Jiangmen

Jiangmen 江门市
Prefecture-level city
Clockwise from top right: Renshou Lu, Gudou Hotspring Resort, Xinhui Confucian Temple, Zhangdi Lu, & Jingtang Library
Location of Jiangmen in Guangdong
Jiangmen Location in China
Coordinates:
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Guangdong
City Seat	Pengjiang District
Area
• Prefecture-level city	9,443 km2 (3,646 sq mi)
• Urban	1,692 km2 (653 sq mi)
• Metro	17,573 km2 (6,785 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	4,448,871
• Density	470/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
• Urban	1,822,640
• Urban density	1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
• Metro	44,449,738
• Metro density	2,500/km2 (6,600/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard Time (UTC+8)
Postal code	529000
Area code(s)	750
License plate prefixes	粤J
Website	http://www.jiangmen.gov.cn/ (Chinese)

Jiangmen
"Jiangmen", as written in Chinese calligraphy
Simplified Chinese	江门
Traditional Chinese	江門
Postal	Kongmoon
Literal meaning	River gate
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jiāngmén Wade–Giles Chiang1-men2 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Gong1 mun4 Yale Romanization Gōngmùhn

Zhonghua Restaurant, a renovated building along Changdi Middle road in the waterfront district.

Jiangmen (Chinese: 江门) is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province in southern China with a population of about 4.45 million in 2010. The 3 urban districts are now part of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen conurbation.

Names

Jiangmen has various alternative romanisations including Kong Moon, Kongmun or Kiangmoon. The area is alternately referred to as Siyi. Jiangmen is also known as Pengjiang.

The name Jiangmen is often the butt of jokes because both Jiangmen and Gāngmén (肛門), the scientific name for the anus, are pronounced identically as Gōngmùhn in Cantonese. As a result, There have been some proposals to change the name of the city, for example a 2009 proposal to change it to "Qiaodu" (侨都, "Capital of Overseas Chinese").

History

The port of Jiangmen, was forced to open to western trade in 1902. One legacy of this period is an historic waterfront district lined with buildings in the treaty port style. The city has an ongoing renewal project which has restored many of these buildings.

Jiangmen was proclaimed a city in 1951, and later became the administrative capital of the prefecture for the Siyi region which includes Taishan, Kaiping, Xinhui, Enping and Heshan.

In 2011, the city banned pet dogs in public after rabies killed 42 people over the preceding 3 years. The city reserved an 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.

Geography

The city is located on the lower reaches of the Xijiang or West River, in the west 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 9,260 square kilometres (3,580 sq mi), about one quarter the size of the Pearl River Delta.

The climate is subtropical with monsoonal influences. The annual average temperature is 21.8 °C (71.2 °F).

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 "Report on Investment Environment in China 2003" by the World Bank, Jiangmen ranked the fourth after Shanghai, Hangzhou and Dalian of 23 cities under evaluation in China. Among various indicators, Jiangmen excelled in infrastructure, labour redundancy, proportion of joint ventures in all firms, informal payments to government, taxation, productivity and the investment rate.

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 (銀州湖) economic area, and two economic areas along the various transport axes.

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 motorcycles, household appliances, electronics, paper, food processing, synthetic fibers and garments, as well as textiles and stainless steel products. Some worldwide brand names have factories in Jiangmen such as ABB Group 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

Jiangmen has jurisdiction over:

Administrative divisions of Jiangmen
Pengjiang Jianghai Xinhui Taishan (City) Kaiping (City) Heshan (City) Enping (City)
Division code	English name	Chinese	Pinyin	Area in km2	Population 2010	Seat	Postal code	Divisions
								Subdistricts	Towns	Residential communities	Administrative villages
440700	Jiangmen City	江门市	Jiāngmén Shì	9505.42	4,450,703	Pengjiang District	529000	15	61	264	1051
440703	Pengjiang District	蓬江区	Péngjiāng Qū	321.97	719,146	Huanshi Subdistrict	529000	6	3	84	56
440704	Jianghai District	江海区	Jiānghǎi Qū	109.16	254,313	Jiangnan Subdistrict	529000	3		23	36
440705	Xinhui District	新会区	Xīnhuì Qū	1354.72	849,155	Huicheng Subdistrict	529100	1	10	31	193
440781	Taishan City	台山市	Táishān Shì	3286.30	941,095	Taicheng Subdistrict	529200	1	16	36	277
440783	Kaiping City	开平市	Kāipíng Shì	1656.94	699,242	Changsha Subdistrict	529300	2	13	41	226
440784	Heshan City	鹤山市	Hèshān Shì	1082.73	494,938	Shaping Subdistrict	529700	1	9	26	112
440785	Enping City	恩平市	Ēnpíng Shì	1693.60	492,814	Encheng Subdistrict	529400	1	10	23	151

Transport

Jiangmen has a mature network of inter-city highway (between Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Yangjiang etc.). It sits astride a key route between Guangzhou and the southwest region of its home province, and also Guangxi Province.

A network of intra-city roadways has been built since the late 1990s to facilitate industrial integration within the city.

Local bus

Railways came to Jiangmen fairly recently. The city is served by the Xinhui branch of the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Mass Rapid Transit (opened 2011), which provides frequent service 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.

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.

Education

Wuyi University is the main university in Jiangmen.

Jiangmen Polytechnic College, located at Chaolian Island, enrolls about 13,000 students in various technical and humanities programs.

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.

Culture

Jiangmen is the homeland of 3.68 million overseas Chinese, who live in 107 countries and regions throughout the world. Strong oversea connections are especially found in the villages.

Tourism

Gudou Hotspring Resort ---Tang palace (唐宫)

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. 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).

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

Notable people

• Adrienne Clarkson: Broadcast journalist and Governor General of Canada (1999–2005).
• Alan Chin: American contemporary artist.
• Anna May Wong: actress
• Annie Wu Suk-ching: Founder of Beijing Air Catering Ltd. and member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
• Anthony Wong: Award-winning British Hong Kong actor, screenwriter and film director.
• Arthur Chin: Kuomintang fighter pilot and flying ace.
• Bill Lann Lee: U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration.
• Chen Yunchang: Actress considered to be the third "Queen of Chinese Cinema".
• Chin Foin: American restaurateur and importer in Chicago.
• Chin Siu Dek: Grandmaster of Kung Fu San Soo.
• Danny Chan: Hong Kong singer.
• Donnie Yen: Hong Kong Chinese martial artist, actor, director, fight choreographer and producer.
• Ed Lee: Mayor of San Francisco.
• Evan Low: Mayor of Campbell, California.
• Flora Chan: Hong Kong actress and singer.
• Gary Locke: Governor of Washington State (1996–2006), U.S. Secretary of Commerce (2009-2011) and U.S. Ambassador to China (2011–2014).
• Gin Foon Mark: Master of the Southern Praying Mantis Gung Fu school.
• Gordon Lam: Hong Kong actor.
• Hiram Fong: U.S. Senator from Hawaii (1959-1977).
• Hu Die: Actress considered to be the first "Queen of Chinese Cinema".
• Inky Mark: Canadian politician, mayor of Dauphin (1994-1997) and Member of Parliament (1997-2004).
• Jack Yan: Magazine publisher in New Zealand.
• James Hong: American actor with over 500 television, film and video game credits, and former civil engineer.
• James Tak Wu: Founder of Maxim's Catering Limited, Hong Kong's largest food and beverage corporation and restaurant chain.
• James Wong Howe: American cinematographer.
• John Tsang: Financial Secretary of Hong Kong.
• Julian Mardock: U.S. Air Force pilot, surgeon and author.
• Julius Chan: Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (1980-1982, 1994-1997, 1997).
• Ken Hom: American chef, author and television-show presenter.
• Kylie Kwong: Australian chef, restaurateur, author and television-show presenter.
• Leland Wong: American photographer and artist.
• Leland Yee: California State Senator and accused arms dealer.
• Li Enliang: Chinese civil engineer and educator.
• Margaret Chin: American politician on the New York City Council representing Chinatown.
• Matt Fong: Treasurer of the State of California (1995-1999).
• Mel Chin: American contemporary conceptual artist.
• Meihua Li: Canadian web artist and writer for light novels.
• Myolie Wu: Hong Kong actress and singer.
• Norman Kwong: championship-winning Canadian football player (1948, 1954, 1955, 1956) and Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta (2005-2010).
• Patrick Soon-Shiong: Surgeon, billionaire and inventor of protein nanoparticle technology.
• Patrick Yu: Hong Kong lawyer, Crown Counsel and founder of its first law school.
• Wong Koon Chung: Lead guitarist for Beyond.
• Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow: Mobster and Dragon Head of the San Francisco Chinese Freemasons.
• Shawn Yue: Hong Kong actor and singer.
• Tony Leung: Hong Kong actor.
• Tyrus Wong: American painter, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, designer and kite maker.
• William Poi Lee: American author of The Eighth Promise.
• Wong Ka Keung: Bassist for Beyond.
• Wong Ka Kui: Lead singer of Beyond.
• Wong Kim Ark: Defendant in United States v. Wong Kim Ark - 169 U.S. 649 (1898).
• Wu Lien-teh (1879 – 1960)): doctor
• Yip Sai Wing: Drummer for Beyond.

See also

• List of prefecture-level divisions of China

External links

• Jiangmen International Website (Chinese)