Canton

Canton was the old name of the modern metropolis Guangzhou. Canton was an old European postal romanization based on the pronunciation of Guangdong province.

A historical 19th century description said that it was the chief commercial city and port of Southern China, on a river, 90 miles North-West of Hong-Kong, and was a healthy town, but with a heavy rainfall. It was surrounded by walls, had narrow crooked streets, 125 temples, mostly Buddhist, and two pagodas, 10 and 13 centuries old respectively. Great part of the population lived in boats on the river. The fancy goods, silk, porcelain, ivory, and metal work were famous. Its river communication with the interior has fostered an extensive commerce. It exported, tea, silk, sugar, cassia, &c.

Nevertheless, the historic ancient city walls were torn down in the 1920s under Sun Yat-sen to make way for wide modern avenues and urban expansion. Narrow crooked alleys remain only in isolated historical pockets.

Guangzhou sits on the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) in the Pearl River Delta, which is roughly 90 miles inland from the South China Sea. It has now a hyper-developed urban riverfront, and there are no more massive floating community. As for its economy and exports, the activities are now shifted to a high-tech manufacturing, automobiles, electronics, and heavy industry. It has humid, subtropical monsoon climate with heavy seasonal rainfall. Ancient landmarks like the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees (dating back to the 6th century) and Guangxiao Temple still stand amidst the skyscrapers.

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