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Guangzhou
Avg.Score:
 
3.5
Dining:
 
4.8
Entertainment:
 
3.5
Hotels:
 
3.0
Scenery:
 
2.5
Shopping:
 
4.3
Transportation:
 
3.3

Known historically to the west as Canton, the city of Guangzhou (Guǎngzhōu, 广州; Gwóngjàu in Cantonese) was long the gateway into China for Western merchants looking to trade in highly sought after goods like silk, tea and porcelain.

At the apex of the prosperous Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou is close to other major Chinese trade cities including Dongguan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Together, the cities also form one of the largest continuous urban sprawls in the world. Since the opening of China, the region has boomed as the factory floor of the world. The city hosts the annual Canton Fair, a massive trade show comprised of a who's who in global manufacturing and trade.

While the city has suffered pollution, congestion and other growing pains, the city streets are wide and lined with trees. Little escapes from the urban hustle aren't far away, now that the city's massive subway system makes the trek to places like Yuexiu Park and the mountain Baiyun Shan all the more convenient.

The old port city retains its cultural and historic soul as well. The museum built around the ancient Mausoleum of the Nanyue King introduces travelers to the ancient kingdom that held court over Guangzhou 2,000 years ago and is considered the first of Vietnam's imperial dynasties. Fast forward several centuries to the founding of the 5th century Buddhist Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, and one begins to feel the breadth of Guangzhou's history.

The coming of modern China, with the decline and fall of the Qing Dynasty, foreign invasions and the establishment of the Republic of China was a tough one for the whole province of Guangdong, part of the reason why much of the world's Chinatowns are populated by Cantonese speakers who trace their ancestry back to the province. The homes of many of the local merchants who managed to succeed, the Xiguan residences can still be found throughout Guangzhou's Liwan district, while the foreign settlement at nearby Shamian Island is still dotted with the homes, businesses and churches of their foreign counterparts, who hoped to strike it rich in famous Canton.

For those looking for the still living, breathing Cantonese culture of Guangzhou, it's not difficult to find; from bustling dim sum eateries, bustling markets like the Qingping Market and all the things that make up daily life in the city of Guangzhou.

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History

A legend concerning the founding of Guangzhou tells of five immortal beings on the back of rams descending upon the famine-stricken land and giving the people grain and blessing their harvest, a legend which gave the city one of it's former names, Wuyang Cheng ("Five Goat City"), and is honored in a famous statue in Yuexiu Park. The historical beginnings of the city were somewhat less fantastic.

During the 12th century BC, the Baiyue people of the region allied themselves with the state of Chu, giving the name Chuting to the area. Names and settlements changed and after being conqured by the armies of the Qin Dynasty, the city of Panyu was established. After the collapse of the dynasty, the city became the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom, established by former Qin general Zhao Tuo who declared himself king of the region under his control in the 3rd century BC. The kingdom would pass after his death onto his grandson, Zhao Mo, who is buried in the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King. Han forces took Nanyue and returned the region to the Chinese Empire in the 2nd century AD.

Items found in Zhao Mo's tomb show trade from the region stretched into Iran and other parts of the Middle East. Trade expanded later—with Indian, Persian and Arab traders working and living in the city—after the city was made part of Guangzhou Prefecture by the Wu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period, which gave the city its modern name. Growth continued through the Tang and Song Dynasties and the city expanded and new walls were built. Despite destruction of much of the city in the 11th century by the Mongol invasion preceeding the Yuan Dynasty, Guangzhou continued to flourish from maritime trade and went through another round of expansion and building during the subsequent Ming Dynasty.

The Portuguese became some of the first Europeans to arrive, gaining a trade monopoly in 1511 until their expulsion to Macau. The British arrived in the 17th century, soon followed by other European powers.

Trade between China and the world was restricted to Guangzhou in 1760, and even there all trade was funneled through a government-appointed guild of combined merchant companies referred to by Westerners as the "Cohong" in the Thirteen Factories—a designated trade area near Shamian Island. Along with restricted trade, a developing trade deficit chafed on foreign traders, especially the British. While tea, silk and porcelain flowed out, nothing but silver flowed in until the British introduced cheap opium from India.

Problems controlling the opium trade and opium addiction plagued the empire while Western powers happily took advantage of the new trade. Official Lin Zexu was brought in to stem the tide of opium, and proceeded to set up systems and work to defeat opium on the Chinese side of the trade. After Western merchants refused to hand over all of their opium cargoes, Lin had them barricaded in the Thirteen Factories until they capitulated. The seized opium was destroyed with lime and washed out into the ocean.

In response, British forces blockaded Guangzhou, Ningbo and seized Zhoushan Island. After negotiations that neither side felt happy with, fighting broke out between Chinese militias and British troops. In response, the British razed parts of Guangzhou and occupied others. When the smoke settled on the succeeding First Opium War, the Chinese signed off on, among other concessions, the opening of five "treaty ports"—Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo and Shanghai. Like the Old Bund in Ningbo and the Bund in Shanghai, foreign settlements were established on Shamian Island—split between the British and French. The trade through Guangzhou, however, would soon be eclipsed by business in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Following the seizure of a Chinese-manned ship formerly registered in Hong Kong by Qing officials for suspicion of piracy and smuggling in1856, the British claimed the seizure was illegal and with this excuse took military action against Guangzhou. The city was taken and held by combined British and French forces for four years before returning to China.

Guangzhou-born Sun Yat-sen, an important figure in the movement to reform Qing Dynasty China, gave up on the notion of a reformed monarchy and many of his efforts to overthrow the old order would be based out of the city, including the unsuccessful Huanghuacheng Uprising in 1910. Sun returned following the successful Wuhan Uprising and was declared provisional president of the nascent republic, though after Yuan Shikai attempted to install himself as the new emperor, Sun fled the country, only later returning to Guangzhou to restructure the Nationalist party.

The Whampoa Military Academy was set up by Sun in Guangzhou in 1924 and helped to train troops for the Northern Expedition, a military campaign led by future Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek to unite Nationalist-controlled regions with the rest of China. The Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou commemorates the leader, who died of liver cancer in 1925.

Following the death of Sun, the city would be torn between the Communists and Nationalists. Chiang Kai-shek took the appearance of the ship Zhongshan off the coast of Whampoa Island one morning in 1926 as an attempt by the Communists to attempt a kidnap him and invoked martial law. The following year, the Communists took control of parts of the city, but were crushed by Nationalists troops and those involved summarily executed.

In 1938, the Japanese Imperial Army landed marines and took Guanzhou after having spent the last year attacking the city in air raids. The city remained under Japanese control until 1945. Four years later the city would become part of the People's Republic of China.

Attempts at modernizing the city, which began during the Republican period when the city was made into a municipality, were stalled by the Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation. During the 1950s, the city returned to Guangdong Province and heavy industry was introduced in the city. With the opening of China in the 1980s and its proximity to SEC Shenzhen, Guangzhou began a return to its status as an important Chinese trading hub.

Climate

Guangzhou has a subtropical climate, is warm year 'round and experiences distinct rainy and dry seasons. May through August is very wet with daily rains and temperatures in the lower 30 ºC (upper 80 ºF). Fall and spring are drier and quite pleasant. The coldest temperatures bottom out in January and February around 10 ºC at night (low 50 ºF).

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7-Feb-2012