Guangzhou

Japanese: 広州 - こうしゅう

A sub-provincial city (a prefecture-level city with autonomy equivalent to that of a province) in the central part of Guangdong Province in southern China, it is a commercial, industrial and port city. It is the capital of Guangdong Province. Its abbreviation is Sui. It is located at the northern end of the Pearl River Delta, where the East River, the West River and the Bei River meet, and is a transportation and trade hub that serves as China's southern gateway to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Southeast Asia. It has jurisdiction over 11 municipal districts, including Yuexiu, Haizhu and Huangpu (as of 2018). It has a registered population of 8,223,000 and a permanent population of 12,838,900 (2012). The city center is on the north bank of the Pearl River.

It has a subtropical monsoon climate, with a warm annual average temperature of 20-22°C and an annual rainfall of 1,720 mm. It is also called the Flower Town because various flowers bloom all year round, and the flower market during the Chinese New Year is famous. As the saying goes, "food is in Guangzhou," it is also the home of Cantonese cuisine, which is representative of southern Chinese cuisine. It has sister city ties with Fukuoka City and Noboribetsu City.

[Chieko Aoki, Michihiro Kono, editorial staff, March 19, 2018]

history

The Western term Canton is a corrupted version of the Portuguese word Khantão. It is also known as Huacheng or Yangcheng. In ancient times, it was called Yue, Yue, Baiyue, etc., and was a place inhabited by people other than the Han people. It appears in historical records from 214 BC, when the First Emperor of Qin swept through China in search of rhino horn, ivory, and jade. After the Han dynasty, the number of Han immigrants increased, and the area prospered through trade with the South Sea countries and the Miao people. During the Tang and Song dynasties in the 8th to 12th centuries, it developed with the arrival of Arab merchants. Cotton, ivory, medicinal materials, spices, and gems were imported, and silk, tea, and pottery were exported in large quantities. A shipping office was established to collect taxes, and an autonomous settlement called Banbo was established to house 120,000 foreigners.

It declined somewhat after the Yuan Dynasty, but flourished again after the arrival of the Portuguese in 1516 during the mid-Ming Dynasty, and further prospered during the Qing Dynasty when merchant ships from Spain and other countries began to visit. The establishment of a customs office called the Yuehai Customs and a government trading post called the Thirteen Canton Exchanges restricted trade with foreign trading ships, which led to the Opium Wars, and the port was opened to the public two years later with the Treaty of Nanking.

Since then, it has developed steadily, and is known as a place where new ideas flow in and a base for revolution. Currently, an international trade fair is held twice a year, in the spring and autumn, and it is demonstrating its true potential as a base for overseas trade. Another characteristic of this city was that there were 300,000 people living on the water (Danmin) on the Pearl River, but it was reported that this number had dropped sharply to around 7,000 in 2015.

[Hoshi Hashio March 19, 2018]

Industry and Transportation

It is a key transportation hub in the southern China region, and is served by the Beijing-Guangzhou Line, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Line (Guangzhou-Shenzhen), the Guangzhou-Maoming Line (Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou), the Wuhan-Guangzhou High Speed Railway (Wuhan-Guangzhou), which opened in 2009, and the Guiyang-Guangzhou High Speed Railway (Guiyang-Guangzhou), which opened in 2014. In addition to Guangzhou Port within the city, there is Huangpu Port, which opened in 1937 in the eastern suburbs. The container handling volume of Guangzhou Port in 2016 (preliminary figure) was 18.89 million TEU (twenty feet equivalent unit, equivalent to a 20-foot container), ranking 7th in the world. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is located about 28 kilometers north of the city center, and connects the country to major cities as well as cities in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

The city is home to heavy industries such as steel, shipbuilding, machinery, and chemicals, and is especially known for its home appliances, such as televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators. Light industries include the traditional textile industry, which produces silk, linen, and cotton, canned fruit and fish, paper, and miscellaneous goods.

In the city, old shopping streets with arcades can be seen, but also high-rise buildings line the streets. Since the 1980s, the emphasis of the reform and opening-up policy has been on Guangdong Province, and industrialization with cooperation from foreign capital has been active in the provincial capital, Guangzhou. In 1984, it was designated as one of 14 coastal cities that opened up to the outside world, and the construction of factories that introduced advanced industrial technology has progressed, centering on the economic development of the Huangpu area. Since 2000, auto parts, electronic parts, and petrochemicals have become key industries, and Japanese companies such as Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Co. (Honda) have bases there.

[Chieko Aoki, Michihiro Kono, editorial staff, March 19, 2018]

Culture and Tourism

In addition to the tombs of the ancient Nanyue Kingdom, the city is also home to ancient temples such as Liurong Temple (built in 537), Guangxiao Temple (formerly known as Zheji Temple, date of construction unknown), and Huaisheng Temple (built in the Tang Dynasty) along the old coastline, tracing the remnants of land formation caused by the sedimentation of the Pearl River. In addition, Zhenhai Tower, built in the Ming Dynasty, is located on Yuexiu Mountain in the north. After the Opium Wars, the city became the base of the Xinhai Revolution, and there are many buildings that tell the history of the revolution, including the heroes' cemetery of the 1911 Huanghuagang Incident, the Guangzhou Uprising Martyrs' Cemetery, which enshrines the victims of the 1927 Guangzhou Commune, the remains of the Peasant Movement Training Center, the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and the Huangpu Military Academy.

As the provincial capital, it is not only the political center but also the cultural center, and in addition to the comprehensive university Sun Yat-sen University, there are many single-discipline universities such as South China College of Technology, South China College of Medicine, and South China College of Agriculture. Jinan University also mainly accepts overseas Chinese, students from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and returning overseas Chinese. There are also many other types of vocational schools. Along with Hong Kong, it is also known as a center for the use of Cantonese.

[Chieko Aoki, Michihiro Kono, editorial staff, March 19, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国南部、広東(カントン)省中部の副省級市（省と同程度の自主権を与えられた地級市）で、商工業・港湾都市。広東省の省都。略称は穂。珠江(しゅこう)デルタの北端、東江・西江・北江の合流点に位置し、香港(ホンコン)特別行政区、東南アジアへの中国の南の玄関にあたる交通と貿易の中心地である。越秀(えつしゅう)、海珠(かいしゅ)、黄埔(こうほ)など11市轄区を管轄する（2018年時点）。戸籍人口822万3000、常住人口1283万8900（2012）。市部の中心は珠江北岸である。

　亜熱帯モンスーン気候に属するため年平均気温は20～22℃と温かく、年降水量は1720ミリメートル。一年中各種の花が咲くところから花の町ともよばれ、春節（旧正月）の花市(はないち)が有名である。また「食は広州にあり」といわれるように、中国南部の料理を代表する広東料理の本場でもある。福岡市、登別(のぼりべつ)市と姉妹都市提携を結ぶ。

［青木千枝子・河野通博・編集部　2018年3月19日］

歴史

欧米人の呼称カントンCantonは、ポルトガル人のいうKhantãoがなまったもの。別名は花城または羊城。古くは越、粤(えつ)、百粤などといわれた漢民族以外の住地。秦(しん)の始皇帝が紀元前214年、犀角(さいかく)、象牙(ぞうげ)、ひすいなどを求めて経略したころから史書に現れる。漢以後、漢民族の移住者も増え、南海諸国やミャオ族（苗(びょう)族）との珍貨の交易で栄え、8～12世紀の唐・宋(そう)代には、アラビア商人の来航で発展した。綿、象牙、薬材、香料、宝石などを輸入、絹、茶、陶器などを輸出し、その額も多く、市舶司(しはくし)を置いて徴税し、蕃坊(ばんぼう)という自治的居住地を設けて12万の外国人を住まわせた。

　元以後はやや衰えたが、明(みん)の中期1516年、ポルトガル人の来航以後ふたたび栄え、清(しん)代にはスペインなど後続の各国の商船も訪れるようになり、さらに繁栄した。粤海関(えっかいかん)という税関と広東十三行という政府御用商館とを置いて、外国貿易船と対応し貿易を制限したのでアヘン戦争を誘発し、2年後の南京(ナンキン)条約で開港された。

　以後、順調に発展し、新思想の流入地、革命の基地としても知られ、現在は春・秋2回、国際交易会が開かれて、海外貿易の拠点としての本領を発揮している。なお珠江には30万の水上生活者（蛋民(たんみん)）がいたのもこの市の特徴であったが、2015年には7000人程度に激減していると報道された。

［星　斌夫　2018年3月19日］

産業・交通

華南地区の交通の要衝で、京広線、広深線（広州―深圳(しんせん)）、広茂線（広州―茂名(もめい)）、広梅汕(こうばいさん)線（広州―梅州(ばいしゅう)―汕頭(スワトウ)）や、2009年開通の武広高速鉄道（武漢(ぶかん)―広州）、2014年開通の貴広高速鉄道（貴陽(きよう)―広州）などが通じる。港は市内の広州港のほかに、1937年東郊に開かれた黄埔港がある。広州港の2016年（速報値）のコンテナ取扱量は1889万TEU（twenty feet equivalent unitの略で20フィートのコンテナに相当する換算値）で、世界7位であった。市中心部の北約28キロメートルには広州新白雲国際空港があり、国内主要都市のほか、アジアや中東、ヨーロッパの各都市とも結ばれる。

　市内には鉄鋼、造船、機械、化学などの重化学工業があり、とくにテレビ、洗濯機、冷蔵庫など家電工業が盛んである。軽工業では伝統的な絹・麻・綿などの繊維工業、果物・魚類などの缶詰、製紙、雑貨などがある。

　市街には亭子脚（アーケード）のある古い繁華街がみられる一方で、高層のビルが建ち並ぶ。1980年代以後の改革開放政策の重点が広東省に置かれていたために、外国資本との協力による工業化は省都たる広州でも盛んであった。1984年には沿海対外開放14都市の一つに指定され、黄埔地区の経済開発を中心に、先進的な工業技術を導入した工場建設が進展した。2000年以降は自動車部品、電子部品、石油化学工業が基幹産業となっており、トヨタ自動車、本田技研工業（ホンダ）をはじめとする日本企業が拠点を置いている。

［青木千枝子・河野通博・編集部　2018年3月19日］

文化・観光

市内には古代南越国の王墓のほか、珠江の堆積作用による陸化の跡をたどるように、古い海岸線に沿って六榕寺(ろくようじ)（537建立）、光孝寺(こうこうじ)（旧称、制旨寺(せいしじ)。建立時期不明）、懐聖寺(かいせいじ)（唐代建立）などの古寺が残っており、北部の越秀山には明代に建設された鎮海楼(ちんかいろう)がある。アヘン戦争以後は辛亥(しんがい)革命の拠点となったため、革命の歴史を語る建造物も多く、1911年の黄花岡(こうかこう)事件の英雄墓地、1927年の広州コミューンの犠牲者を祀(まつ)る広州起義烈士陵園、農民運動講習所跡、中山(ちゅうざん)記念堂、黄埔軍官学校などがある。

　省都として政治の中心であるばかりでなく文化の中心でもあり、総合大学である中山大学のほか、華南工学院、中山医学院、華南農学院などの単科大学が多数ある。また曁南(きなん)大学は華僑(かきょう)、香港、マカオ、台湾籍の学生、帰国華僑を主として受け入れる。そのほか各種の専門学校も多い。香港などとともに広東語使用の中心地としても知られる。

［青木千枝子・河野通博・編集部　2018年3月19日］