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Zhongshan

Coordinates: 22°32′N 113°21′E / 22.533°N 113.350°E / 22.533; 113.350
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For other uses, see Zhongshan (disambiguation).
Zhongshan
中山
Prefecture-level city
City of Zhongshan · 中山市
Sunwen Road West at dusk.
Sunwen Road West at dusk.
CountryChina
ProvinceGuangdong
Government
 • CPC Committee SecretaryChen Genkai
 • MayorLi Qihong
Area
 • Total1,800 km2 (700 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total3,120,884
 • Density1,700/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard Time)
Postal code
528400
Area code0760
License plate prefixes粤T
GDP¥140.85 billion (2008)
GDP per capita¥56,106 (2008)
Websitewww.ZhongShan.gov.cn (Chinese)

Zhongshan (Chinese: 中山; pinyin: Zhōngshān; Cantonese: Zung¹saan¹), historically known as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province in southern China.

Names

Prior to the 20th century, Zhongshan was generally known as Xiangshan or Heung-san (Chinese: 香山; lit. 'Fragrant Mountain'), in reference to the many flowers that grew in the mountains nearby.[1] The city was renamed in honor of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who often went by the name Zhongshan/Zungsaan. Sun is considered by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China to be the "Father of Modern China", and was from Cuiheng village - now part of Nanlang Town - just outside of downtown Zhongshan.

History

See also: Nanyue

Zhongshan was historically inhabited by the Yue peoples, a large family of non-Chinese tribes that once possessed most of southern China. After unifying China in 221 BC, the First Emperor of Qin dispatched a 500,000-man army to what is now southern China to conquer the Yue peoples and bring the area under Han Chinese control. The Qin Dynasty organized its territory into "Commanderies" (Chinese: 郡; pinyin: jùn) - roughly equivalent to a province or prefecture - and Zhongshan became part of the Nanhai Commandery (Chinese: 南海郡), which covered most of modern-day Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. After the First Emperor's death in 210 BC, Chinese general Zhao Tuo was declared king of Nanyue, an autonomous state covering what was originally the Nanhai Commandery. Nanyue's capital - like that of the earlier Commandery - was at Panyu, a settlement now part of the provincial capital Guangzhou. Zhao Tuo's successors were unable to successfully resist Chinese re-integration for long, and were eventually re-conquered by the armies of Emperor Wu of Han in 111 BC. During the reign of Zhao Tuo, most government officials were Chinese army officers or their descendants, though they encouraged other Han Chinese settlers to adopt Yue customs. Han Chinese immigration to the region remained small until the War of the Eight Princes (291 - 307 AD), when large groups of Han Chinese fled from the Chinese heartland south to the region.

The Zhongshan area was part of Dongguan during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), and was a significant sea salt producer. In 1082, during the Northern Song Dynasty, a fortified settlement called Xiangshan was founded in the area, marking the first official use of the name by which it would be known throughout most of its modern history. The prosperous settlement was then upgraded to a county in 1152. Much of the First Opium War took place in and around Zhongshan: in 1839, the famous official Lin Zexu arrived in Zhongshan and ordered the expulsion of Sir Charles Elliot and other British traders from the area. Qing Dynasty soldiers resisted British attacks on the area in 1840, but were ultimately overwhelmed.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Zhongshan was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army which implemented Unit 8604 or Nami Unit, a secret military medical unit, related to Unit 731, that researched biological warfare and other topics through human experimentation. It was headquartered at Zhongshan Medical University (Hal Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 2003, p.50).

Geography

Zhongshan is located along the west side of the mouth of the Pearl River, directly opposite Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Zhongshan is directly south of Guangzhou and Foshan's north-south alluvial plains, and just north of Zhuhai and Macau's hilly coastlines.

Geological evidence suggests that before the 2nd millennium BC, the area Zhongshan now occupies was mostly on the floor of the South China Sea. Like much of southern China, Zhongshan has many mountains and hills - most notably the Wugui Mountains (Chinese: 五桂山; pinyin: Wǔguī Shān; Jyutping: Ng5gwai3 Saan1) - and these formed a system of steep islands. Like most river delta systems, the Pearl River and its tributaries gradually deposited silt on the ocean floor, causing its alluvial plain to reach further and further out into the sea. Zhongshan's northern flatland appeared around 1100 AD, and was settled soon after. The city's current geography is typical of southern China: numerous steep mountains and hills with alluvial plains in between down to the coastline. The main peak of the Wugui Mountains is the highest point in the city, at 531 metres (1,742 ft) above sea level.

Like nearly all of southern China, Zhongshan's climate is warm and humid most of the year, with an average temperature of 22 °C (72 °F) and 175 centimetres (69 in) of rainfall each year. Southern China experiences fairly frequent typhoons and thunderstorms, and most rain falls between April and September.

Zhongshan's location on the Pearl River Delta.

Cityscape

Fufeng pagoda in Zhongshan Park.

Zhongshan is a city of numerous leafy parks, wide boulevards and various monuments. Notable sights include:

  • Sunwen Road West (or Sunwen Xilu) in Zhongshan Old Town, a pedestrian mall lined with dozens of restored buildings from the colonial period in treaty port style. Several of these buildings were built in the 1920s. The seven story Fufeng Pagoda, built in 1608, which is visible from all over the city, is located on a hill in Zhongshan Park, which abuts the western end of Sunwen Road West immediately to its north. A Sun Yat-sen memorial pavilion stands near the pagoda.
  • Sunwen Memorial Park, at the southern end of Xingzhong Road, is the site of the largest bronze sculpture of Sun Yat-sen in the world.

Administration

Administration division of Zhongshan

Zhongshan is a prefecture-level city of the Guangdong province. An uncommon administrative feature is that it has no county-level division. The city government directly administers five district offices (corresponding to the urban area of Zhongshan proper), 18 towns and a development zone:

Economy

Primary industries

Primary productions are agricultural, such as rice, lychee, banana, and sugar cane. Added to this, horticulture in Xiaolan Town is famous throughout southern China for its blooming chrysanthemum.

Manufacturing industries

Zhongshan, together with Dongguan, Nanhai and Shunde, are dubbed as Four Little Tigers in Guangdong. The proximity of Zhongshan to Hong Kong and Macau is an advantage to its economic development, especially on the manufacturing industries.

In the 1980s, Zhongshan had a relatively developed State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) sector that was used to stimulate Township and Village Enterprises (TVE) development in the countryside. Currently, the SOE sector is much weaker and the economy is dominated by foreign investment and TVEs, and also by various specialized manufacturing towns. Each of these towns is specialized in making a particular product. Most of the towns are so successful that they earn a reputation as a leading manufacturer in their own pillar industries. Indeed, "One Industry in One Town" has become a unique economic feature in Zhongshan.

Pillar industries in various specialized manufacturing towns in Zhongshan include:

The government of Zhongshan encourages "Research and Design" in the region by setting up national level research centre and specialized industrial regions. For example, the Zhongshan National Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (中山國家級火炬高技術產業開發區) was established in 1990 in the east of the city by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the governments of Guangdong province and Zhongshan. Zhongshan Port, which ranks among the top 10 ports nationwide in terms of container-handling capacity, is in the zone.[2] Since 2001, it has contained Zhongshan Electronic Base of China (中国电子中山基地) for its reputation on the electronic acoustics industries. Following the possible development in Nansha, the city considers its eastern part, of which 400 km² of land is available, as a focus of development.

Currently, the city is trying to re-organize the fragmented industrialization. Meanwhile, the light and labour intensive industry characteristic of Zhongshan's economy imposes problem on shortage of land in Zhongshan.

Tourism

Several hot spring resorts are located in Sanxiang Town. In future, the World Lamp King Museum, a lamp museum in form of a lamp will be the major tourist attraction.

Education

Colleges and universities

Statue of Sun Yat-sen in Sunwen Memorial Park.

High schools

  • Zhongshan Memorial Middle School (Chinese: 中山纪念中学; pinyin: Zhōngshān Jìniàn Zhōngxúe) opened in 1931. It was established in memory of the Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat-sen, and built under the supervision of Soong Ching-ling, the widow of Sun Yat-sen.
  • Zhongshan No.1 Middle School[1] (Chinese: 中山市第一中学; pinyin: Zhōngshānsì Dìyī Zhōngxúe) opened in 1908.
  • Guangdong Zhongshan Experimental Middle School
  • Guangdong Bowen International School
  • Sanxin Bilingual School
  • China Hongkong English School

Transportation

Sister cities

Zhongshan is an official sister city of two cities worldwide.

Country City County/District/Region/State Date
 Japan Moriguchi Osaka 1988
 United States Honolulu Hawaii 1997

References

  1. ^ Tai Ping Huan Yu Ji 《太平寰宇记》, juan 157, 3019.
  2. ^ RightSite.asia | ZhongShan National Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone
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22°32′N 113°21′E / 22.533°N 113.350°E / 22.533; 113.350

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