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Taishan (simplified Chinese: 台山; traditional Chinese: 臺山; pinyin: Táishān; Jyutping: Toi4saan1), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Toishan or Toisan, in local dialect as Hoisan, and formerly known as Xinning or Sunning (新寧),[lower-alpha 1] is a county-level city in the southwest of Guangdong province, China. It is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. During the 2020 census, there were 907,354 inhabitants (941,095 in 2010), but only 433,266 were considered urban. Taishan calls itself the "First Home of the Overseas Chinese". An estimated half a million Chinese Americans are of Taishanese descent.[5]

This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008)

Geography

Taishan is located in the Pearl River Delta in southwestern Jiangmen Prefecture. It includes 95 islands and islets, including Shangchuan Island, the largest island in Guangdong now that Hainan has become a separate province. Taishan is one of Guangdong's "Four Counties" (Sze Yup), which excluded Heshan and is now part of the Greater Taishan Region.

Climate

History

During the Ming dynasty, the area of present-day Taishan was carved out of Xinhui County on 12 February 1499 as "Xinning County." By the 19th century, Xinning was already a source of migrant and emigrant workers, but a series of subsequent natural and political disasters in the area exacerbated the situation. Aside from the disruption of the Sea Ban regulations (Haijin) themselves, their revocation led to an influx of northern settlers who began long-running feuds with the returning locals; this erupted into full-scale war in the 1850s and '60s.[7] The 1842 Treaty of Nanking that ended the First Opium War opened China to greater foreign trade just before the California Gold Rush made the prospect of emigration to the United States appealing. Many also served as contract workers abroad, as in Hawaii and Cuba and—most famously—for the Central Pacific half of America's Transcontinental Railroad, where the Chinese made up 80% of the company's workforce as they laid track over the mountains and deserts of the west.[8] By 1870, there were 63,000 Chinese in the United States, almost all in California.[9]

Chin Gee Hee's Sun Ning Railway Company connected Sun Ning (Xinning) with its hinterland in 1908 and reached Jiangmen (Kongmoon) in 1913. It was notable as one of only three railways financed, built, owned, and run by the Chinese themselves before the 1949 Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.[10]

In 1914, the new Republican government renamed the area Taishan County to avoid confusion with other places named Xinning.[11][12] (It is now, however, frequently confused in foreign sources with Mount Tai in Shandong.) During the Second World War, the Sun Ning Railway was destroyed to prevent its use by the Japanese.[10] Japanese soldiers entered Taicheng, the county seat, in March 1941 and killed nearly 280 people. One quarter of the "Flying Tigers", a joint American and Chinese group of airmen who fought the Japanese before the United States entered the Second World War, hailed from Taishan.[13]

Taishan was promoted to county-level city status on 17 April 1992, reflecting its increasing level of urbanization.[12]

Administration

Taishan administers 1 subdistrict and 16 towns,[14] which in turn are subdivided into 313 administrative villages (村委会), and residential communities (社区委会).[12] The city has 3,655 natural villages, although they do not function as administrative divisions (自然村).[12]

Taishan's township-level divisions are:

Name	Chinese (S)[14]	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010)[15]
Taicheng Subdistrict	台城街道	Táichéng Jiēdào	246,844
Dajiang [zh] town	大江镇	Dàjiāng Zhèn	46,674
Shuibu town	水步镇	Shuǐbù Zhèn	42,578
Sijiu town	四九镇	Sìjiǔ Zhèn	37,402
Baisha town	白沙镇	Báishā Zhèn	52,462
Sanhe town	三合镇	Sānhé Zhèn	36,215
Chonglou town	冲蒌镇	Chōnglóu Zhèn	32,483
Doushan town	斗山镇	Dòushān Zhèn	48,229
Duhu [zh] town	都斛镇	Dōuhú Zhèn	42,657
Chixi [zh] town (Chihkai; Chihchi)	赤溪镇	Chìxī Zhèn	34,450
Duanfen town	端芬镇	Duānfēn Zhèn	45,729
Guanghai town	广海镇	Guǎnghǎi Zhèn	43,465
Haiyan town	海宴镇	Hǎiyàn Zhèn	73,212
Wencun [zh] town	汶村镇	Wèncūn Zhèn	49,565
Shenjing [zh] town	深井镇	Shēnjǐng Zhèn	52,767
Beidou [zh] town	北陡镇	Běidǒu Zhèn	28,091
Chuandao town	川岛镇	Chuāndǎo Zhèn	28,272

Some of the city's natural villages include Annanjiangchao (安南江潮), Bihou (庇厚), Jilong, and Guanbuli (官步里).

Demographics

If considering the total Greater Taishan Region or Sze Yap Region, which includes Kaiping, Xinhui, Enping and Taishan, there are about 8 to 9 million Taishanese people worldwide. According to American historian Him Mark Lai, approximately 430,000 or 70% of Chinese Americans in the 1980s were Taishanese according to 1988 data.[16] Currently some 500,000 Chinese Americans claim Taishanese origins.[16]

While Taishan itself has a population of about 1 million, there are around 1.3 million Taishanese people overseas, distributed in 91 countries and regions.[17] It is estimated that, up to the mid- to late-20th century, over 75% of all overseas Chinese in North America claimed origin in Taishan, so Taishan has been named the "Home of Overseas Chinese."[5][18]

Language

The main dialect of Taishan is Taishanese (台山话; 台山話).^{[citation needed]} While most Taishanese today use Mandarin in school or formal occasions, Taishanese is the de facto language.^{[citation needed]} Schools require their students to speak Mandarin in the classroom, and teachers are required to lecture in Mandarin.^{[citation needed]}

Taishanese is a language of the Yue Chinese, a large group which includes, but is broader than, the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.^{[citation needed]} Thus Cantonese and Taishanese are related but distinct.^{[citation needed]} Cantonese is also widely known in Taishan, as it serves as the lingua franca of Guangdong Province.^{[citation needed]}

Before the 1980s, Taishanese was the predominant Chinese language spoken throughout North America's Chinatowns.[5]

Economy

In 2018, the city's GDP reached 43.25 billion Yuan, government revenue was 2.92 billion Yuan, fixed-asset investment was 27.33 billion Yuan, retail sales totaled 25.52 billion Yuan, and foreign trade totaled 13.76 billion Yuan.[1]

Power Generation

The city is home to two major power plants: the Guohua Taishan Power Station and the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.[1]

Culture

Sports

Taishan is nicknamed the "hometown of volleyball",[1] after the game was introduced to the city in 1915 by Lingnan University student Wu Xiumin (伍秀民).[19] Many prominent Chinese volleyball players have subsequently hailed from Taishan.[19] In recent years, local governments in the city have invested in the area's volleyball programs, and the city hosted a number of Volleyball Women's Nations League matches in 2018.[19] 9-man is a form of volleyball from Taishan brought to American Chinatowns by Taishanese immigrants.

Music and Entertainment

Taishan and Guangzhou are the birthplaces of Guangdong music.^{[citation needed]}

Parts of the movie Let the Bullets Fly were filmed in Taishan in 2010.[20][21]

Education

Education enjoys significant support from Overseas Chinese professionals and businessmen. Many secondary schools were built and financed by Chinese living in China's Special Administrative Regions, as well as various foreign countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Brazil. To honor their benefactors, these schools often bear either their names or the names of said donor's parents.

For example, the Peng Quan School (鹏权中学; 鵬權中學) is a prime example, which was constructed during 1999–2001, and is now integrated into Taishan's public school system. It is situated on the west side of Taicheng, and was built by a Hong Kong businessman.[22]

There are many middle schools and high schools in Taishan, but no academic universities. Students must study rigorously in order to be accepted at universities located in other cities.

Taishan schools include:

University:

• Taishan Panshi Television University (台山磐石电视大学)

Secondary schools (including combined junior-senior high schools and senior high schools):

Transportation

Taishan is accessible by bus with a long-distance bus station in Taicheng, and through a port at GongYi on the Tan River which flows into the Pearl River Delta.^{[citation needed]} The ferry service between GongYi and Hong Kong has been discontinued.^{[citation needed]}

Ferry

Ferry services connect the island of Shangchuan with the mainland, sailing between the Sanzhou Harbor (三洲港) on Shangchuan, and Shanzui Harbor (山咀港) in the town of Chuandao.[23][24] There are also daily ferry services between Sanzhou Harbor and the nearby island of Xiachuan.[24]

Rail

In 2018, the Taishan railway station (台山站) opened in Taicheng Subdistrict, connecting the city via rail.[25] The station, located 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) north of the city center, is a stop on the Shenzhen–Zhanjiang high-speed railway, and has a couple dozen trains a day running to Guangzhou South railway station.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

References

External links

• China Taishan Web
• Taishan City Government
• Chinese Genealogy
• Map of Taishan
• Hoisanese to English Dictionary
• Taishan Culture & Loisirs (Association of the Taishan expatriate community)

На других языках

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- [en] Taishan, Guangdong

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[fr] Taishan (Guangdong)

Taishan (chinois simplifié : 台山市 ; pinyin : Táishān shì) est une ville-district côtière de la province chinoise du Guangdong, placée sous la juridiction de la ville-préfecture de Jiangmen. On y parle le taishanais, dialecte du groupe de Siyi du cantonais. La capitale et ville principale est Taicheng (台 城).

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[it] Taishan

Taishan (泰山 ; in pinyin Táishān; in dialetto locale Hoisan [hɔi˨san˧]; in cantonese Toisan; varianti: Toishan, Toisaan) è una città della Cina, nella provincia del Guangdong di 1 006 990 abitanti (1999). È una città-distretto della prefettura di Jiangmen. Esiste un dialetto di Taishan, che fa parte del gruppo Siyi del cantonese.

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[ru] Тайшань (Гуандун)

Тайша́нь (кит. упр. 台山, пиньинь Táishān) — городской уезд городского округа Цзянмэнь провинции Гуандун (КНР).

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