Guangdong is a province on the southern coast of People's Republic of China. It borders Hong Kong and Macao and is adjacent to Southeast Asian countries. Its land territory spans 178,000 square kilometers. The advantageous geographical location enables Guangdong to serve as a window, through which China communicates with the rest of the world. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are amongst the most populous and important cities in China.
Guangdong is China’s leading tourism-based province, staying ahead in the nation in the number of inbound tourists and total income of tourism. In addition to its geographical advantage, Guangdong’s charm also lies in the numerous tourist and cultural attractions with distinctive local characteristics.
Guangdong cuisine, one of the Eight Great Cuisines, emphasizes seafood, and unique, mixed flavorings. It is divided into three branches: Guangdong food is traditional Guangdong cuisine; Chaozhou food is similar to Fujian cuisine because Chaozhou neighbors Fujian Province; and Dongjiang food, which is represented by Huizhou food, emphasizes domestic animals and poultry. The dietetic culture of Guangdong has retained many eating habits and customs of the ancient people, such as eating snakes. In short, to the people of Guangdong, everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is edible.
Provincial Capital: Guangzhou
Area: Covering a total land area of 180,000 square kilometers,.
Geography: Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south and has a total of 4,300 km of coastline. Leizhou Peninsula is on the southwestern end of the province. The Pearl River Delta is the convergent point of three upstream rivers: The river delta is filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by a few mountain ranges collectively called the Southern Mountain Range. The highest peak in the province is Shikengkong 1,902 meters above sea level.
The province is high in the north and low in the south. Mountains make up 31.7% of the total area, hilly areas 28.5%, terraced farmland 16.1% and plains 23.7%. It has 3.12 million hectares of farmland, 10.25 million hectares devoted to forestry and 570,000 hectares of underdeveloped grasslands.
Population: The province has a total population of 82 million making up of Han, Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Dong and Tujia ethnic groups.
Administrative Division: Guangdong Province has jurisdiction over 21 prefecture-level cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Shaoguan, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhanjiang, Maoming, Zhaoqing, Huizhou, Meizhou, Shanwei, Heyuan, Yangjiang, Qingyuan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Chaozhou, Jieyang and Yunfu), 23 county-level cities, 41 counties, 3 autonomous counties and 54 districts under city administration.
Climate: Guangdong Province features mid-subtropical climate, south subtropical climate and tropical climate from north to south. It enjoys sufficient sunlight, heat and water resources and annual duration of sunshine varies from less than 1,500 hours in the north to more than 2,300 hours in the south. Annual average temperature stays between 19 and 24 degree Celsius; average temperature in January varies from 8 to 16 degree while average temperature in July stays between 27 and 29 degree. Annual rainfall ranges from 1,400 to 2,000 mm, but almost 80% of yearly rainfall comes in a short period from April to September. Rainfall also varies sharply from year to year, rainfall in a rainy year could double the amount of a dry year. The province is frequently hit by flooding, drought and typhoons. Disastrous weather conditions such as freezing rain in the spring, cold dew wind, cold wave and frost are also commonly seen in the province.
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