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Foshan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. The city has jurisdiction over an area of about 3,840 km2 and a population of 5.4 million of which 1.1 million reside in the city proper (year 2000 figures).
Administration
The prefecture-level city of Foshan administers 5 county-level divisions, all of which are districts.
* Chancheng District
* Nanhai District
* Sanshui District
* Gaoming District
* Shunde District
These are further divided into 64 township-level divisions, including 37 towns and 27 subdistricts.
History
Foshan is an old town dated back to many centuries. It was famous for its porcelain industry. Now it has been made the 'third largest city in Guangdong'. The city is relatively affluent when compared to other Chinese cities, and it is home to many large private enterprises. Foshan has recently has seen a transformation brought by China's booming economy. However the air quality in Foshan is atrocious as a result of years of unregulated industrial development.
Transportation
Foshan Airport was once a regional airport with mixed usage (both military and domestic transport) since January 22, 1987, as it became a base of China United Airlines (CUA) in Guangdong Province. When CUA ceased domestic flights in November 1, 2002, Foshan Airport remained military service only. The airport resumed its regional airport status in 2005 when the regrouped CUA, which was partly purchaed by Shanghai Airlines, resumed domestic flight service. It is expected domestic flight linkage between Foshan and at least 10 Chinese cities including Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Yinchuan etc.
Foshan is a main interchange for railway routes linking Guangzhou, Hong Kong and the western Guangdong Province. It is connected with Hong Kong via the KCRC Guangdong Through Train service from Foshan railway station. The inter-city through train service was extended from Guangzhous to Foshan since the 1990s.
Foshan is close to Guangzhou and considers its link with Guangzhou very important. A Guangzhou-Foshan metropolitan region is being formed.
Internal link
Being a prominent link to Guangzhou city, the Guangfo Line of the Guangzhou Metro, presently under construction, will connect the city to Guangzhou.
Bus service is the major mode public transport inside the city of Foshan.
Economy
Agriculture
There are Agricultural Model Districts (AMD) around the prefecture, such as Shunde Chencun AMD, and AMDs in Daili Town, Shatou Town and Locun Town in Nanhai, with a total area of about 9.4 km2.
The AMDs aims at providing an all-round environment for modern agriculture. Agricultural process is upgraded through technology, and sale service is incorporated with a new style tourism, that attracts target clients. The modern integrated practice mode resulted in the reputation of the largest base for wholesale, food production, storage and logistics of agricultural products in Guangdong Province.
Manufacturing industries
Following Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Foshan is the third largest manufacturing base in the Pearl River Delta. Once home to a strong State-Owned Enterprises sector, its current economic strength lies in privates firms and Township and Village Enterprises in Shunde and Nanhai. In 2002, private firms contributed 56.12% of the industrial output and firms from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan contributed 63.44% in exports.
Key industries in Foshan include:
* Household electrical appliance and tool manufacturing
* Furniture
* Non-metal ore and manufacturing
* Electronics and communications
* Stainless steel products
* Plastic products
Towns in Foshan specialize in pillar industries as follows:
* Beijiao Town, Shunde - household electrical appliances
* Chencun Town, Shunde - flowers and horticulture
* Dali Town, Nanhai - aluminium products
* Lecong Town, Shunde - furniture production and distribution
* Nanzhuang Town, Nanhai - building materials
* Xiqiao Town, Nanhai - tourism and textiles
* Yanbu Town, Nanhai - underclothes
Some well-known brands to come out of these pillar industries include Midea, Kelon, and Jianlibao. Foshan's furniture and lighting industry is known as the world's largest furniture wholesale market and the world's largest lighting wholesale market.
Development strategy
Foshan aims to become a manufacturing giant and the third largest city in Guangdong. To do this, it has pledged to make large-scale investment in the construction of the infrastructure such as transportation and energy. Urban development will focus on the central urban group and Shunde urban group, each with more than one million inhabitants.
Tourism
* Ancestors' Temple
* Renshou Pagoda
* Folk Arts & Crafts Center
* Pottery & Ceramics Guild
Notable people
* Wong Fei Hung (1847–1924), legendary martial art master and healer.
* Kang Youwei (1858–1927), late Qing Dynasty political reformist campaigning for a constitutional monarchy in China.
* Yip Man (1893–1972), Wing Chun martial art master, sifu of Bruce Lee.
* Bruce Lee's hometown is in Shunde, a district of Foshan.
