Taishan
From Freepedia
- Not to be confused with the unrelated Mount Taishan
Taishan (台山 pinyin: Táishān; Cantonese: Toisan; local: Hoisan ) is a coastal city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is located southwest of Jiangmen, 140 kilometers west of Hong Kong, in the Pearl River delta, and it is home to 1 million people. It also contains 95 islands and islets, including the largest island in Guangdong, the 137 km² Shangchuan Island.
Contents |
History
On February 12, 1499 in the 12th year of the reign of the emperor Hongzhi during the Ming Dynasty, Taishan was founded as Xinning County (新寧縣) from land in the south-west of Xinhui County. Xinning has also been romanized as Sunning, Sinning, Hsinning and Hsînnîng.
From 1854 to 1867 a genocidal war broke out mainly in Taishan County between the Punti and Hakka people with disasterous results for all sides.
In 1914, Xinning was renamed Taishan to avoid confusion with the Xinnings of Hunan and Sichuan. Unfortunately it is now confused with Taishan Mountain in Shandong Province. On April 17, 1992, Taishan's status was upgraded from county to city.
Administration
Taishan is under the juridiction of Jiangmen. In a jurisdiction of 3,286 km², Taishan contains twenty towns (镇), which are subdivided into 503 village residential committees (村居委会) and 3655 natural villages (自然村).
- Baisha (白沙镇)
- Beidou (北陡镇): separated from the other townships by Zhenhai Bay (镇海湾) inlet
- Chixi (赤溪镇)
- Dajiang (大江镇)
- Doushan (斗山镇)
- Duhu (都斛镇)
- Guanghai (广海镇)
- Haiyan (海宴镇): contains an overseas Chinese farm (华侨农场)
- Nafu (那扶镇)
- Duanfen (端芬镇)
- Sanba (三八镇)
- Sanhe (三合镇)
- Shangchuan (上川镇): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅游开发综合试验区)
- Shenjing (深井镇)
- Shuibu (水步镇)
- Sijiu (四九镇)
- Taicheng (台城镇): contains downtown and the city seat
- Wencun (汶村镇)
- Xiachuan (下川镇): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅游开发综合试验区)
- Zhonglou (冲蒌镇)
Demographics
Since 1774, 1.3 million people living overseas trace their ancestry to Taishan, outnumbering those who live in Taishan. Among these are:
- Former Governor Gary Locke of Washington (ancestry in Shuibu Township)
- Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson of Canada (in Sijiu)
- Former Prime Minister Julius Chan of Papua New Guinea (in Annanjiangchao Village(安南江潮村) of Duoshan)
- Magazine publisher Jack Yan of New Zealand (central Chinese heritage, but Taishanese from c. 1600)
In addition, many people from Taishan moved to the nearby Hong Kong, such as:
- Actor Tony Leung
The locals natively speak Taishanese, or sei yap (four counties), usually considered to be similar to Cantonese Chinese. Prior to the 1970s, Taishanese was the dialect spoken throughout North America's Chinatowns.
