Taishan (台山; pinyin: Táishān; Cantonese: Toisan; local: Hoisan ) is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is located in the Pearl River Delta, southwest of Jiangmen (to which administratively belongs) and 140 kilometers west of Hong Kong, with a population of approximately 1 million. It also contains 95 islands and islets, including the largest island in Guangdong, Shangchuan Island.

Because it is estimated that over 75% of all overseas Chinese until the mid- to late-20th century claimed origin in Taishan, the city is also known as the "Home of Overseas Chinese."

Taishanese people speak the Taishan dialect of Chinese.

History

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On February 12, 1499 in the 12th year of the reign of the emperor Hongzhi during the Ming Dynasty, Taishan was founded as Xinning County (新寧縣) from land in the south-west of Xinhui County. Xinning has also been romanized as Sunning, Sinning, Hsinning and Hsînnîng.

From 1854 to 1867 a genocidal war broke out mainly in Taishan County between the Punti and Hakka people with disastrous results for all sides.

In 1914, Xinning was renamed Taishan to avoid confusion with the Xinnings of Hunan and Sichuan. Unfortunately it is now confused with Taishan Mountain in Shandong Province. On April 17, 1992, Taishan's status was upgraded from county to county-level city.

Administration

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Taishan is under the jurisdiction of Jiangmen. In a jurisdiction of 3,286 km², Taishan contains twenty towns (鎮), which are subdivided into 503 village residential committees (村居委會) and 3655 natural villages (自然村).

• Baisha (白沙鎮)
• Beidou (北陡鎮): separated from the other townships by Zhenhai Bay (鎮海灣) inlet
• Chixi (赤溪鎮)
• Dajiang (大江鎮)
• Doushan (鬥山鎮)
• Duhu (都斛鎮)
• Guanghai (廣海鎮)
• Haiyan (海宴鎮): contains an overseas Chinese farm (華僑農場)
• Nafu (那扶鎮)
• Duanfen (端芬鎮)
• Sanba (三八鎮)
• Sanhe (三合鎮)
• Shangchuan (上川鎮): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅遊開發綜合試驗區)
• Shenjing (深井鎮)
• Shuibu (水步鎮)
• Sijiu (四九鎮)
• Taicheng (台城鎮): contains downtown and the city seat
• Wencun (汶村鎮)
• Xiachuan (下川鎮): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅遊開發綜合試驗區)
• Chonglou (沖蔞鎮)

Demographics

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Since 1774, 1.3 million people living overseas trace their ancestry to Taishan, outnumbering those who live in Taishan. Among these are:

• Former Governor Gary Locke of Washington (ancestry in Shuibu Township)
• Former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson of Canada (in Sijiu)
• Former Prime Minister Julius Chan of Papua New Guinea (in Annanjiangchao Village (安南江潮村) of Duoshan)
• Magazine publisher Jack Yan of New Zealand (central Chinese heritage, but Taishanese from c. 1600)
• Martial Artist Chin Siu Dek (aka Jimmy H. Woo), from Sanba, emigrated to the United States in the 1930's, passed away 1991, Grandmaster of Kung Fu San_soo, and noted in the 'People' section of the Taishan Website

In Hong Kong, there are:

• Actor Tony Leung
• Actress/Singer Flora Chan
• Former Treasurer of the State of California, Matt Fong (also known as Matt Kwong)

The locals natively speak Taishanese, or sei yap (four counties), a dialect of the Yue usually considered to be similar to Standard Cantonese. Prior to the 1970s, Taishanese was the predominant dialect spoken throughout North America's Chinatowns.

External links

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• China Taishan Web
• Taishan City Government
• Taishan Genealogy
• Map of Taishan
• Taishan Merchant Web
• Hoisanese to English Dictionary

County-level cities in Guangdong | Jiangmen | Pearl River Delta | Taishan

Taishan (Guangdong) | Taishan (ville) | 台山市