Guangdong

Map

Key data

Items shown in Chinese are kept from the original Chinese source; no English name is available yet.

Highlights

Introduction

• Cantonese cuisine, Guangzhou's skyline and Shenzhen's innovation hub.

History

• Guangdong was called Nanyue in ancient times and belonged to the Baiyue lands during the pre-Qin period. In the Qin dynasty, Nanhai Commandery was established here, formally bringing the region into the administrative territory of the Central Plains dynasties. By the Tang dynasty, Guangzhou was already an important starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, with merchant ships gathering in great numbers; during the Song and Yuan periods, foreign trade in Guangdong continued to flourish, making it a commercial hub connecting China with Southeast and South Asia. Throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guangzhou remained a major national port for foreign trade, Guangdong merchants sailed to the South Seas, and overseas Chinese communities spread across the world. In modern times, the industrial and commercial tradition of the Pearl River Delta has continued, Guangfu commercial culture runs deep, and Guangdong welcomes visitors from all directions with an open and inclusive spirit.

Culture

• Guangdong is a place where diverse dialects and sub-ethnic cultures converge, with Cantonese, Hakka, and Minnan spoken. Cantonese cuisine emphasizes lightness, freshness, and original flavors, and its dim sum and slow-simmered soups are famous overseas; Hakka cuisine is savory and rich, while Chaozhou cuisine is finely crafted, together forming the three major culinary systems of Guangfu, Hakka, and Chaoshan. Intangible cultural heritage items such as Cantonese opera, lion dance, and Cantonese embroidery are rich and varied, and the Kaiping Diaolou and Villages are a World Cultural Heritage site blending Chinese and Western architectural styles. Folk customs such as dragon boat racing and flower street fairs are lively and bustling, and the culture of the overseas Chinese hometowns runs deep, giving Guangdong both traditional charm and an international outlook.

Science & Technology

• Guangdong is home to a group of high-level universities such as Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology, Jinan University, Shenzhen University, and Southern University of Science and Technology, with strong resources in science and education. Shenzhen gathers many well-known tech companies such as Huawei, Tencent, and DJI, and is known as "China's Silicon Valley"; Guangzhou stands out in fields such as biomedicine and new energy vehicles. The province ranks among the top in the country in the number of high-tech enterprises, with emerging industries such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and integrated circuits thriving, and the construction of major scientific facilities and laboratories accelerating, while its regional innovation capacity continues to rank in the country's top tier.

Economy

• Guangdong is truly China's largest provincial economy, with a 2025 GDP of 14.58 trillion yuan, ranking first nationwide. The Pearl River Delta city cluster has a complete industrial system, with strong pillar industries such as electronics and information, home appliances, automobiles, and equipment manufacturing; Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Dongguan each have their own distinctive features. Guangzhou Port and Shenzhen Port are important international trade hubs, and cross-border e-commerce and the digital economy are developing rapidly. The province's total foreign trade has long ranked among the top in the country, and the dual role of "world factory" and "innovation highland" makes Guangdong's economy full of vitality.