Taishan, Guangdong

Taishan (Chinese: 台山), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Toishan or Toisan, in local dialect as Hoisan or Toisan and formerly known as Xinning or Sunning (新寧),[lower-alpha 1] is a county-level city in the southwest of Guangdong province, China. It is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. During the 2010 census, there were 941,095 inhabitants, of which 394,855 were classified as urban. Taishan calls itself the "First Home of the Overseas Chinese". An estimated half a million Chinese Americans are of Taishanese descent.[4]

"Taishan County" redirects here. For the county administered by Wenzhou, Zhejiang, see Taishun County.
Taishan

台山市

Toishan, Toisan
County-level city
Location of Taishan City (pink) within Jiangmen City (yellow) and Guangdong
Taishan
Location of the administrative center in Guangdong Province
Coordinates: 22°15′07″N 112°47′38″E
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceGuangdong
Prefecture-level cityJiangmen
Area
 • Total3,286.3 km2 (1,268.8 sq mi)
Population
 (2010 census)
 • Total941,095
 • Density290/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
529200 - 529267
Area code(s)750
Taishan, Guangdong
Chinese台山
PostalToishan
Former names
Xinning
Traditional Chinese新寧
Simplified Chinese新宁
PostalSunning

Geography

Taishan is located in the Pearl River Delta in southwestern Jiangmen Prefecture. It includes 95 islands and islets, including Shangchuan Island, the largest island in Guangdong now that Hainan has become a separate province. Taishan is one of Guangdong's "Four Counties" (Sze Yup), which excluded Heshan and is now part of the Greater Taishan Region.

Climate

History

During the Ming dynasty, the area of present-day Taishan was carved out of Xinhui County on 12 February 1499 as "Xinning County." By the 19th century, Xinning was already a source of migrant and emigrant workers, but a series of subsequent natural and political disasters in the exacerbated the situation. Aside from the disruption of the Sea Ban regulations (Haijin) themselves, their revocation led to an influx of northern settlers who began long-running feuds with the returning locals; this erupted into full-scale war in the 1850s and '60s.[5] The 1842 Treaty of Nanking that ended the First Opium War opened China to greater foreign trade just before the California Gold Rush made the prospect of emigration to the United States appealing. Many also served as contract workers abroad, as in Hawaii and Cuba and—most famously—for the Central Pacific half of America's Transcontinental Railroad, where the Chinese made up 80% of the company's workforce as they laid track over the mountains and deserts of the west.[6] By 1870, there were 63,000 Chinese in the United States, almost all in California.[7]

Chin Gee Hee's Sun Ning Railway Company Chin Gee Hee's Sun Ning Railway Company connected Sun Ning(Xinning) with its hinterland in 1908 and reached Jiangmen (Kongmoon) in 1913. It was notable as one of only three financed, built, owned, and run by the Chinese themselves before the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.[8]

In 1914, the new Republican government renamed the area Taishan County to avoid confusion with other places named Xinning.[9][10] (It is now, however, frequently confused in foreign sources with Mount Tai in Shandong.) During the Second World War, the Sun Ning Railway was destroyed to prevent its use by the Japanese.[8] Japanese soldiers entered Taicheng, the county seat, in March 1941 and killed nearly 280 people. One quarter of the "Flying Tigers", a joint American and Chinese group of airmen who fought the Japanese before the United States entered the Second World War, hail from Taishan.[11]

Taishan was promoted to county-level city status on 17 April 1992, reflecting its increasing level of urbanization.[10]

Administration
Chixi (labeled CH'IH-CH'I (CHIKKAI) 赤溪) (1954)

Taishan administers 1 subdistrict and 16 towns,[12] which in turn are subdivided into 313 administrative villages (村委会), and residential communities (社区委会).[10] The city has 3,655 natural villages, although they do not function as administrative divisions (自然村).[10]

Taishan's township-level divisions are:

NameChinese (S)[12]Hanyu PinyinPopulation (2010)[13]
Taicheng Subdistrict台城街道Táichéng Jiēdào246,844
Dajiang town大江镇Dàjiāng Zhèn46,674
Shuibu town水步镇Shuǐbù Zhèn42,578
Sijiu town四九镇Sìjiǔ Zhèn37,402
Baisha town白沙镇Báishā Zhèn52,462
Sanhe town三合镇Sānhé Zhèn36,215
Chonglou town冲蒌镇Chōnglóu Zhèn32,483
Doushan town斗山镇Dòushān Zhèn48,229
Duhu town都斛镇Dōuhú Zhèn42,657
Chixi town (Chihkai; Chihchi)赤溪镇Chìxī Zhèn34,450
Duanfen town端芬镇Duānfēn Zhèn45,729
Guanghai town广海镇Guǎnghǎi Zhèn43,465
Haiyan town海宴镇Hǎiyàn Zhèn73,212
Wencun town汶村镇Wèncūn Zhèn49,565
Shenjing town深井镇Shēnjǐng Zhèn52,767
Beidou town北陡镇Běidǒu Zhèn28,091
Chuandao town川岛镇Chuāndǎo Zhèn28,272

Some of the city's natural villages include Annanjiangchao (安南江潮), Bihou (庇厚), Jilong, and Guanbuli (官步里).

Demographics

If considering the total Greater Taishan Region or Sze Yap Region, which includes Kaiping, Xinhui, Enping and Taishan, there are about 8 to 9 million Taishanese people worldwide. According to American historian Him Mark Lai, approximately 430,000 or 70% of Chinese Americans in the 1980s were Taishanese according to 1988 data.[14] Currently some 500,000 Chinese Americans claim Taishanese origins.[14]

While Taishan itself has a population of about 1 million, there are around 1.3 million Taishanese people overseas, distributed in 91 countries and regions.[15] It is estimated that, up to the mid- to late-20th century, over 75% of all overseas Chinese in North America claimed origin in Taishan, so Taishan has been named the "Home of Overseas Chinese."[4][16]

Language

The main dialect of Taishan is Taishanese (台山话; 台山話). While most Taishanese today use Mandarin in school or formal occasions, Taishanese is the de facto language. Schools require their students to speak Mandarin in the classroom, and teachers are required to lecture in Mandarin.

Taishanese is a language of the Yue Chinese, a large group which includes, but is broader than, the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Thus Cantonese and Taishanese are related but distinct. Cantonese is also widely known in Taishan, as it serves as the lingua franca of Guangdong Province.

Before the 1980s, Taishanese was the predominant Chinese language spoken throughout North America's Chinatowns.[4]

Economy

In 2018, the city's GDP reached 43.25 billion Yuan, government revenue was 2.92 billion Yuan, fixed-asset investment was 27.33 billion Yuan, retail sales totaled 25.52 billion Yuan, and foreign trade totaled 13.76 billion Yuan.[1]

Power Generation

The city is home to two major power plants: the Guohua Taishan Power Station and the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.[1]

Culture

Sports

Taishan is nicknamed the "hometown of volleyball",[1] after the game was introduced to the city in 1915 by Lingnan University student Wu Xiumin (伍秀民).[17] Many prominent Chinese volleyball players have subsequently hailed from Taishan.[17] In recent years, local governments in the city have invested in the area's volleyball programs, and the city hosted a number of Volleyball Women's Nations League matches in 2018.[17]

Music

Taishan and Guangzhou are the birthplaces of Guangdong music.

Music and Entertainment

Taishan hosts Jiangmen Star Park which has produced more international Chinese celebrities than any other region or city in China.

Parts of the movie Let the Bullets Fly were filmed in Taishan in 2010.[18][19]

Education

Education enjoys significant support from Overseas Chinese professionals and businessmen. Many secondary schools were built and financed by Chinese living in China's Special Administrative Regions, as well as various foreign countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Brazil. To honor their benefactors, these schools often bear either their names or the names of said donor's parents.

For example, the Peng Quan School (鹏权中学; 鵬權中學) is a prime example, which was constructed during 1999–2001, and is now integrated into Taishan's public school system. It is situated on the west side of Taicheng, and was built by a Hong Kong businessman.[20]

There are many middle schools and high schools in Taishan, but no academic universities. Students must study rigorously in order to be accepted at universities located in other cities.

Taishan schools include:

University:

  • Taishan Panshi Television University (台山磐石电视大学)

Secondary schools (including combined junior-senior high schools and senior high schools):

  • Taishan No. 1 High School (台山第一中学)
  • Taishan Overseas Chinese Middle School (台山市华侨中学)
  • Taishan Peiying Vocational Technical School (台山市培英职业技术学校)
  • Taishan Taishi Senior High School (台山市台师高级中学)
  • Taishan City Peng Quan School (台山市鹏权中学)
  • Taishan Litan Gengkai Memorial Middle School (台山市李谭更开纪念中学)
  • Taishan Peizheng School (台山培正中学)
  • Taishan Renyuan Middle School (台山市任远中学)
  • Taishan Guang Hai School (台山广海中学)
  • Taishan Shuibu Middle School (台山市水步中学)
  • Taishan Lishufen Memorial Middle School (台山市李树芬纪念中学)
  • Taishan Chonglou Middle School (台山冲蒌中学)
  • Taishan Xueye Junior Middle School (台山市学业初级中学)
  • Taishan Xinning Middle School (台山市新宁中学)
  • Taishan Yizhong Dajiang Experimental Middle School (台山一中大江实验中学)
  • Taishan Najin Middle School (台山市那金中学)
  • Taishan Ningyang Middle School (台山宁阳中学)

Notable people
See also: Taishanese people

Transportation
Taishan Railway Station, which is built in resemblance with the former Ningcheng Station on Sunning Railway

Taishan is accessible by bus with a long-distance bus station in Taicheng, and through a port at GongYi on the Tan River which flows into the Pearl River Delta. The ferry service between GongYi and Hong Kong has been discontinued.

Ferry

Ferry services connect the island of Shangchuan with the mainland, sailing between the Sanzhou Harbor (三洲港) on Shangchuan, and Shanzui Harbor (山咀港) in the town of Chuandao.[21][22] There are also daily ferry services between Sanzhou Harbor and the nearby island of Xiachuan.[22]

Rail

In 2018, the Taishan railway station (台山站) opened in Taicheng Subdistrict, connecting the city via rail.[23] The station, located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) north of the city center, is a stop on the Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway, and has a couple dozen trains a day to Guangzhou South Railway Station.

Notes
  1. Xinning was also formerly romanized as Sin-ning,[2][3] Sinning, Hsinning, Hsînnîng and Llin-nen.

References
  1. 台山概况（2019年） [Taishan Overview (2019)] (in Chinese). Taishan City People's Government. 2020-01-06. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  2. Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. (1878), Vol. V, "China".
  3. Gützlaff, Charles, China Opened, p. 526.
  4. Pierson, David (2007-05-11). "Taishan's U.S. well runs dry". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  5. "Official Web of Taishan-Overseas Chinese Hometow". Tsinfo.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  6. Mutze. "Remembering origins from Taishan, China" DailyQi. 2008-11-03
  7. ""From Gold Rush to Golden State". California history Collection". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  8. Chinese Emigration, the Sunning Railway and the Development of Toisan by Lucie Cheng and Liu Yuzun with Zheng Dehua, Amerasia 9(1): 59-74, 1982.
  9. Ling Huping, Chinese Chicago: Race, Transnational Migration, and Community since 1870, p. 20.
  10. 台山简介. cnts.gov.cn (in Chinese). Taishan City People's Government. 2008-11-30. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  11. "Ruins from a history of exodus". Overseaschinesenetwork.com. 2010-01-23. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  12. 2019年统计用区划代码 (in Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of China. 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  13. Census Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China; Population and Employment Statistics Division of the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China (2012). 中国2010人口普查分乡、镇、街道资料 (1 ed.). Beijing: China Statistics Print. ISBN 978-7-5037-6660-2.
  14. Wu, Olivia (February 18, 2007). "Young Americans find roots in China: S.F. program offers history and genealogy, helps locate relatives". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
  15. http://www.tsinfo.com.cn/en/index.htm
  16. Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home by Madeline Y. Hsu, Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 2000, page 3.
  17. 四九─“排球之乡”中的“排球之乡” (in Chinese). Taishan City People's Government. 2018-06-05. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  18. Kaiping Location of "Let the Bullets Fly", CRI English.com, 3 December 2010
  19. Travel Around Taishan, CNTV, March 2011
  20. tspqz.com
  21. 旅游船班. shangchuan.cn (in Chinese). 2007-04-01. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  22. 交通指南. shangchuan.cn (in Chinese). 2007-04-01. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  23. 台山站：忆往昔峥嵘岁月，百年铁路梦再圆. 台山广播电视台 [Taishan Broadcast TV] (in Chinese). 2018-10-16. Archived from the original on 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
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