Zhongshan

Zhongshan (zh-cp|c=中山|p=Zhōngshān) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province in southern China.

History

The city was originally a county renamed in honour of Dr. Sun Zhongshan, who is also known as Sun Yat-sen and considered by many to be the "Father of modern China". Dr. Sun was born in Cuiheng village (now part of Nanlang Town) just outside of downtown Zhongshan.

Prior to the name change, the city was called Xiangshan County (香山縣; lit. "Fragrant Mountain") and was part of Yuehai Circuit (粵海道).

During the second sino-japanese war, Zhongshan was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army which implemented Unit 8604 or Nami Unit, a secret military medical unit, related to Unit 731, that researched biological warfare and other topics through human experimentation. It was headquartered at Zhongshan Medical University (Hal Gold, "Unit 731 Testimony", 2003, p.50).

Geography

Zhongshan is bordered by Guangzhou in the northeast, Foshan in the northwest, Jiangmen in the west and the Pearl River in the east. Shenzhen lies in the east across the river, while Zhuhai and Macau lie to the south.

Cityscape

Zhongshan is a city of numerous leafy parks, wide boulevards and various monuments. Notable sights include:

* Sunwen Road West (or Sunwen Xilu) in Zhongshan Old Town, a pedestrian mall lined with dozens of restored buildings from the colonial period in treaty port style. Several of these buildings were built in the 1920s. The seven story Fufeng Pagoda, built in 1608, which is visible from all over the city, is located on a hill in Zhongshan Park, which abuts the western end of Sunwen Road West immediately to its north. A Sun Yat-sen memorial pavilion stands near the pagoda.

* Sunwen Memorial Park, at the southern end of Xingzhong Road, is the site of the largest bronze sculpture of Sun Yat-sen in the world.

Administration

Zhongshan is a prefecture-level city of the Guangdong province. An uncommon administrative feature is that it has no county-level division. The city government directly administers 19 towns, four district offices (corresponding to the urban area of Zhongshan proper) and a development zone:

* Banfu Town (板芙镇),
* Dachong Town (大涌镇),
* Dongfeng Town (东凤镇),
* Dongsheng Town (东升镇),
* Fusha Town (阜沙镇),
* Gangkou Town (港口镇),
* Guzhen Town (古镇镇),
* Henglan Town (横栏镇),
* Hengmen Town (横门镇),
* Huangpu Town (黄圃镇),
* Langwang Town (浪网镇),
* Minzhong Town (民众镇),
* Nanlang Town (南朗镇),
* Nantou Town (南头镇),
* Sanjiao Town (三角镇),
* Sanxiang Town (三乡镇),
* Shalang Town (沙朗镇),
* Shaxi Town (沙溪镇),
* Shengwan Town (神湾镇),
* Tanbei Town (坦背镇),
* Tanzhou Town (坦洲镇),
* Wuguishan Town (五桂山镇),
* Xiaolan Town (小榄镇)

* East District Office (东区办事处),
* Shiqi District (石岐区),
* South District Office (南区办事处),
* West District Office (西区办事处).

Economy

Primary industries

Primary productions are agricultural, such as rice, lychee, banana, and sugar cane. Added to this, horticulture in Xiaolan Town is famous throughout southern China for its blooming chrysanthemum.

Manufacturing industries

Zhongshan, together with Dongguan, Nanhai and Shunde, are dubbed as Four Little Tigers in Guangdong. The proximity of Zhongshan to Hong Kong and Macau is an advantage to its economic development, especially on the manufacturing industries.

In the 1980s, Zhongshan had a relatively developed State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) sector that was used to stimulate Township and Village Enterprises(TVE) development in the countryside. Currently, the SOE sector is much weaker and the economy is dominated by foreign investment and TVEs, and also by various specialized manufacturing towns. Each of these towns is specialized in making a particular product. Most of the towns are so successful that they earn a reputation as a leading manufacturer in their own pillar industries. Indeed, "One Industry in One Town" has become a unique economic feature in Zhongshan.

Pillar industries in various specialized manufacturing towns in Zhongshan include:
* Dachong Town for mahogany furniture industry,
* Dongfeng Town for electric household appliance industry,
* Guzhen Town for lighting fitting products,
* Huangpu Town for food industry,
* Shaxi Town for casual wear manufacturing,
* Xiaolan Town for locks and hardware industry, as well as for electronic acoustics products

The government of Zhongshan encourages "Research and Design" in the region by setting up national level research centre and specialized industrial regions. For example, the Zhongshan National Torch High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (中山國家級火炬高技術產業開發區) was established in 1990 in the east of the city by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the governments of Guangdong province and Zhongshan. Since 2001, it has contained Zhongshan Electronic Base of China (中国电子中山基地) for its reputation on the electronic acoustics industries. Following the possible development in Nansha, the city considers its eastern part, of which 400km² of land is available, as a focus of development.

Currently, the city is trying to re-organize the fragmented industrialization. Meanwhile, the light and labour intensive industry characteristic of Zhongshan's economy imposes problem on shortage of land in Zhongshan.

Tourism

Several hot spring resorts are located in Sanxiang Town.In future, the World Lamp King Museum, a lamp museum in form of a lamp will be the major tourist attraction.

Education

Colleges and universities

*Sun Yet-sen University of Medical Sciences
*Zhongshan College

High schools

*Zhongshan Memorial Middle School (zh-cp|c=中山纪念中学|p=Zhōngshān Jìniàn Zhōngxúe) opened in 1931. It was established in memory of the Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat-sen, and built under the supervision of Soong Ching-ling, the widow of Sun Yat-sen.
*Zhongshan No.1 Middle School [http://www.zsnews.cn/zt/zsyz/] (zh-cp|c=中山市第一中学|p=Zhōngshānsì Dìyī Zhōngxúe) opened in 1908.
*Guangdong Bowen International School
*Sanxin Bilingual School
*China Hongkong English School

Transportation

* Chu Kong Passenger Transport (CKS) connects Zhongshan to Hong Kong with scheduled high speed ferry services.

External links

* [http://www.zhongshan.gov.cn/ Zhongshan government website]
* [http://www.zsnews.cn/ Zhongshan News website (in Simplified Chinese)]
* [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.zsnews.cn/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.zsnews.cn%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D Zhongshan News website (translated to English by Google)]
* [http://www.zsnews.cn/zt/zsofa/ Zhongshan Overseas Friendship Association website (in Simplified Chinese)]