|
South
China is made up of
Hunan
,
Jiangxi
,
Guangdong
, Guangxi,Hainan, Hongkong,
and
Macau
Hunan
Province
:
Situated
in the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River,
Hunan
means South of the Lake, indicating the
province is located south of the
Dongting
Lake
, the second largest freshwater lake in
China
. Because of the
Xiang
River
, which flows across the province from south to north,
Hunan
is also called 'Xiang' in short.
Hunan
has a long history, its landscape is magnificent, and it is home to
numerous men of great renown.
Changsha
and Yueyang are national famous historical and
cultural cities. There are also 25 national and provincial scenic resorts,
22 nature reserves at or above the provincial level, and large numbers of
places of cultural interest.
Hunan
is the home
province
of
Mao Zedong
, founder of the People's Republic, and numerous other outstanding
historical figures.
Hunan
abounds in mountain delicacies, melons and fruits and arts and crafts. The
Xiang embroidery is one of the four major
schools of Chinese embroidery. The chrysanthemum stone carvings are much
sought after objects for art collectors and tourists alike from all over
the world.
Jiangxi
Province
:
Jiangxi
Province
lies on the southern bank of the
Yangtze River
's lower and middle
sections.
It has an area of 166,900 sq km and a population of 39.66 million. Nanchangis
the provincial capital.
Jiangxi
is high in the south and low in the north.It
is borderedby hills and mountains, the land
generally sloping towards the
Poyang
Lake
in the
north.
Hills and mountains account for 60% of
the province's landmass. The mountainsare not
high and have many natural passages facilitating its link to other
provinces.
The Mufu, Jiuling,
Wugong and Wanyang
mountains lie in the west; the Dayuling and
Jiulian
mountains in the south; the Huaiyu and Wuyi
mountains in the east; and
Lushan
Mountain
in the north.
There are many red-soil hills and basins in the
central-south.
The
Jian
Basin
in the south is a major farming area. The
Poyang
Lake
Plain in the north is part of the Middle-Lower Yangtze River Plain. With
numerous rivers and streams, fertile soil and a dense population, it is
known as a "granary south of
the
Yangtze River
".
Jiangxi
abounds in tourism resources.
Nanchang
,
Jingdezhen
, Jiujiang and Ganzhou
are
important
sites of historic and cultural interest. The
Lushan
Mountain
in northern
Jiangxi
is noted for its scenic beauty and as a summer resort. Every year,
tourists in
tens
of thousands flock to the Jinggang mountains
in southern
Jiangxi
, the first base
area
of the Communist-led revolution and also a scenic site. Sanqing
and Longhu
mountains
in the northeast of the province are considered holy places of Taoism, an
indigenous
Chinese religion. The Poyang Lake, China's
largest fresh water lake, offers asight seldom
seen elsewhere when cranes, during their
southward migration, arrive in
thousands
in winter for food and shelters in lakeside reed marshes. All in all,
Jiangxi
has
450 tourism attractions.
Guangdong
Province
:
Guangdong
is the shorted form of Guangnan Donglu,
an ancient province. It is located in south
China
, with
Guangzhou
as its capital city. Thousands of years ago, the Yue
people resided here. That is why
Guangdong
is also called Yue. In the 8th year (887BC)
during the reign of King Yi of the Zhou Dynasty (11th century
-- 256BC), the capital of the
Chu
State
was in
Guangzhou
. After the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty
(221-206BC) unified the whole
China
,
Nanhai
Prefecture
was founded in
Guangdong
. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),
Guangdong
Province
was established, and this name has been in use ever since.
It adjoins
Wuling
Mountains
to the north and the
South China Sea
to the south, with a landscape sloping from north to south. It's
mountainous in north, and in the south there are coastal plains, hills and
tablelands. The deltas of the Pearl River and
Han River
are its chief plains. The
West
River
, the North River and the East River, known as "the Peal River
System", as well as Han River are
Guangdong
's main waterways. Its coastal line is long and zigzag with numerous
offshore islands.
Its main industrial products cover cane sugar, garments, leather, paper,
stationery, arts and crafts, pharmaceuticals, plastics, pottery, electric
machinery, electronics, and communication equipment, the output value of
which all stands in the forefront in
China
.
Guangdong
also holds an important place in
China
in the production of rice, silk, tea, jute and tropical crops. It has
well-developed sea and ocean fishing as well as freshwater and seawater
aquiculture.
The capital city of
Guangzhou
is the largest city in
South China
and the political, economic, cultural, transportation and travel center of
the province. Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou
of Guangdong Province have been listed as special economic zones.
As one of the locations of
China
's Special Economic Zones, and bordering Hong Kong and
Macao
,
Guangdong
has marked advantages in utilizing overseas capital and technology and
carrying out foreign economic and technical cooperation. It is also one of
the home provinces of oversea Chinese.
Guangdong
boasts abundant natural and historical sites and sceneries, including Yuexiu
Hill in
Guangzhou
,
botanical garden
of
South China
,
Xiqiao
Mountain
, Conghua Hot Springs, the Window of the
World, the
Yuexiu
Park
, the Seven Star Crags, and
Dinghu
Mountain
.
Guangzhou
and Chaozhou are the renowned historical and
cultural cities and Foshan is one of the Four
Great Towns nationwide.
Guanxi
Zhuangzu Autonomous Region
Guangxi
is shortened for Guangnan Xilu,
an ancient province. The Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, Gui for short, is named
after its history as the
prefecture
of
Guilin
County in the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC). Guangxi
boasts a vast land of forest. Good climate and geographical location
enables Guangxi to have as many as over 8,000
tree species, including precious ones like
Cathay
silver fir. Guangxi abounds in minerals, crops
and waterpower, rice, sugar cane, peanut, grapefruit, lichee,
longan, pear and banana, etc. It is also rich
in wild animal resources, with about 38 breeds
of rare ones under the state protection.Guangxi
is a place renowned for its picturesque scenery. For the visitor, the
great appeal of Guangxi is its karst
limestone topography that creates the stunning scenery of jagged green
mountains beside clear blue waters. The places of interest here are the Lijiang
River, the Reed Flute Cave, the Seven Star Park, the Folded Brocade Hill (Diecai
Shan), the Wind and Rain Bridge and the Mapang
Drum Tower of the Dong ethnic minority, etc. There are also lots of other
historical relics such as the Site of the
Taiping
Heavenly
Kingdom
.
Guilin
and Yangshuo are exceptionally beautiful areas
in
China
Hainan
Province
Hainan
Province
, the second biggest island, only trailing
Taiwan
, lies at the southernmost part of
China
, connecting
Guangdong
Province
with the Qiongzhou Straits.
Its western neighbour is the
Beibu
Gulf
and it faces
Viet Nam
; on its eastern side it borders the South China Sea and faces
Taiwan
; its southeastern and southern sides face the
Philippines
, and
Malaysia
. The province is home to 37 ethnic groups including the Han, Li, Miao
and Hui, and the people of Hainan
speak the dialects of Hainan, Danzhou,
Lin’gao, Cunhua,
Maihua, Junhua, Yahua
with the minority people speaking the dialects of Li, Miao
and Hui. The
Hainan
dialect is the most popular one in the province.
The province has the smallest land area but the biggest ocean area of any
province in
China
. Its total land area is 34,000 square kilometers while its ocean area
adds up to some 2 million square kilometers. The distance from the
northeast end to the southwest end of the island is about 290 kilometers
and the distance from the northwest end to the southeast end being about
180 kilometers. The archipelagoes of Xisha and
Zhongsha are about 300 kilometers to the
southeast of
Hainan
Island
; the Nansha Archipwlago
is in the south of the
South China Sea
. The islands in the South China Sea are a necessary route between the
Pacific Ocean and the
Indian Ocean
, an advantageous position in international oceangoing transportation.
The province is high in the middle and comparatively flat around the edges
of the island. Its coastline is 1,528 kilometers long with numerous harbours
andsandy beaches. The coastline ecology
contains a tropical mangrove belt and coral reefs. Sea level of the
archipelagos stands at 4-5 meters on average. The stone island, 14 meters
above sea level, is the highest in the Xisha
Archipelago.
Mountains surpassing 1,500 meters include the Wuzhi
Mountain五指山,
the mountain ranges of Yingge, Erzong,
Houmi, Yajiada and
Diaolu. Located in the middle of the island,
the
Wuzhi
Mountain
has a main peak of 1,867.1 meters high and is the highest peak on
Hainan
Island
. The province has 154 rivers folwing into the
sea, the top three of which are the
Nandu
River
, the
Changhua
River
and the
Wanquan
River
.
The climate in
Hainan
is of the tropical monsoon and tropical ocean type. It is hot and warm
all the yrar round with plenty of rainfall.
Tropical storms and typhoons frequent the island in autumn. Located in the
tropical and equatorial belt,
Hainan
has abundant sunshine, warmth and water. Thirty thousand species of living
organism have been detected in the province, accounting for 10 per cent of
China
’s total. The 3.44 million gectares of
arable land make up 42.5 percent of
China
’s tropical arable land. And the arable land of the province is suitable
for agriculture, rubber plants, tropical crops, forestry, animal husbandry
and other purposes.
Hainan
administers three cities, nine counties, and seven autonomous counties as
well as the islands and reefs of the Xisha, Nansha
and Zhongsha islands and the territorial
waters around them.
In 1988, Hainan was designated a province and
the Hainan Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the
largest SEZ in
China
, was established there. In 1999, more than 200 key tourism projects have
been completed, signaling that the island’s tourism industry has rapidly
developed.
The island is served by two international airports and more than 140 civil
airlines, including charter lines from
Japan
, the
Republic
of
Korea
,
Thailand
, and
Malaysia
. It has opened shipping routes to more than 20 countries. In addition,
the expressway surrounding the island opened to traffic in late 1999.
Tourists can gorge themselves on cuisine of
China
,
Japan
, the
Republic
of
Korea
, Southeast Asia, and the
United States
on the island. The development of tourism is playing a significant role in
the development of rural and urban construction, transportation, trade and
communications on the island. Tourism has become a pillar industry in Hainan,
a tropical island in
South China
. The island’s tropical environment has created conditions favourable
for the development of related industries in the province.
Hongkong
Special District
Hong
Kong
is a place with multiple personalities, as a result of being Cantonese
Chinese with a long-time British
influence. Today, the former colony is a major tourism destination
for
China
’s increasingly affluent population. It is also an important hub in the
Chinese Diaspora with global connections to many of the world’s cities.
It is a unique destination that has absorbed people and cultural
influences from places as diverse as
Vietnam
and
Vancouver
.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of
China
is much more than a harbour city. The traveller
weary of its crowded streets may be tempted to describe it as “Hong Kongcrete”.
Yet, this SAR with its cloudy mountains and rocky islands is mostly a
rural landscape. Much of the countryside is classified as
Country
Park
and, although 7 million people are never far away, it is possible to find
pockets of wilderness that will reward the more intrepid tourist.
Hong Kong
has a subtropical climate with at least one season to match your comfort
zone. Boasting one of the world’s best airports, it is the ideal
stopover for those who wish to travel deeper into the Orient.
Macau Special District
The
name "
Macau
" is derived from the name of a Chinese goddess, popular with
seafarers and fishermen, known as A-Ma or Ling Ma.
According to legend, a junk sailing across the
South China Sea
one clear day found itself in a sudden storm. Everybody on board was about
to give up all hope of surviving this natural calamity, when an attractive
young woman, who had boarded the ship at the very last minute, stood up
and ordered the elements to calm down. Miraculously, the gale winds
stopped blowing and the sea became calm. Without further incident, the
junk arrived safely at the
port
of
Hoi Keang
.
The young woman stepped ashore and walked to the crest of the nearby Barra
Hill where, in a glowing halo of light and perfume, she ascended into
heaven. On the particular spot where she set foot on land, a temple was
built in homage to her.
In the 16th century, when Portuguese sailors landed and asked the name of
the place, the natives replied A-Ma-Gao (Bay
of A-Ma). So the peninsula was renamed. In modern usage, Amagao
was shortened to
Macau
.
However,
Macau
has always displayed an atmosphere which made it different from the
surrounding areas. Today it is still this mixture of the Chinese and
Portuguese cultures harmoniously maintained and developed by its
people that makes this place a specific cultural entity.
Macau
is a Special Administrative Region of the People? Republic of China since
20 December 1999 and will maintain its social and economical
characteristics in accordance to the principle of ?ne
country, two systems?
Macau of tiny dimensions possesses the highest population rate in the
world but the per capita income is one of the highest in
Asia
. There is a cosmopolitan atmosphere, tolerant in practices and living
experiences, where, as always, Asia meets
Europe
and where the Mediterranean cultures live side by side with the Chinese
one.
|
