The Chinese province of Guangdong is located in the southernmost part of the country. With its location on the South China Sea(南中國海), it is a natural entry point to South China. It is bordered by Jiangxi (江西) and Hunan (湖南) provinces to the north, Fujian (福建) province to the east, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region (广西壮族自治区) to the west. Guangdong province also claims 651 islands, many of which are located in the Pearl River Delta (珠江三角洲). Many of the rivers in the area feed into this delta and flow out into the South China Sea.
The provincial capital, Guangzhou (广州), was known in the West as Canton. The word “guang” (广) means “expanse,” and “Guangdong” refers to “expanse east.” Guangond, together with Guangxi, are known as the “dual guangs” (两广). While Guangdong province got its name during the Ming Dynasty (明朝), the area had been a coastal trade area long before then. When the West began trading with China (via Portugese, Dutch, and British traders), Guangzhou and Guangdong province was a center of trade and the comprador (买办) system. The Opium Wars, begun as a result of the opium trade, flourished at Guangzhou and resulted in the loss of Hong Kong to British control. Guangzhou today retains its status as an important center for China’s international business and trade, and many of its famous businesses and areas, like the White Swan Hotel (白天鹅宾馆) and Shamian Island (沙面岛), highlight this internationalism.
Many Chinese immigrants who came to the United States and Canada in the 1800s left China from Guangdong province. While the majority of people who live in Guangdong are ethnically Han (汉), the largest single ethnic group worldwide, Guangdong does have a diverse multi-cultural makeup, with people from forty-two different ethnic groups all living in the province. Many Chinese dialects are spoken, though most people speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
Guangdong features a subtropical climate of high humidity and hot weather in the summer, so it is best to visit during the spring and fall months. Due to its geography and weather, Guangdong produces most of the area’s rice, tea and tropical crops. Less than a quarter of all the land in Guangdong is used to produce food, so the areas that are set aside for agricultural purposes are farmed intensively.
Light industry has brought an economic boom to Guangdong that has given the province the highest GDP of any province (over 12% of China’s total GDP, and reported by some sources as high as 33% percent of China’s GDP). Guangdong is also responsible for a total third of all the imports and exports occurring in China. Food processing, including sugar refining, as well as textile manufacturing and weaving, are all major industries here. Heavy industrial pursuits include shipbuilding and repair and machine manufacturing, among others.
Guangdong is famous for its Cantonese cuisine, and many of the foods that Americans and Canadians have come to think of as Chinese food—dim sum, fried rice, lo mein noodles, chop suey, bok choi, and wontons, for example—are based on foods and dishes that originated in Guangdong. Because Guangzhou was a major trading port, international visitors through the years have introduced a wide variety of foods to the city, adding to the diversity within the cuisine. The freshest ingredients, mildly spiced, are favored, and the flavors are brought to their greatest impact with steaming, stir- and deep frying. Seafood is also often featured.
Visitors to Guangdong province can enjoy the scenic beauty of the Danxia(丹霞山), Luofu(羅浮山), and Dinghu(鼎湖山) mountains. Traveling to Guangzhou allows for scenic visits to Yuexiu Park (越秀公园), as well as the ancient Buddhist Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (刘榕寺). Many other beautiful temples are in Guangdong, including the Nanhua Temple (南华寺) located in Shaoguan(韶关). And for history and culture, the Guangdong Provincial Museum in Guangzhou offers examples of Chaozhou(潮州) wood carving, ceramic figures, old Chinese pottery and traditional Chinese calligraphy posters. A trip here means you can enjoy the best of Guangdong culture, ancient and modern.
