Heshan, Guangdong


Heshan, formerly romanized as Hokshan, is a county-level city of Jiangmen City in the southern part of Guangdong Province, China with a total land area of and a population of 360,000, and some 200,000 internal migrants. There are approximately 360,000 people of Heshan origin or descent living in other parts of the world.
Situated about south west of the provincial capital, Guangzhou, Heshan occupies a strategic location on the Pearl River Delta, commanding the northern gateway to Jiangmen's five prefectures. Along the opposite bank of the same river, lie the two municipalities of Nanhai and Shunde. Heshan is around one hour from Hong Kong and Macau by road. The city's harbour can accommodate vessels of up to. Ships ply from here to Hong Kong directly.

Name

Heshan—one of several places in China whose name means "Mount Crane"—takes its name from a nearby mountain thought to resemble the shape of the bird. The spelling Heshan derives from the pinyin romanization of the name's Mandarin pronunciation. The Postal Map spelling Hokshan was a combination of the local Cantonese pronunciation of the first character and the Mandarin pronunciation of the second. Heshan has also been romanized as Ho Shan and Ho-shan.

History

Heshan was made a prefecture in 1732 during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing. By the 19th century, made up part of the commandery of Zhaoqing. In 1993, it was promoted to a county-level city.

Administrative divisions

Heshan Municipality administers ten towns:
NameChinese Hanyu PinyinPopulation
Shaping Subdistrict沙坪街道Shāpíng Jiēdào197,155
Longkou town龙口镇Lóngkǒu Zhèn36,625
Yayao town雅瑶镇Yǎyáo Zhèn38,851
Gulao town古劳镇Gǔláo Zhèn35,606
Taoyuan town桃源镇Táoyuán Zhèn25,902
Hecheng town鹤城镇Hèchéng Zhèn32,170
Gonghe town共和镇Gònghé Zhèn41,338
Zhishan town址山镇Zhǐshān Zhèn32,009
Zhaiwu town宅梧镇Zháiwú Zhèn26,254
Yunxiang town云乡镇Yúnxiāng Zhèn12,453
Shuanghe town双合镇Shuānghé Zhèn16,575

Industry

Heshan is located at the center of one of China's largest furniture producing areas, with approximately 10% of the world's furniture produced on its outskirts.

Culture

Heshan is the birthplace of the Southern dance style known as the Hok San lion dance.

Notable individuals

Heshan is the birthplace of NBA player Yi Jianlian.
Singaporean community leader and businessman, Yam Kok Yuen, was born in Ha Lok Village in Heshan. He was a founding member of the Malayan Chinese Association in Singapore and was Chairman of the Nanyang Hok San Association and Siew Heng Association in the 1950s. His grandson, Alex Yam, is a current Member of Parliament in Singapore.

Climate

Citations