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The Glossary

guangchang - "or public square, where most Chinese family restaurants, bazaars and parks is located."

From China Glossary

More popularly known by its former names, "Canton" or "Kwangtun," the province of Guangdong on the border of Hong Kong and Macau is a country in itself for its more than 117,000 square-kilometer area and over 110 million inhabitants, which is more than the population of any country except the 10 most populated countries in the world. Almost as numerous as the province's people are its manufacturing plants, colonial structures, natural adventure arenas, and other tourist attractions that are products of Deng Xiaoping's initiative to turn this province on the shadows of Hong Kong and Macau into an SEZ (Special Economic Zone), and eventually, into the richest province in China today.

Guangdong is a "diner's paradise" since the local cuisine, referred to as "Cantonese," is the Chinese food most popular to Westerners. Noodles, hotpots, dumplings, and bakkwa or rougan (salty-sweet dried meat) can be found in almost all of the province's restaurants and night markets. Spring (January to February) is the most ideal time for a Guangdong visit as the Chinese Spring Festival or New Year unfolds with many fireworks, cultural presentations, and dashes of colors and dishes at every corner.

"Cantonese" also refers to the provincial tongue, which is gradually replaced by Mandarin due to the influx of many migrant workers to Guangdong's major economic and cultural centers such as the capital, Guangzhou, and the SEZs: Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, and Shantou, some of China's biggest names in electronics, garment trade and light equipment manufacturing. A third of China's total exports come from Pearl River Delta, a massive factory city dubbed "the world's workshop."

To understand more about China's history and culture, it is nice to take a peek at Sun Yat-sen's birthplace in Zhongshan, the Hakka's homeland in Meizhou, the American-Chinese's ancestral homes in Taishan, the odd diao lou castles of Kaiping, and the mind-boggling knives and scissors industry of Yangjiang. Near Shaoguan is the beautiful Nan-hua Temple, an important pilgrimage site that houses the mummified remains of Zen Buddhism's sixth patriarch.

Major cities like Beijing are connected to Guangdong through over a hundred ports and a major railway. Mountaineers' favorite stopovers are Guangzhou's Xiangjiang Wildlife Park and Baiyun Hill, Foshan's Mount Sijiao, and Shaoguan's Mount Danxia. An unforgettable place for white-water rafting and hot springs is Qingyuan. Likewise, Zhaoqing's Star Lake, Yangjiang's Hailing Island and Dajiao Bay, and Shunde's many crisscrossing waterways are havens for aquatic sports.

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