LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Guangzhou: Guangzhou City
built 627 days ago
Far from the scrutiny of Beijing, during the early 20th century Guangzhou was a center for revolutionaries dissatisfied with the rule of the Manchu emperors. In 1911 Guangdong native, Sun Yatsen became the first president of republican China. During the alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists in the 20s, Guangzhou’s Peasant Training Institute, whose lecturers included Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, sent young idealists out into the countryside to educate their compatriots. The Communists tried to overthrow the Nationalists in Guangzhou in the December 1927 uprising but failed and the 5,000 who were killed are commemorated in the city’s Martyrs Memorial Garden.
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[K]nown to many westerners as Canton, Guangzhou has long been one of South Chinas principal cities. Its position as a local power base and financial and commercial hub stretches back over two millennia, while the area has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Throughout history, it functioned, willingly or otherwise, as a point of contact between China and the outside world, making it a breeding ground for new ideas, dissent and revolution. After neglect in the early days of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the city has recently re-established itself as an important national base for industry and trade.
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Guangzhou became a part of China in the 3d cent. B.C. Hindu and Arab merchants reached Guangzhou in the 10th cent., and the city became the first Chinese port regularly visited by European traders. In 1511, Portugal secured a trade monopoly, but it was broken by the British in the late 17th cent.; in the 18th cent. the French and Dutch were ... admitted. Trading, however, was restricted until the Treaty of Nanjing (1842) following the Opium War, which opened the city to foreign trade. Following a disturbance, French and British forces occupied Guangzhou in 1856. Later the island of Shameen (Shamian) was ceded to them for business and residential purposes, and this reclaimed sandbank with its broad avenues, gardens, and fine buildings was known for its beauty; it was restored to China in 1946.
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Guangzhou became a part of China in the 3rd century. As early as 200 BC, during the reign of the Nanyue Kings, it was a flourishing city. During the Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BC), the emperor conquered the coastal areas at the Pearl River. It lasted another hundred years before the Han Chinese from Northern China supplanted the original inhabitants. During the Tang dynasty (618- 907) sailors and merchants from Persia and Malacca (Hindu and Arab) were common visitors in Guangzhou.
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Guangzhou is not just a city of history or commerce. It has always ... had a reputation for its beauty. The city includes a number of parks and gardens that are worth a visit.
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''The Guangzhou government is rather open-minded and willing to invest in the city development. There are more chances to start up a joint venture with the government, more banks are willing to lend to private businesses, and more taxation incentives are given to private enterprises,'' Mr Wang said.
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Guangzhou City