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Guangzhou,
Capital of Guangdong Province |
Guangzhou
is nicknamed
the “City of Five Rams,”
which
derives from a legend that it was founded when Five Immortals
riding five rams descended to each plan a sheaf of grain there,
symbolizing its never-ending prosperity. On firmer historical ground, an
administrative city then called Panyu occupied this site by the 3rd century
BC, serving as the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom founded in the region
by a breakaway commander from the Qin Empire. The recently discovered
Nanyue royal tomb of his grandson have yielded some of the most
exquisite jade carvings ever produced in China’s 5,000 year long
history of jade working. Already by the earlier centuries AD Guangzhou
was an important international port and trading center, with merchants
and traders from Southeast Asia and as far away as Rome came to buy silk
or to sell spices and incense. Guangzhou was part of the “Maritime
Silk Road” that linked
southern China with Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and the east
coast of Africa. Arab traders introduced Islam into Guangzhou in the 7th
century, making it the site of China’s first mosque and founding a
Muslim community that survived down to the present day.
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Guangzhou
“City of Five Rams,” |
Guangzhou’s
long-standing commercial and entrepreneurial spirit reemerged after the
economic liberalization policies of the 1980’s were put into effect.
Along with nearby Special Economic Zones like Shenzhen, Guangzhou took
advantage of the financial might and international experience of nearby
Hong Kong, along with an inexpensive, migrant labor force from the
countryside, to become a leading industrial and manufacturing center for
southern China.
