labour the transcontinental railways of the United States and Canada would not have been completed so quickly and economically. On the other hand, China's humiliation led directly to the fall of the Manchu Dynasty and the social upheavals that precipitated the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. What had begun as a conflict of interests between English desire for profits from the trade in silk, porcelain, and tea and the Confucian ideal of self-sufficiency and exclusion of corrupting influences resulted in the partitioning of China by the Western powers (including the ceding of Hong Kong to Great Britain), humiliating defeats on land and sea by technologically and logistically superior Western forces, and the traditional values of an entire culture undermined by Christian missionaries and rampant trading in Turkish and Indian opium. No wonder the Boxer rebels' chief goal was to purify and reinvigorate their nation by the utter annihilation of all "foreign devils." References Chesneaux, Jean, Marianne Bastid, and Marie-Claire Bergere. China from the Opium Wars to the 1911 Revolution. Trans. Anne Destenay. New York: Pantheon, 1976.

" Emergence of Modern China ." U. of Maryland site. 18/06/2006. Fay, Peter Ward. The Opium War 1840-1842. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. Kuo, P. C. A Critical Study of the First Anglo-Chinese War with Documents. Westport, Conn.: Hyperion, 1935. Morley, Henry. "Our Phantom Ship: China." Household Words No. 66 (28 June 1851): 325-331. Teng, Ssu-Yu.Chang Hsi and the Treaty of Nanking 1842. Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 1944. Waley, Arthur. The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1958. Wallbank, Taylor, et al. " A Short History of the Opium Wars ." Civilizations Past and Present, 1992. Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. 18/06/2006.

Question: By what traditional name was the Chinese city of Guangzhou known in Britain?
Answer: CANTON