Guangzhou

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province in southern China, on the Pearl River near its delta on the South China Sea. Known abroad for centuries as Canton, it gave its name to Cantonese, the language and cooking of the region.

The Qin dynasty founded the city in 214 BC as Panyu, and it later became the capital of the kingdom of Nanyue under Zhao Tuo. From the Tang dynasty its port drew Arab and Persian merchants, and one of the first mosques in China was built for them. Under the Canton System, set up in 1757, it was for decades the only Chinese port open to trade with the West, and foreign trading houses were confined to a strip of warehouses by the river. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese republic, set up his government in the city in the early 20th century.

The China Import and Export Fair, known as the Canton Fair, has been held in the city every spring and autumn since the 1950s. GAC Group, based in Guangzhou, makes Trumpchi cars and builds Toyota and Honda models in partnership with the Japanese firms. NetEase, the internet and video game company, has its head office in the city. Guangzhou Pharmaceutical makes Wong Lo Kat, a herbal tea drink sold in red cans.

Canton Tower, finished for the Asian Games held in the city, rises 600 m (1,969 ft) with a twisting lattice of steel. The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, built in the 1890s as a school for the Chen families of the province, is covered in carvings of wood, stone and brick. Dim sum, small dishes served with tea in the morning, is part of the Cantonese custom of yum cha. Shamian Island keeps the colonial banks and churches of the old foreign quarter.