Jiangmen

History

Jiangmen was forced to open up to western trade in 1904, after a 1902 declaration which made it a treaty port. During the subsequent period of global influence, a number of western-style buildings were constructed along the city's waterfront, especially in Chikan, and currently, the city's government is partaking in a renewal project to restore many of these buildings. Many were constructed by returned Overseas Chinese merchants, who used them as headquarters for newly-established chambers of commerce as well as housing.

On 6 August 1925, the Guangdong provincial government placed Jiangmen under direct administration of the provincial government. Jiangmen was given a city government on 26 November of the same year. In 1931, this status would be revoked, and the city was placed under the administration of Xinhui County.

The city was incorporated into the People's Republic of China on 23 October 1949, and was proclaimed a city in 1951. The city later became the prefectural seat for the Sze Yup ("Four County") region including Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui, Enping. In mainland China but not abroad, the area became known as the "Five Counties" when Heshan was added to Jiangmen's jurisdiction.

In June 1983, the city was upgraded to a prefecture-level city.

In 2011, the city banned pet dogs in public after rabies killed 42 people over the preceding 3 years. The city reserved a 13-acre site to allow rural Chinese to adopt the 30,000 dogs, but public outcry led to a softer implementation where violators would be told to leave rather than have the dog confiscated.

In 2017, Jiangmen Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone ranked 64th among national hi-tech zones in China.

In 2020, Jiangmen Station of the West Pearl River Delta Transportation Center opened to the public.

Geography

The city is located on the lower reaches of the Xi River and the Tan River, in the western section of the Pearl River Delta in the middle of southern Guangdong Province. It faces the South China Sea in the south and is 100 kilometres (62 mi) away from Guangzhou and Zhuhai by highway. Jiangmen city has an area of 9,535 square kilometres (3,681 sq mi), about one quarter the size of the Pearl River Delta.

Climate

The climate is subtropical with monsoonal influences. The annual average temperature is 22.36 °C (72.25 °F), with extremes since 1957 ranging from 0.1 °C (32.2 °F) on 16 January 1963 to 38.4 °C (101.1 °F) on 31 May 2023.

Economy

Jiangmen was selected by the Chinese state as a pilot city for a nationwide information programme. It was also chosen by the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) as a trial city for the Regional Integration for Sustainable Economics (RISE) project. According to the World Bank's "Report on Investment Environment in China" for 2005, Jiangmen was ranked the sixth most conducive city in China for investment.

The economic development strategies within Jiangmen focus on the three urban districts, and the south, middle and north lines. It is planned to develop four main economic areas: the central urban district of the city, the Yinzhou Lake (银州湖; 銀州湖) economic area, and two economic areas along the various transport axes.

In 2018, the city reported a GDP of 290.041 billion Yuan, government revenue totaling 24.393 billion Yuan, and retail sales totaling 140.758 billion Yuan. In 2024, the city reported a GDP of 4022.96 billion Yuan.

Manufacturing industries

Similar to other cities in the western Pearl River Delta, the manufacturing sector plays a significant role in Jiangmen's economy. The chief industries include manufacturing of New energy, machinery, textiles, paper, food products, electronics, and building materials. Other major industries include high-speed rail, motorcycles, household appliances, food processing, synthetic fibers and garments, and stainless steel products. Global brand names with a presence in the city include BP, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hyundai, Panasonic, Veolia, Hutchison Whampoa, ABB and Tesco. Some worldwide brand which have factories in Jiangmen such include BASF, Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings and Lee Kum Kee foods.

Uranium processing plant

The city was the proposed site of a $6.5 billion, 40 billion renminbi, uranium processing plant which would have supplied about half of the enriched uranium needed by China's nuclear power plants. Announcement of the plant in July 2013 was met by public protests. The proposal was withdrawn out of "respect for public opinion" shortly thereafter.

Jiangmen port

Jiangmen Port is the second largest river port in Guangdong province. The local government plans to develop a harbour industrial zone with heavy industries to include petrochemical and machinery plants, as well as an ocean-based economy.

Administration

Culture

Jiangmen is the ancestral homeland of approximately 4 million overseas Chinese, who live in 107 countries and regions throughout the world. Strong oversea connections are especially found in the villages. The dialect spoken in Jiangmen city itself is a Siyi Yue dialect, but is distinct from the Taishanese spoken in Taishan City. Every year, A unique dragon dance is performed in water during Pan Village Lantern Festival in Shuikou Town, Kaiping, Jiangmen, Guangdong.

Tourism

A significant amount of historical heritage survives from the period of mass emigration prior to World War II. The most significant are the fortified multi-story towers found mainly in Kaiping. These are known as "Gold Mountain Towers" or diaolou. A number of natural hotspring resorts has been developed successfully by using its wealthy natural heated ground water resources such as Gudou Hotspring Resort (古兜温泉). Guifeng Mountain, a mountain visited by many tourists, is the peak of Jiangmen with an elevation of 545 meters above sea level. Gulao water town, is a better original water town in the Pearl River Delta, known as "Venice of the East".

The local government's economic development strategies emphasize the development of tourism and protection of the environment.

Education

Universities and Colleges

Wuyi University is the only university which is founded within the city, whereby it's one of the member of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance (GHMUA). And Guangzhou Huali College Jiangmen campus is also located in the city.

And there are also some Vocational colleges in the city:

• Jiangmen Polytechnic College, located at Chaolian Island, enrolls about 13,000 students in various technical and humanities programs.
• Guangdong Jiangmen Chinese Medicine College
• Guangdong Jiangmen Preschool Normal College
• Guangdong Nanfang Institute of Technology
• Guangdong Vocational College of Post and Telecom (Jiangmen Campus)

Secondary Education

The only international school in Jiangmen is Boren Sino-Canadian School, while bilingual schools include WuYi Country Garden Bilingual School and China-Hong Kong English School.

Jiangmen No. 1 Middle School is claimed to be the top middle school in the district. It used to be one of the best middle schools in Guangdong Province in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the quality of its education has been dropping in recent years and within the district of Jiangmen, its status is being constantly challenged by schools such as Xinhui No. 1 Middle School in Xinhui, Kaiqiao (Kaiping Emigrant) Middle School in Kiaping and Heshan No.1 Middle School in Heshan.

Library

The Jingtang Library was established in 1925, by an Overseas Chinese founder Fung Ping Shan.

Transport

Roads and highways

Jiangmen has a mature network of inter-city and intra-city highways and expressways, whose total length has reached 10,084.97 kilometres (6,266.51 mi) as of 2016. G15 Shenyang–Haikou Expressway travels at the north, connecting downtown Jiangmen to three of its administrative divisions Heshan, Kaiping and Enping, as well as nearby cities Yangjiang, Zhongshan and Foshan. S32 Western Coastal Expressway goes along Jiangmen's coastlines, linking Zhuhai at the east and Yangjiang at the west. G94 Pearl River Delta Ring Expressway, S20 Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Jiangmen Expressway, G2518 Shenzhen-Cenxi Expressway and S47 Guangzhou-Foshan-Jiangmen-Zhuhai Expressway run through northeast Jiangmen. S49 Xinhui-Taishan Expressway connects Taishan and joints S32 at the south.

China National Highway 325 is the only highway in the national trunk road system that goes into Jiangmen. Several provincial highways, such as S273, S274, S276 and S367 link the city's suburb areas to major towns.

Railways

Although the very first railway, Sun Ning Railway, began operation in 1909, it was discontinued in 1938 to deny its use by the Japanese military. The second operational railway is the Jiangmen branch of Guangzhou–Zhuhai intercity railway (opened 2011), which provides frequent service from Jiangmen railway station / Jiangmen East railway station to Guangzhou South Railway Station, where connections to the nation's high-speed railway network are available. Since the late 2012, Jiangmen is also served by the freight-only Guangzhou–Zhuhai Railway. Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway, which opened in 2018, connects Jiangmen at Jiangmen railway station and Xinhui railway station, Shuangshuizhen railway station, Taishan, Kaiping South railway station and Enping railway station. Since then, Jiangmen is served by direct trains to Shanghai.Jiangmen railway station of the West Pearl River Delta Transportation Center, opened to the public on 16 November 2020. Jiangmen north railway station in the West Pearl River Delta International Logistics Center, Opened in 2021.

Ferries

Making use of the Jiangmen Port facilities, Chu Kong Passenger Transport (CKS) connects Jiangmen with high speed ferry services to Hong Kong (95 nautical miles) taking about 2.5 hours each way. Shanzui Harbor connects Jiangmen taishan with ferry services to Shangchuan Island and Xiachuan Island taking about 30 min each way.

Coaches

There are 18 coach terminals across Jiangmen as of 2016. 1,137 licensed coaches owned by 23 operators provide inter-county and inter-city bus services to major cities within and outside Guangdong.

Public transportation

Bus service within Pengjiang and Jianghai Districts are provided by Jiangmen Bus Co. Ltd.. Bus routes in Xinhui District were formerly operated by Macao-based Xinfuli Co., but all routes were consolidated into the city-owned bus system run by Jiangmen Automobile Transportation Group Co. Ltd. in 2010. Transit buses in other districts are operated by Jiangmen Automobile Transportation Group and other private companies.

By 2016, there are 1,077 taxicabs in Jiangmen, most of which are operated by local companies.

Notable people

Sorted by family name/surname (as per the English spelling), then by English given name (if applicable) or by Chinese given name (if no English given name is available).

• Chin Siu Dek, Grandmaster of Kung Fu San Soo
• Victoria Chung (1897–1966) also known as Zhang Xiaobai, Canadian physician at Jiangmen Central Hospital
• Li Enliang (1912–2008), Chinese civil engineer and educator
• Inky Mark (born 1947), Canadian politician, mayor of Dauphin (1994–1997) and Member of Parliament (1997–2004)
• James Wong Howe (1899–1976), American cinematographer
• Tony Wong Chun-loong a.k.a. Wong Yuk-long, Hong Kong comic artist, moved to Hong Kong from Jiangmen at age 6
• Tyrus Wong (1910–2016), American painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer and kite maker
• Leland Yee (born 1948), California State Senator and accused arms dealer