Guangzhou: What Makes It a Pioneer in So Many Fields?
As multiple districts in Guangzhou issued notices to adjust risk areas and optimize epidemic prevention measures, the city's lively atmosphere is gradually returning. This time, Guangzhou is once again at the forefront of the nation.
Opening up has brought development, and an open Guangzhou has always been able to "get rich first." From the era of "the rich leading the less rich" to the legend of "trading one house for ten buildings" in urban redevelopment, Guangzhou and its people seem to have become beneficiaries of the reform and opening-up, often seen as the nouveau riche.
In fact, Guangzhou has been ahead of the curve for a long time.
The beginning of every wealth story is a gift from nature, even for Guangzhou, located in what was once considered the "barbarian land." To the northwest of Guangzhou, the Dayu Ridge, Qitian Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, Dupang Ridge, and Yuecheng Ridge run longitudinally from east to west, like five claw marks left by a beast, tearing open a natural defense line known as the Nanling Mountains.
Lotus Mountain in Panyu, Guangzhou. Photo by Lu Wen
Since the Qin Dynasty, the Central Plains regimes had initiated plans to develop Lingnan (the area south of the Nanling Mountains). However, even by the Tang Dynasty, this land, surrounded by mountains and interlaced with rivers, was still regarded by northerners as a "land of miasma" that brought tears to their eyes. Such geographical barriers endowed Lingnan with a unique character,游离于主流之外 (游离:游离 means "detached" or "separated from the mainstream").
In 221 BCE, Qin unified the six states, and the empire's army marched south to expand its territory, establishing Nanhai Commandery and Panyu City (located in today's Yuexiu District in downtown Guangzhou). This eventually led to the creation of an independent small state. As the Qin Dynasty teetered on the brink of collapse amid peasant uprisings, two generations of Nanhai Commandery commanders—Ren Xiao and Zhao Tuo—seized the opportunity to blockade all key passages of the Nanling Mountains, cutting off contact with the north, and conquered Guilin Commandery and Xiang Commandery, which were established simultaneously with Nanhai Commandery. Seventeen years later, the Nanyue Kingdom was officially established.
Scenery of Yuexiu Mountain. Photo by Brother Erzhong
Zhao Tuo's rule over the three commanderies was recognized by Emperor Gaozu of Han, and the Nanyue Kingdom became a vassal state of the Han Dynasty. After Empress Lü's death, although Zhao Tuo proclaimed himself "emperor," he always acknowledged the Han Dynasty as his suzerain. As the Nanyue regime passed down, the relationship between this "tough guy" who had entrenched himself in Lingnan for over 90 years and the Han Dynasty grew increasingly tense, ultimately leading to its destruction by Emperor Wu of Han.
Rainbow arcade buildings in Guangzhou's Yuexiu Old District. Photo by Zhang Xianwei
Arcade buildings on Beijing Road in Yuexiu District. Photo by Zhang Haibin
During the Three Kingdoms period, the name "Guangzhou" was first proposed by the Eastern Wu. By the Tang Dynasty, Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling presided over the excavation of mountain roads through the Nanling Mountains, facilitating increasingly close interactions between immigrants and indigenous people, as well as between the hinterland and Guangzhou.
Although mountainous terrain is unfavorable for farming, under the favorable conditions of abundant rainfall and heat, Lingnan has always been a paradise of life where "even a chopstick stuck in the soil can sprout." Moreover, in the southeastern corner, there is a delta formed by the alluvial deposits of three major rivers: the West River originating from Yunnan, meeting the North River from Jiangxi and the East River, spreading into a complex network of rivers before flowing into the sea. Guangzhou is like a thumbtack, right at the center of the delta.
The Pearl River flowing through Guangzhou. Photo by Qiu Xinsheng
When it comes to China's "river civilizations," the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers inevitably come to mind first. However, in terms of flow volume, the Pearl River is the "second largest in China," second only to the Yangtze. The Pearl River Delta, located in the "belly" of China's map, is the largest plain in Guangdong Province. Ming Dynasty geographer Wang Shixing pointed out that the prosperity of southeastern China originated from "opening to the ocean and establishing human settlements." With similar advantages, Guangzhou, holding the great river, backed by the continent, and facing the sea, had no reason not to prosper.
The Tianhe Sports Center drove the overall development of Tianhe District, forming the nationally renowned Tianhe business district around it. Image/VCG
No one can stop the people of Guangzhou from doing business.
Central Plains immigrants brought mature farming techniques, but the people of Guangzhou did not adopt the conservative concept of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce." Coupled with the abundance and uniqueness of local products, commodity exchange for mutual benefit became the true love of Guangzhou people. According to the "Book of Han: Geography," "Many merchants from China came here to seek wealth. Panyu was one of the major trading hubs." In modern terms, it means "making money is the priority." For example: In 181 BCE, when the Han Dynasty attempted to cut off trade relations with the Nanyue Kingdom, Zhao Tuo angrily attacked the Han Dynasty's vassal state—the Changsha Kingdom—as a protest.
However, abundant resources and an open commercial mindset are not enough to explain Guangzhou's status as the "millennial commercial capital." "My door is always open" is the key to Guangzhou's sustained prosperity.
Rhinoceros horn-shaped jade cup in the Museum of the Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou. Photo by Liu Yedao
The jade box in the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou was unearthed from the tomb of Zhao Mo, the monarch of the Nanyue Kingdom. Photo by Dongmaiying
Maritime trade has always been full of legends. In the 18th century, the West had the "Flying Dutchman," while the sailors of the pre-Qin era were the "Rowing Cantonese." Ancient Panyu, today's Yuexiu District in Guangzhou, has not only unearthed shipbuilding sites from the Qin Dynasty but also African ivory and silverware with characteristics of ancient West Asian Persia from the tomb of the Nanyue King. Coupled with the Nanyue Kingdom pottery sunk near the Xisha Islands, it is evident that long before the "Maritime Silk Road" became famous, Guangzhou was already a skilled player in foreign trade.
After Emperor Wu of Han pacified the Nanyue Kingdom, Guangzhou became the starting point for trade expeditions. Official merchant ships loaded with gold and silk sailed for over half a year to reach today's Vietnam, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and other places, engaging in trade with merchants from the Eastern Roman Empire and Greece.
Huangpu Ancient Port in Shiji Village, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, witnessed the prosperity of the "Maritime Silk Road." The main building is the Yuehai First Pass Memorial Hall. Top image/VCG, bottom image by Lu Wen
In the late Han Dynasty, the turmoil in the Central Plains did not extinguish the trade enthusiasm of the southern coast. Even as regimes changed daily, the free market thrived according to its own rules: the southeast monsoon brought merchant ships from Indians and Southeast Asians, and on the riverbanks of the Poshan Ancient Ferry (also located in today's Yuexiu District, Guangzhou), merchants bartered directly, avoiding the chaotic wartime currency system. The Qing Dynasty's "Thirteen Hongs of Guangzhou" was known as the "Emperor's Southern Treasury," a title that represents only a small part of Guangzhou's long "history of prosperity."
A Qing Dynasty glass oil painting collected by the Guangzhou Thirteen Hongs Museum. This form of painting was once a luxury item exported to Europe. Photo by Dongmaiying
Guangzhou, this "Southern Gateway," has been open for a millennium and has been valued and protected by rulers throughout history. After the An Lushan Rebellion, the land-based Silk Road was blocked, and maritime trade flourished. Although Quanzhou and Ningbo ports rose, Guangzhou's trade revenue remained impressive: "Since the ancestors' time, the establishment of the maritime trade bureau has generated revenue far exceeding that of other ports." Even during military campaigns against Western Xia, the Northern Song court did not increase taxes on Guangzhou.
The busy Nansha Port in Guangzhou. Photo by Qiu Xinsheng
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although China's overseas trade suffered policy setbacks and Guangzhou was not immune, under high-pressure maritime defense, Guangzhou was always the lucky one allowed "limited openness."
During the prosperous Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, thirteen merchant houses were employed by the Guangdong government to trade with foreign merchants and collect customs duties, forming the famous "Thirteen Hongs." When the policy of isolationism was truly implemented, only Guangzhou's "Yue Customs" remained open for foreign trade, and the Thirteen Hongs monopolized China's foreign trade for 85 years.
The former site of Yue Customs in Liwan District. Photo by WR.LILI, image from Tuchong Creative
Ironically, during the pre-Qin period, Guangzhou became China's first coastal commercial capital due to its distance from the political center. Two thousand years later, for the same reason of "the sky is high and the emperor is far away," Guangzhou became the last line of defense protecting the empire from external invasion. Facing "unprecedented changes in a millennium," the last foreign trade port approved by Emperor Qianlong eventually became China's first eye to open to the world.
Daring to be the first in the world, daring to embrace all people.
Compared to the proud "This is Beijing" or the gritty "This is Chongqing," "Neidou hai Guangzhou (This is Guangzhou)" seems less striking. Perhaps there are too many dim sum on the morning tea table, or the pace of neighboring Shenzhen is too fast, but Guangzhou has even been labeled "laid-back." In reality, Guangzhou is likely the farthest from "laid-back": the seemingly Zen city hides immense energy of "counting money with the left hand and stirring revolution with the right."
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. Photo by Lu Wen
In 1839, Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu went south to Guangzhou. The rulers' incompetence and the increasing aggression of foreign insults pushed the city to a critical point. A year later, the Qing Dynasty was defeated in the Opium War. The invaders seized the Pearl River Estuary, the Thirteen Hongs ceased to exist, and the Governor's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi was razed. In its place stood a highly symbolic Gothic Catholic church—the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Guangzhou's history also turned to a page of loyalty and bloodshed.
Sacred Heart Cathedral. Photo by Lu Wen
Just a glance at the station names on the Guangzhou Metro map reveals how many people shed their blood here: Sanyuanli, Memorial Hall, Huanghuagang, Sun Yat-sen University, Peasant Movement Institute, League One Square, Martyrs' Cemetery... On the city streets, there is both the "Shakee Massacre" monument for workers killed by British troops during the 1925 Hong Kong-Guangzhou Strike, and the "Uprising Road" sign named after the 1927 Guangzhou Uprising.
From left to right: Huanghuagang Mausoleum for the 72 Martyrs, Shakee Massacre Monument, Guangzhou Shaheding 19th Route Army Cemetery Archway. Photo by Lu Wen
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, to break through the trade blockade by Western countries, this "Millennium Commercial Capital" once again stood at the forefront of openness—in the spring of 1957, the first "Canton Fair" (China Import and Export Fair) began.
During the Canton Fair, Guangzhou gives people a strong sense of time travel—inside the exhibition halls, exhibitors and buyers bargain in various languages with their interpreters, while outside the metro stations, jeans stand next to saris, and snow-white robes brush past dazzling batik. A thousand years ago, the ancient Poshān Ferry must have presented a similar scene. What’s even more interesting is that the biannual Canton Fair seems to follow the ancient tradition of merchant ships arriving with the summer monsoon and departing with the winter monsoon.
The Pazhou International Convention and Exhibition Center, the venue of the Canton Fair every year. Photo/Li Canrong
At the Canton Fair, international buyers look for their desired products. Photo/VCG
In the stories that followed, Guangzhou became widely known as the "vanguard of reform and opening-up." The first freely trading warehouse, the first Sino-foreign jointly funded five-star hotel, the first individual clothing market, the first commercial district with sales exceeding one trillion yuan, the first purely commercial residential community, the first bottle of pure draft beer, the first refrigerator production line… Guangzhou, which gathered countless "national firsts," turned "daring to be the first in the world" into the local phrase "daring to drink the first sip of soup."
The brightly lit Huangsha Aquatic Products Market in Guangzhou. Photo/VCG
The White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou, China's first Sino-foreign jointly funded five-star hotel. Photo/VCG
After the reform and opening-up, the economic boom in coastal cities sparked the initial wave of rural migrants seeking work in urban areas. Guangzhou, being the most open, opportunity-rich, and labor-needy city, became the destination for this migration. In 1980, the term "Spring Festival travel rush" (Chunyun) first appeared in newspapers, marking the beginning of "the largest periodic migration in human history." To this day, Guangzhou Railway Station remains the station with the highest pressure during Chunyun. The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway—formed by the merger of the Beijing-Hankou and Yuehan Railways, crossing the Yangtze River at Wuhan, and connecting Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Hebei, and Beijing—strings together the nostalgia of countless Chinese people.
A couple waiting to return home in front of Guangzhou Railway Station. Photo/Lu Wen
While being continuously developed and renewed by generations of outsiders striving to make a living, this ancient immigrant city has also left its mark on them through its stubborn subtropical climate, highly competitive cuisine, and unique language habits: rinsing bowls before eating, tapping the table lightly with two fingers to express "thanks for pouring tea," learning to drink herbal tea and brew slow-cooked soups, using "lái dì" to express doubt, and replacing "many" with "dà bǎ"...
Different moments of life in Guangzhou. Photo/Zhang Haibin
Of course, an open-armed city is not just about "once you come, you are one of us," but also about "even if you never become one of us, you can still live well here." Perhaps it is precisely because of this pragmatic spirit—regardless of origin and daring to pursue dreams—that this ancient immigrant city remains forever vibrant.
Editor丨DC Zhang