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Guangzhou, known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's
Republic of China. One of the five National Central Cities, it holds sub-provincial administrative status. Guangzhou is a principal
city open to the world in China, serving as a window of International trade. As a result, a large number of foreigners are in Guang-
zhou for study or work. In recent years, Guangzhou has encountered with sharply increasing foreign nationals from Africa and the
Middle East, thus known as ' Capital of the Third World '. The metropolis is surely a favorable destination for International students
to seek higher education in China.
Location
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Located in the south of the Chinese mainland and south-central of the Guangdong Province,
Guangzhou occupies an area of hilly land. Traversed by the Pearl River-the third largest river
in China, Guangzhou is on the convergence of Xijiang River, Beijiang River and Dongjiang River.
On the brink of South China Sea, Guangzhou faces Dongguan and Zhongshan to the south,
Qingyuan to the north, Boluo, Longmen to the east, Sanshui, Nanhai and Shunde to the west
and Hong Kong, Macao across the sea. Equipped with strategic location, Guangzhou acts as
a starting point of China's ' Maritime Silk Road ' resulting in the name of ' Southern Gate of China '.
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Population
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Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As of the 2010
census, the city had a population of 12.78 million. Some estimates place the population of
the entire Pearl River Delta Mega City built up area as high as 40 million including Shenzhen
(10.36 million), Dongguan (8.22 million) and most parts of Foshan (7.19 million), Jiangmen
(4.45 million), Zhongshan (3.12 million) and a small part of Huizhou adjoining Dongguan
and Shenzhen, with an area of about 20,000 km2(about the size of US state of New Jersey).
In 2008 Guangzhou was identified as a Beta World City by the global city index produced
by GaWC.
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Administrative Divisions
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Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and southern China's largest city. As of the 2010
Guangzhou is a sub-provincial city. It has direct jurisdiction over 10 districts and 2 county-level cities. The central districts include Yuexiu District (1), Liwan District (2), Haizhu District (3),
Tianhe District (4), Baiyun District (5) and Huangpu District (6). As of 2005, the four new
districts have been established, i.e., Panyu District (7), Huadu District (8), Nansha District
(9) and Luogang District (10). Besides, Zengcheng (11) and Conghua (12), the two county-level cities, make Guangzhou a complete administrative area.
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Climate
Guangzhou weather is generally warm and humid, featuring high temperature, abundant rainfall and sufficient sunshine.
Guangzhou has a long summer with frequent lightning and thunderstorms. The highest temperature in July or August can
reach 39 C, which makes people easy to suffer heat exhaustion. Winter in Guangzhou is very short and with little frost or snow.
The table bellow shows the annual high and low temperature and rainfall of Guangzhou from 1971 to 2000:
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Month
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Jan
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Feb
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Mar
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Apr
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May
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Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Sep
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Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Year
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Average high °C
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18.3
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18.5
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21.6
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25.7
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29.3
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31.5
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32.8
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32.7
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31.5
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28.8
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24.5
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20.6
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26.3
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Average low °C
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10.3
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11.7
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15.2
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19.5
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22.7
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24.8
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25.5
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25.4
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24.0
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20.8
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15.9
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11.5
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18.9
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Rainfall mm
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40.9
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69.4
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84.7
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201.2
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283.7
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276.2
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232.5
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227.0
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166.2
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87.3
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35.4
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31.6
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1,736.1
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