Dongguan
Template:Confuse {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Infobox settlement Template:Infobox Chinese DongguanTemplate:Efn is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the south, and the Pearl River to the west. It is part of the Pearl River Delta built-up (or metro) area with more than 65.57 million inhabitants as of the 2020 census spread over nine municipalities across an area of Template:Convert.<ref name="citypopulation.de"/>
Dongguan's city administration is considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Dongguan ranks behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports among Chinese cities, with $65.54 billion in shipments. It is also home to one of the world's largest shopping malls, the New South China Mall,<ref name="pov">Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall , August 18, 2009, Retrieved February 9, 2010</ref> which is seeing increased activity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although the city is geographically and thus culturally Cantonese in the Weitou form and as well as culturally Hakka in the prefectures of Fenggang and Qingxi, the majority of the modern-day population speaks Mandarin due to the large influx of economic migrants from other parts of China.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The city is home to several universities, including Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Guangdong Medical University and Dongguan University of Technology.
Economy
In the Pearl River Delta region, Dongguan was the first urban area where joint production was implemented between village collectives, local Chinese Communist Party cadres, and foreign investors. In the 1990s, that type of enterprise accounted for around 20 percent of all foreign direct investments, and approximately 50 percent of exports by the People's Republic of China (PRC).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Today Dongguan is a major manufacturing hub, although it suffered significant loss of economic activity from the impact of the 2008 financial crisis.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The largest industrial sector is manufacturing of electronics and communications equipment; international companies with facilities in Dongguan include DuPont, Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Maersk.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is also, a strong hub of toy making,<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with 4,000 toy-production enterprises, and near to 1,500 related factories.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Dongguan Science and Technology Museum opened in December 2005 and is the high tech commerce park in the Songshan Lake district, which opened in 2003. The museum is a partnership with the Global IT Academy of the Brea Olinda Unified School District in Southern California, demonstrating the city's emphasis on attracting technology business. The city announced in 2005 a planned investment of US$500 million over five years for technology infrastructure improvements. The city administration is considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Among the investors were Brazilian shoe manufacturers. Brazil excelled in manufacturing cheap footwear in the 1970s and 80s. The Brazilian community in Dongguan numbered 4,000 people in 2013.<ref>Brasileiros vão à China em busca de emprego Template:Webarchive, Folha de S.Paulo Template:In lang</ref><ref>Custo tira calçadistas brasileiros da China Template:Webarchive, Folha de S.Paulo Template:In lang</ref>
While the city is the fourth largest export region in China, behind Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Suzhou, Dongguan has yet to gain the kind of name recognition outside of China as has been realized by Shenzhen. That may be because the city has focused on infrastructure investment rather than the direct targeting of major corporations with financial incentives for economic development. Nevertheless, Dongguan has been identified by high-level representatives of the National Development and Reform Commission of the central government as one of the most significant growth regions for technology. As part of that plan, the Dongguan local government announced its intention to create and support a 100-billion-yuan photovoltaic manufacturing industry by 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
To cope with the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, Dongguan city looked to industrial restructuring, focusing on four pillar platforms, namely governmental services, supporting measures, technology upgrade, and market expansion. The city government claimed that the process has enhanced its capability for independent innovation and the quantity of patent applications.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Dongguan was known as China's “Sin City”, where prostitution thrived, but authorities have attempted to eradicate that aspect of the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 9 February 2014, China Central Television aired a special on the sex industry in Dongguan. On the same day, Guangdong Provincial Police raided and closed all saunas, bars, foot massage premises, karaoke bars, and other businesses associated with the sex industry. The negative economic impact of the crackdown was reported to be 50 billion yuan, or just over $8 billion US dollars. The campaign affected the livelihoods of taxi drivers and restaurants which, while not directly involved in the sex industry, benefited from the increase in clientele.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The city ranked 13th by Forbes China in its list of the most innovative mainland cities, as well as 18th in Foreign Policy's listing of the most dynamic cities in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The earliest traces of human habitation in the area stretch back 5,000 years. In 1839, at the outset of the First Opium War, large quantities of seized opium were destroyed in Humen, a town that now belongs to Dongguan. Several of the major battles of the war were fought in this area.Template:Citation needed
During the Second World War, the city served as the base for guerrilla resistance against the occupation that came with the Second Sino-Japanese War.<ref>Dongguan - History Template:Webarchive, Dongguan Government</ref>
Being a district of the Huiyang prefecture before, as its economy overshadowed the prefectural capital of Huizhou itself, Dongguan earned city status in 1985, and was upgraded to prefecture city status three years later.<ref name="Vogel1990">Template:Cite book</ref> During this period the city changed its focus from an agricultural town into a manufacturing hub, with an average annual growth of up to 18 percent.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Geography
Geographically, the city is mostly hilly to the east and flat in the west,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with Template:Convert of shoreline. The urban center of Dongguan is Template:Convert from that of Guangzhou to its north, Template:Convert from Shenzhen to its south, Template:Convert from Hong Kong and Template:Convert from Macau by waterway. It is positioned in the middle of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen economic corridor, a hub for both land and sea transport.
Of Dongguan's total area, 27 percent is water, 25 percent forest land, and 13 percent arable land, while 35 percent of its land area has been fully developed.Template:Citation needed
Climate
Dongguan has a dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwa), with abundant rainfall over the year. It lies just south of the Tropic of Cancer. The average temperature is Template:Convert throughout the year with average rainfall of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 23 percent in March to 57 percent in October, the city receives 1892 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Demographics
Dongguan had an estimated 6,949,800 inhabitants at the end of 2008, among whom 1,748,700 were local residents and 5,201,100 permanent migrants from other parts of the country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the 2010 Census the population had expanded to 8,220,237.<ref name="pop8.22m">Template:Cite web</ref> The number reached 10.5 million by 2020.<ref name="citypopulation.de" />
According to the Seventh National Census in 2020, the city's permanent population was 10,466,625.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Compared with 8,220,237 people in the Sixth National Census in 2010, the city's permanent population increased by 2,246,388 people, an increase of 27.33%, with an average annual growth rate of 2.45%.
In addition, Dongguan is the hometown for many overseas Chinese.
Administration
Dongguan is a prefecture-level city of the Guangdong province. An uncommon administrative feature is that it has no county-level division, but the municipal government does group the 32 township-level divisions into six district areas. The city government directly administers four Subdistricts and 28 towns:
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| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Population Template:Nowrap |
Area (km2) |
Density (/km2) |
Division code<ref name="中华人民共和国县以上行政区划代码">Template:Cite web</ref> | Residential communities | Administrative villages |
| Chengqu Area | Template:Lang | Chéngqū Piànqū | 1,653,407 | 299.0 | 5529.78 | — | 4 subdistricts, 2 towns | |
| Dongcheng Subdistrict | Template:Lang | Dōngchéng Jiēdào | 492,875 | 110.0 | 4,480.68 | 441900003 | 23 | |
| Nancheng Subdistrict | Template:Lang | Nánchéng Jiēdào | 289,255 | 59.0 | 4,902.62 | 441900004 | 18 | |
| Wanjiang Subdistrict | Template:Lang | Wànjiāng Jiēdào | 244,765 | 50.5 | 4,846.83 | 441900005 | 28 | |
| Guancheng Subdistrict | Template:Lang | Guǎnchéng Jiēdào | 162,116 | 13.5 | 12,008.59 | 441900006 | 8 | |
| Shijie town | Template:Lang | Shíjié Zhèn | 246,960 | 36.0 | 6,860.00 | 441900101 | 1 | 14 |
| Gaobu town | Template:Lang | Gāobù Zhèn | 217,436 | 30.0 | 7,247.86 | 441900129 | 1 | 18 |
| Songshanhu Area | Template:Lang | Sōngshānhú Piànqū | 1,467,455 | 433.8 | 3382.79 | — | 6 towns | |
| Shilong town | Template:Lang | Shílóng Zhèn | 141,850 | 11.3 | 12,553.09 | 441900102 | 3 | 7 |
| Chashan town | Template:Lang | Cháshān Zhèn | 156,522 | 51.0 | 3,069.05 | 441900103 | 2 | 16 |
| Shipai town | Template:Lang | Shípái Zhèn | 160,202 | 56.0 | 2,860.75 | 441900104 | 1 | 18 |
| Liaobu town | Template:Lang | Liáobù Zhèn | 418,578 | 87.5 | 4783.74 | 441900111 | 10 | 20 |
| Dalang town | Template:Lang | Dàlǎng Zhèn | 310,889 | 118.0 | 2,634.65 | 441900113 | 12 | 16 |
| Dalingshan town | Template:Lang | Dàlǐngshān Zhèn | 279,414 | 110.0 | 2,540.12 | 441900118 | 3 | 21 |
| Dongbu Area | Template:Lang | Dōngbù Piànqū | 1,349,280 | 493.5 | 2734.10 | — | 7 towns | |
| Qishi town | Template:Lang | Qǐshí Zhèn | 121,693 | 51.0 | 2,386.13 | 441900105 | 1 | 19 |
| Hengli town | Template:Lang | Hénglì Zhèn | 204,830 | 50.0 | 4,096.60 | 441900106 | 1 | 16 |
| Qiaotou town | Template:Lang | Qiáotóu Zhèn | 166,774 | 56.0 | 2,978.10 | 441900107 | 6 | 11 |
| Xiegang town | Template:Lang | Xiègǎng Zhèn | 99,387 | 103.0 | 964.92 | 441900108 | 1 | 11 |
| Dongkeng town | Template:Lang | Dōngkēng Zhèn | 138,819 | 27.5 | 5,047.96 | 441900109 | 2 | 14 |
| Changping town | Template:Lang | Chángpíng Zhèn | 386,378 | 108.0 | 3,577.57 | 441900110 | 2 | 31 |
| Huangjiang town | Template:Lang | Huángjiāng Zhèn | 231,399 | 98.0 | 2,361.21 | 441900114 | 7 | |
| Dongnan Area | Template:Lang | Dōngnán Piànqū | 1,246,493 | 472.3 | 2639.19 | — | 4 towns | |
| Zhangmutou town | Template:Lang | Zhāngmùtou Zhèn | 132,816 | 118.8 | 1,117.97 | 441900112 | 10 | |
| Qingxi town | Template:Lang | Qīngxī Zhèn | 312,639 | 143.0 | 2,186.28 | 441900115 | 1 | 20 |
| Tangxia town | Template:Lang | Tángxià Zhèn | 482,067 | 128.0 | 3,766.14 | 441900116 | 23 | |
| Fenggang town | Template:Lang | Fènggǎng Zhèn | 318,971 | 82.5 | 3,866.31 | 441900117 | 1 | 11 |
| Binhai Area | Template:Lang | Bīnhǎi Piànqū | 1,918,652 | 509.3 | 3767.23 | — | 4 towns | |
| Chang'an town | Template:Lang | Cháng'ān Zhèn | 664,230 | 97.8 | 6,791.71 | 441900119 | 13 | |
| Humen town | Template:Lang | Hǔmén Zhèn | 638,657 | 178.5 | 3,577.91 | 441900121 | 31 | |
| Houjie town | Template:Lang | Hòujiē Zhèn | 438,283 | 126.0 | 3,478.43 | 441900122 | 24 | |
| Shatian town | Template:Lang | Shātián Zhèn | 177,482 | 107.0 | 1,658.71 | 441900123 | 2 | 16 |
| Shuixiang Area | Template:Lang | Shuǐxiāng Piànqū | 543,632 | 261.5 | 2078.89 | — | 5 towns | |
| Daojiao town | Template:Lang | Dàojiào Zhèn | 143,107 | 63.0 | 2,271.53 | 441900124 | 1 | 13 |
| Hongmei town | Template:Lang | Hóngméi Zhèn | 58,114 | 33.0 | 1,761.03 | 441900125 | 1 | 9 |
| Machong town | Template:Lang | Máchǒng Zhèn | 118,062 | 74.0 | 1,595.43 | 441900126 | 2 | 13 |
| Wangniudun town | Template:Lang | Wàngniúdūn Zhèn | 84,786 | 31.5 | 2,685.65 | 441900127 | 1 | 21 |
| Zhongtang town | Template:Lang | Zhōngtáng Zhèn | 139,563 | 60.0 | 2,326.05 | 441900128 | 5 | 15 |
| Special Jurisdictions | 441900400 | 3 | ||||||
| Administrative divisions of Dongguan | ||||||||||||
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| Division code<ref name="中华人民共和国县以上行政区划代码"/> | English name | Chinese | Pinyin | Area in km2 | Population 2010<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | Seat | Postal code | Divisions<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | ||||
| Subdistricts | Towns | Residential communities | Administrative villages | |||||||||
| 441900 | Dongguan City | Template:Nobold | Dōngguǎn Shì | 2,465.00 | 8,220,207 | City-administered District | 523000 | 4 | 28 | 248 | 350 | |
| 441900 | City-administered District | Template:Lang | Shìxiáqū | 2,465.00 | 8,220,207 | Nancheng Subdistrict | 523000 | 4 | 28 | 248 | 350 | |
Transport
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Air
Dongguan is served by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, but primarilyTemplate:Citation needed by Hong Kong International Airport; ticketed passengers to HKIA can take ferries from the Humen Ferry Terminal in Humen to the HKIA Skypier.<ref>"Ferry Transfer Template:Webarchive." Hong Kong International Airport. Retrieved on May 8, 2018.</ref> There are also coach bus services connecting Dongguan with HKIA.<ref>"Mainland Coaches Template:Webarchive." Hong Kong International Airport. Retrieved on May 8, 2018.</ref>
Road
Many foreign travellers to Dongguan fly into Hong Kong, which gives visas on arrival to citizens of over 170 countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> One can travel from Hong Kong to Dongguan by bus,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ferry, or train.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Passengers travelling overland must disembark from their transport at the Hong Kong/China border to go through customs and immigration, except for those travelling on the Mass Transit Railway intercity services (former Kowloon–Canton Railway) from Hung Hom station to Dongguan, Guangzhou and beyond.
People can also choose to drive between Hong Kong and Dongguan. With the permitted business license plate and driver license, people can drive through the customs located at Shenzhen so that to get to Hong Kong. The drive normally takes about three hours. In 2018, G4 Expressway (Beijing–Hong Kong–Macau Expressway) was opened, and Dongguan is one of the cities that G4 Expressway approaches. This benefits people from Dongguan to travel to those cities on G4 Expressway.
The Humen Pearl River Bridge is a suspension bridge over the Pearl River. Completed in 1997, it has a main span of Template:Convert. The second Humen Pearl River Bridge (Nansha Bridge) opened in 2019.
Rail
Dongguan serves as one of the regional railway hubs in Guangdong, where the Guangzhou–Kowloon railway, Guangzhou–Meizhou–Shantou railway and the Beijing–Kowloon railway converge. Rail services in and out of the city call at Dongguan railway station where there are direct train services to Guangzhou East railway station in Guangzhou; and Hung Hom railway station in Hong Kong. High-speed rail services are also available at Humen railway station.
Among the four metro lines (Line 1-Line 4) planned for the Dongguan Rail Transit, Line 2 was scheduled to open for operations in early 2015. This was delayed and opened in May 2016. Line 2 will link towns in Western Dongguan, thereby promoting the connection of the entire downtown area with Houjie, Humen and Chang'an. It will also support Dongguan's regional transportation with other cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong by joining with the rail transit junctions of the Pearl River Delta.<ref>Dongguan Railway Line R2 Template:Webarchive, Dongguantoday</ref>
Sports and culture
Dongguan is dubbed as a "National Basketball City" and is the only prefecture-level city with three professional basketball clubs in China. Established in 1993, the Guangdong Southern Tigers are the first professional basketball club in China, and won eleven Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) championships.
The city hosted Weightlifting events during the 2010 Asian Games at the Dongguan Arena.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The 16,000 seat Dongguan Basketball Center was one of the venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.<ref>The Official website of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Template:Webarchive, FIBA.com, Retrieved 9 March 2016.</ref> The venue has also hosted the 2015 Sudirman Cup badminton tournament.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Dongguan Yulan Theater is one of China's newest multipurpose performing arts venues. With its multi-layered exterior suggestive of an unfolding lotus petal, it has become a landmark in Dongguan city. The new cultural hub houses two theaters presenting a full schedule of performances, including Romeo and Juliet and the Chinese classic Butterfly Lovers. So far Dongguan has produced seven original musicals by its own and made a roadshow of 60 performances in over 30 cities of China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Citation needed
Social issues
The city and province have been the recent focus of press and journalist attention with coverage of the many young Chinese workers, principally females (so-called factory girls), from agricultural areas who work in the area's factories and manufacturing/assembly facilities, where many are housed in large dormitories, usually several to a room.<ref>Chang, Leslie T., Factory Girls: From Village to City In A Changing China, New York: Random House (2008), Template:ISBN</ref>
An article in the High Tech Misery in China series reports research conducted, over 2008 to 2009, on working conditions at one of the city's major keyboard makers (Dongguan Meitai Plastics & Electronics Factory); in it, Meitai factory won some unwanted attention due to the poor conditions for its young, mostly female workers. The article<ref>The Dehumanization of Young Workers Producing Our Computer Keyboards, New York: The National Labor Committee
http://www.nlcnet.org/admin/media/document/China/2009_meitai/HIGHTECH_MISERY_CHINA_WEB.pdf Template:Webarchive
http://wen.org.cn/xu/HIGHTECH_MISERY_CHINA_WEB.pdf Template:Webarchive (Feb 2009, pp 63)</ref> includes details of those conditions, photos, translations of employer's rules and evidence that well-known computer brands use this keyboard supplier's products.
Also, Dongguan has built a notoriety within China for its various types of brothels, massage parlors, nightclubs, sauna centers and karaoke bars. The city had more than 120 top-end luxury hotels and hundreds of other mid-range places that offer illegal sexual services or lease floors to sex operators, and many parts of the broader service sector benefit from the trade brought by visitors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Although much of the business is illegal, police operations to limit these activities were for a long time largely ineffective, in part because corrupt members of the local administration and other officials have business interests in the sector.<ref name=SCMP09>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Party chief vows to crack down but excessive measures will be avoided Template:Webarchive, SCMP, 26 Nov 2009</ref> On 9Template:NbspFebruary 2014, CCTV aired a report about prostitution in Dongguan. In reaction, on the same day, Dongguan police launched a crackdown on brothels, massage parlors, nightclubs, sauna centres and karaoke bars, leading to some commentary that the city's days as China's sex capital were numbered.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Education
The city is home to 650 educational institutions: one general college, a TV University as well as technical and vocational schools, 550 primary schools and 480 kindergartens. Also, Dongguan is home to a wide range of international schools due to the large expat community.
The number of professional teachers, including those at kindergartens, totals 20,268. A comparatively integrated educational system has been set up including preschool, basic, vocational, higher and lifelong adult education. Senior high school education has developed since 1995.
The Dongguan University of Technology is located in Dongguan.Template:Further
Festivals
Dongguan hosts the following annual festivals:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Dongguan Lingnan Arts Festival (January)
- Dongkeng Workers Festival (Second day of the second lunar month)
- Machong Guanyin Festival (Nineteenth day of the second lunar month)
- Qingxi Flower Festival (April)
- Tea Tea Garden Festival (April)
- Qiaotou Lotus Art Festival (June)
- Qishi Qiufeng Culture Festival (August)
- Machong "Scent of Four Seasons" Cultural Art Festival (September)
- Zhangmutou Hong Kong Tourism Festival (September)
- Fenggang Hakka Art Festival (During the Lunar Mid-autumn Festival)
- Xiegang Mountain Climbing Festival (Third week of September)
- (Tangxia) Band Festival (October)
- Shatian Water Culture Festival (October to November)
- Hengli Niuxu Folk Festival (November)
- Liaobu Tourism and Cultural Festival (December)
See also
- List of twin towns and sister cities in China
- Lanwa FC — former football club
- A Touch of Sin — a film that is partly set in Dongguan
Notes
References
External links
Template:Commons category Template:Wiktionary Template:Wikivoyage
- HERE! Dongguan – Your English Guide to a Bustling City Template:Webarchive
- Dongguan Expats – Expatacular! – Global Expat Community
- Hello! Dongguan A general introduction to the city of DG
- www.dongguantoday.com Government funded website, giving a full range of information about Dongguan
- Dongguan Live a.k.a. Don't Worry Be HappyTemplate:Dead link A series of videos about something fun to do in DG
- Dongguan Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau
- Dongguan City Government Template:Webarchive
- Dongguan Bureau of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Template:In lang
- IATT – International Association for Technology Trade