Shantou,alternatelyromanized asSwatow[3][4] and sometimes known asSantow,[5] is aprefecture-level city on the eastern coast ofGuangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative area of 2,248.39 square kilometres (868.11 sq mi). However, its built-up (or metro) area is much bigger with 12,543,024 inhabitants including Rongcheng and Jiedong districts, Jiexi county and Puning city inJieyang plus all ofChaozhou city largely conurbated. This is de facto the 5th built-up area in mainland China betweenHangzhou-Shaoxing (13,035,026 inhabitants),Xi'an-Xianyang (12,283,922 inhabitants) and Tianjin (11,165,706 inhabitants).
Shantou, a city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of thetreaty ports established for Western trade and contact, was one of the originalspecial economic zones of China established in the 1980s, but did not blossom in the manner that cities such asShenzhen,Xiamen andZhuhai did. However, it remains eastern Guangdong's economic centre, and is home toShantou University, which is under the provincial Project 211 program in Guangdong.
Shantou was a fishing village part of Tuojiang Du (鮀江都),Jieyang County during theSong dynasty. It came to be known as Xialing (廈嶺) during theYuan dynasty. In 1563, Shantou became a part ofChenghai County in Chao Prefecture (Chaozhou). As early as 1574, Shantou had been called Shashanping (沙汕坪). In the seventeenth century, a cannon platform called Shashantou Cannon (沙汕頭炮臺) was made here, and the place name later was shortened to "Shantou". Locally it has been referred to as Kialat.
Connecting to Shantou across theQueshi Bridge is Queshi (礐石) which had been known by the local people through the 19th century as Kakchio. It was the main site for the American and British consulates. Today the area is a scenic park but some of the structures from its earlier history are somewhat preserved. In 1860, Shantou was opened for foreigners and became a trading port according toTreaty of Tientsin.[6]
It became a city in 1919, and was separated from Chenghai in 1921. 1922 saw the devastatingSwatow Typhoon, which killed 5,000 out of the 65,000 people then inhabiting the city.[7] Some nearby villages were totally destroyed.[8] Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked.[9] Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland.[8] The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties.[9] The total death toll was above 60,000,[10] and may have been higher than 100,000.[9]
In the 1930s, as a transport hub and merchandise distribution centre in Southeast China, Shantou Port's cargo throughput ranked third in the country. A brief account of a visit to the city in English during this period is the English accountant Max Relton'sA Man in the East: A Journey through French Indo-China (Michael Joseph Ltd., London, 1939). On 21 June 1939,Japanese troops invaded Shantou.[11] Japanese forces occupied Shantou until 15 August 1945.[12] The CommunistPeople's Liberation Army captured Shantou on 24 October 1949, 23 days after the People's Republic of China was founded.[13]
Shantou is located in eastern Guangdong with latitude spanning 23°02′33″ – 23°38′50″ N and longitude 116°14′40″ – 117°19′35″ E; theTropic of Cancer passes through the northern part of the city, and along it there is a monument, in fact the easternmost in mainland China, at23°26′33″N116°35′20″E / 23.44240°N 116.58885°E /23.44240; 116.58885.[15] The highest peak in the city's administration is Mount Dajian (大尖山) onNan'ao Island, at 587 m (1,926 ft); the highest peak on the geographic mainland isMount Lianhua (莲花山), at 562 m (1,844 ft) inChenghai District. The city is located at the mouths of theHan,Rong (榕江), andLian Rivers.
Shantou is 301 km (187 mi) northeast ofHong Kong.[16]
Shantou has a monsoon-influencedhumid subtropical climate (KöppenCwa), with short, mild to warm winters, and long, hot, humid summers. Winter begins sunny and dry but becomes progressively wetter and cloudier. Spring is generally overcast, while summer brings the heaviest rains of the year though is much sunnier; there are 8.2 days annually with 50 mm (1.97 in) of rainfall. Autumn is sunny and dry. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 14.7 °C (58.5 °F) in January to 29.1 °C (84.4 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 22.58 °C (72.6 °F). The annual rainfall is around 1,618 mm (64 in), about 60% of which occurs from May to August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 28% in March to 58% in July and October, the city receives 1,979 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from 0.3 °C (33 °F) (unofficial record of −0.6 °C (31 °F) was set on 18 January 1893) to 38.8 °C (102 °F).[17]
Climate data for Shantou, elevation 2 m (6.6 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1951–present)
As of 2003, the district of Haojiang was established out ofHepu andDahao which had been merged, and the district of JinpingShengping andJinyuan; Waisha and Xinxi Town, part of former Chenghai City, was merged into Longhu District; Chenghai City became Chenghai District; Chaoyang City was divided and became Chaoyang and Chaonan District respectively.
Shantou harbor and skyline as viewed from Double Island, June 2022
Shantou's economy is medium byGuangdong standards. Manufacturing accounts for a large and increasing share of employment.Canning, garments, lithography, plastic, and toys are some of the principal products. Toy manufacturing is the city's leading export industry, with 400 million U.S. dollars' worth of exports each year. Canaton Calculator Co. is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company.
In 2000, the biggest tax fraud in the history of the People's Republic of China was uncovered, estimated worthy of 32.3 billion yuan. In 2017, the analyzed data of Shantou GDP is approximately 230 billion yuan(US$35.4 billion).
With an area of 2.34 km2 (0.90 sq mi), Shantou Free Trade Zone lies at the south part of Shantou city. It was ratified by theState Council of the People's Republic of China and founded in January 1993, and it formally came into use on December of the same year after its supervision installations were checked and accepted by theGeneral Administration of Customs. It has been comprehensively developing export processing, storage, international trade, finance and information industry. Its goal is to establish a modernized international zone that is open to overseas by drawing experience from international free trade zones.[28]
Shantou is one of the most densely populated regions in China. Former Chaoyang City was China's most populous county-level administrative region, with 2.4 million inhabitants.Shantou has direct jurisdiction over six districts and one county, and the six urban districts of Shantou have a population of 5,330,764.[citation needed]
With it and the surrounding cities ofJieyang andChaozhou, the administrativemetropolitan area known asChaoshan covers an area of 10,404 km2 (4,017 sq mi), and had a permanent population of 13,648,232 as of the 2020 census. Nevertheless, its built-up area spread on 11 districts,Puning city andRaoping county was home to 12,543,024 inhabitants as of 2020 census.[1]This is de facto the fifth built-up area of China after Guangzhou-Shenzhen Pearl River Delta megacity, Shanghai-Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou conurbation, Beijing and Hangzhou-Shaoxing agglomeration.
Most residents are linguisticallyChaoshan Min. Chaoshan dialect is a variant of Min Nan (Hokkien-Taiwanese) spoken in the neighbouring Southern Fujian and Taiwan. There are alsoHakka, popularly known as Half-Hakka (半山客), living mainly in Chaoyang District and Chaonan District, although they speak Chaoshan on a daily basis and practise Chaoshan culture. The Mandarin-medium education system, widely promoted throughout China, has made most people, especially younger generations, speak Mandarin fluently. Cantonese language TV and labor migrations to the Pearl River Delta has also made Cantonese widely spoken as a third language by the younger generations.
Governmental statistics show that 2.16 millionoverseas Chinese have roots in Shantou, with significant populations ofTeochew people residing inThailand andCambodia, which constitute a majority ofThai Chinese and a majority ofChinese Cambodians. This is demonstrated by the unusually high number of international direct flights betweenBangkok and Shantou. In addition, there are at least twoTeochew-speaking air hostesses on board eachChina Southern flight between Shantou and Bangkok.[29] The Teochew presence, furthermore, is evident in Singapore andMalaysia;Johor Bahru, a coastal city situated at the latter's southernmost tip, is known as 'Little Swatow', due to the majority localChinese populace is dominantly Teochew and as well as the second largest group of the localChinese population in Singapore.
Shantou people share the same culture with otherTeochew. The tea-drinking tradition widely practised in town is a classic instance. According toChina Daily, Shantou people "drink more tea than anyone else in China, in total 700 million yuan (US$87.5 million) each year".[30]
The public hospitals in the Shantou metropolitan area are operated by the Government of Shantou. Management of these hospitals and other specialist health facilities are coordinated by Shantou Board of Health.
Public transportation is provided by bus, ferry, bike sharing system and taxi. Residents also travel by private car andmotorbikes. There are two bridges throughout the city that cross the Shantou Harbor: theQueshi Bridge andShantou Bay Bridge. Ametro system is planned with construction of three lines (Lines 1, 2, and 3) commencing in 2018 and opening of the system planned in 2020.
The new CBD of Shantou on the east coast, facing the Taiwan strait, as viewed from Dahao Island.
Shantou previously had its own civil airport,Shantou Waisha Airport. It was formerly the main airport serving the Shantou until nearbyJieyang Chaoshan Airport was opened on 15 December 2011. Shantou Waisha Airport became a military airbase since then and all civilian flights were transferred to the newly built airport in Jieyang.[33] Taxi is the usual way to travel between the airport and the city proper. The taxi fare is around 60RMB. Airport-Downtown Shantou shuttle charter is also suggested. Based in Shantou, Shantou Airlines Co. operated by China Southern Airlines has a 15 aircraft fleet in service.
Shipaotai Park (Chinese:石炮台公园;pinyin:Shí pàotái gōngyuán)
Chen Cihong's Former Residence (陈慈黉故居;Chén Cíhóng gùjū)
Nan'ao Island, rated as Guangdong's most beautiful island by China's National Geographic magazine
Palace-Temple of Old Mother (老妈宫;Lǎo Mā gōng): dedicated toMazu, Goddess of Sea
Temple of Emperor Guan (关帝庙;Guān Dì miào): dedicated toLord Guan
Tropic of Cancer Symbol Tower (北回归线标志塔;Běihuíguīxiàn biāozhìtǎ): The Tropic of Cancer slips through Centipede Mountain, which is 20 kilometers away from the city properly.
Shantou Museum (汕头博物馆;Shàntóu bówùguǎn): An art museum.
Shantou Founding Museum (汕头开埠博物馆;Shàntóu kāibù bówùguǎn): This history museum is devoted to the establishment of Swatow (Shantou) as a treaty port in the 19th century, not to be confused with Shantou Museum.
Old town of Swatow and Dr. Sun Yat-sen memorial pavilion (汕头老市区和中山纪念亭;Shàntóu lǎo shìqū hé Zhōngshān jìniàntíng)
Chaoshan Historical and Cultural Exhibition Center 潮汕历史文化博览中心 is a museum includes four major exhibition areas: Chaoshan cultural relics exhibition area, Chaoshan folk customs exhibition area, overseas Chinese cultural exhibition area, and calligraphy and painting art exhibition area.
East Coast Avenue (东海岸大道;Dōng hǎi'àn Dàdào)The new urban area of Shantou, a long seaside promenade
This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(November 2012)
In 1912 Swatow had four newspapers, all in Chinese. They wereHan Chao Pao,Ming Chuan (People's Rights),Ta Fung Pao (The Typhoon), andTa Tung Pao (Eastern Times).[34] In 2018, Shantou Metropolis Daily Post and Shantou Special Economic Zone Evening News both stopped their traditional newspaper business and transform into e-newspaper newspapers. Meanwhile, theShantou Daily[permanent dead link] (Municipal) keep providing both newspaper service and e-newspaper service for Shantou citizens and other readers.[35]
Watchman Nee (1903–1972), theologian, and opponent of prosperity theology
Tan Howe Liang (1933–), Singaporean weightlifting Olympian
Chua Soi Lek (1947–), Malaysian politician and former President ofMCA
Xu Shilin (1998–), Chinese tennis player, Junior Olympic gold medallist
Shing-Tung Yau (1949–), American mathematician, winner of the 1982 Fields Medal, the William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics atHarvard University
Herbert Allen Giles (1877).From Swatow to Canton: (overland). SHANGHAI : PRINTED AT THE "CELESTIAL EMPIRE" OFFICE: Trübner LONDON : Trübner & CO. SHANGHAI : KELLY & WALSH. p. 74. Retrieved10 February 2012.(Harvard University)
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg)
