Shantou

Shantou is a port city in the east of Guangdong province in southern China, at the mouth of the Rong and Han rivers on the South China Sea. Many Chinese families in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia trace their roots to the Teochew region around it.

Shantou was a fishing town known to foreign traders as Swatow when it was opened to foreign trade in 1860. Ships carried emigrants from its harbor to Southeast Asia, and money sent home by them paid for houses and shops in the town. Arcaded buildings with balconies, built in a mix of Chinese and Western styles, still line the streets of the old town around Xiaogongyuan. In 1981 Shantou became one of the first special economic zones of China, and Li Ka-shing, a businessman born in nearby Chaozhou, founded Shantou University in the same decade.

Chenghai, a district of the city, makes plastic toys, model cars and remote-controlled toys in thousands of small factories. Gurao, a town of the Chaoyang district, makes underwear and lingerie sold across China. The Port of Shantou handles container ships on routes to Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Nan'ao Island, a county of Shantou off the coast, has beaches and a marker tower on the line of the Tropic of Cancer. Teochew cooking is known for its beef hotpot, with slices of fresh beef cooked for a few seconds in a clear broth, and for its braised goose. Gongfu tea, strong oolong poured from small clay pots into tiny cups, is served in homes and shops across the city. Teochew opera, sung in the local dialect to string and percussion bands, is performed at temple festivals.