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Guangdong Province
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Introduction
672 miles) of shore has the longest coastline in the country. It covers an area of approximately 180 000 square kilometers (69 502 square miles). This important province is home to the Southern Mountain Range and the Pearl River Delta, which is one of China's most heavily cultivated areas.
Fujian province borders Guangdong to the northeast and to the north, lie the provinces of Jiangxi and Hunan. To its west, is the Guangxi autonomous region and to the south are the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions. The island of Hainan is located on its southern coast off the Leizhou Peninsula.
Guangzhou or the "City of Flowers" - named after its almost year round green plants and fresh flowers - is the capital city of Guangdong. The other important city in this province is Shenzhen. While Guangzhou is the capital, Shenzhen is the economic hub as well as the second busiest port in China - the first being Shanghai. Shenzhen is said to be one of the fast growing cities in the world due to massive foreign investment in factories and industry. Other popular cities of this region includes Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Taishan, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, Shunde, Zhongshan, Chaozhou, Kaiping, Shantou, Xinhui, Zhaoqing, Nanhai, Shaoguan, Zhanjiang, Yangjiang, Chenghai and Yunfu.
This province faces the South China Sea and experiences a humid subtropical-tropical climate. The summers here are long, hot and wet and the winters are short, mild and dry. During summer and autumn, typhoons often hit this province.
- Annual average temperature: 22º C (91º F); 19º C in January - 33º C in July (64º F - 91º F)
- Average frost-free period: 300 - 360 days
- Average rainfall: 1500 - 2000 mm (59' - 79")
- Best time to visit: March, September and October
Tourists can explore the different natural scenic spots as well as historical and cultural sites, while visiting this province. Nature lovers can start their tour by exploring the four famous mountains of this province, namely, Danxia Mountain in the north, Luofu Mountain in Boluo, the Dinghu Mountain in Zhaoqing and Xijiao Mountain at the South China Sea.
Other places to be visited include:
- Ancestor's Temple (Taoist Temple)
- Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
- Yuexiu Park, Baiyun Shan (White Cloud Mountain)
- Pearl River Water Front
- The Seven Star caves
- Xiquiao Hills
- West Lake
- Pinghai Ancient City (Ming Dynasty city)
- Tianmashan Eco-Tourist area
- Liannfang Temple and Yinna Mountain
- Nanhua Temple in Shaoguan
Due to its massive demand for labour to support its thriving economy, Guangdong has become one of the most densely populated provinces in the country. According to the census recorded in 2005, this province had 79 million permanent residents and around 31 million migrants, who resided in the province for a minimum period of six months.
The Cantonese people are Han Chinese whose ancestral home has always been the Guangdong region. They therefore make up the largest of the population groups living in the province today. Unlike the rest of China where Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, is the dominant language, Cantonese is mostly spoken in this province. However, with the large influx of migrant workers from other parts of China, Mandarin is becoming more common. Other minority population groups include people from the Yao, Miao, She, Li and Zhuang communities.
The increased exposure to Western culture has influenced the cuisine in this region. Together with the cooking styles of the west and skills from other parts of China, Guangdong cooking methods are quite different from other Chinese cuisines. The raw materials used, flavours and cooking methods, are all unique. The most notable is the use of cooking in salt, wine, pan baking and shallow frying. With its long coastline, seafood is naturally a popular ingredient in many dishes served in Guangdong.
The inhabitants of this area are renowned for their rather "adventurous" eating habits passed down from ancient customs. It's been said that if it flies, walks, crawls or swims it was eaten, but today many - not all - of these past eating habits have become more refined and are no longer practiced.
One of the more famous of traditional dishes is 'Dragon and Tiger Fight'. It's a dish of braised leopard and snake, which is still served as the main course at important banquets.
The dishes served in this region can be divided into three categories:
- Guangdong food: the traditional cuisine.
- Chaozhou food: seafood and other dishes served in soups. These cuisines are thick and sweet. Chefs and cooks like using fish sauce, red vinegar and hot sauce to prepare these dishes.
- Dongjiang food: this cuisines includes domestic animals and poultry. These taste salty and simple sauces are used.
Popular dishes include:
- Salt Cooked Chicken from Dongjiang (chicken buried in heated salt until cooked)
- Twin pigeon cooked in rose wine
- Baked eggs
The Guangdong province is one of the most prosperous provinces of China. Since the inception of China's economic "open door policy" in the late 1970's it has become a leader in reforming the mainland's economy. As a result of the more market driven policies, its rapid rise to financial prosperity has been attributed to three reasons: its close location to Hong Kong, access to the ocean through its ports and its historical relationship with many overseas Chinese.
In 2008, Guangdong's economy made for 12% of the national output with a nominal GDP of 3.57 Trillion yuan (US$514 billion). The per capita GDP is 37 588 yuan (US$5 410). Manufacturing is the core industry of this province.
Much of the wealth of Guangdong is derived from manufacturing and export. As wealthy s this province is, most of it is concentrated in the Pearl River Delta, which is often referred to as the "factory of the world".
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