Guangzhou History

Guangzhou, the third largest city in China, is the south gate and national important city in China. Having a long history of about more than 2,000 years, Guangzhou is the famous historical and cultural city in China, which is the oldest external treaty port and one of the starting point of the Silk Road on the sea. As a foreign trade window and national portal city, many foreigners gather here.
 

In Ancient Times

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring State Period (770BC-221BC), Guangzhou once belonged to the State of Chu. At the end of Spring and Autumn Period, Chu destroyed the Yue and the prime minister with the people in Yue moved to Guangdong, building Nanwu (Guangzhou at present). In 214BC, Qinshihuang (the first emperor in China history) sent the troops to conquer the south of the Five Ridges, which was the beginning of building the administrative region and city of Guangzhou. In 204BC, Zhao Tuo (the official of Nanhai prefecture) occupied Guilin prefecture and Xiang prefecture) to build South Yue as Fanyu the capital (Guangzhou at present).

In 217, the prefectural governor of Jiaozhou returned to Fanyu. Later, this place was changed into Jiaozhou. In 226, Sunquan (a king in the Wu during the Three Kingdom period) divided the Jiaozhou into Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. This was the first time to appear the name of Guangzhou. In Tang Dynasty (618-907), Guangzhou was called Guangzhou Dudu Fu. In 917, Liuyan built the country named South Han in the history and Guangzhou was the capital. In 1757, the government carried out the system that Guangzhou became the only external port. In 1839, Lin Zexu served as Viceroy of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi) to ban on opium-smoking and the opium trade.
 

In Modern Time

In 1840, the British Expeditionary Force blockaded the Guangzhou Pearl River and the Opium War broke out. In 1841, the people in Sanyuanli in Guangzhou struggled against the British invaders spontaneously. In 1842, Nanjing Treaty was signed, which forced Qing government to open four ports except Guangzhou, such as Fuzhou, Xiamen, Ningbo, and Shanghai. In 1911, the uprising on 2nd March opened a prelude to the Xin Hai Revolution. At the end of 1920s, the Chinese modern educational founder actively created and promoted new schools, which not only cultivated a large number of ideas and progress, but also injected vitality to the culture of South of the Five Ridges. In 1911, October, Guangdong Military government announced to be set up. In November, Sun Yat-sen established the military government of the Republic of China, which was the first time for Sun Yat-sen to establish the regime. In October, 1938, the Japanese army occupied Guangzhou and controlled for 7 years. In 1945, Guangzhou was recovered.
 

In Contemporary Time

In 1949, Guangzhou got the liberation, which was the municipality directly under the central government. In 1954, it was under the lead of Guangdong Province. In 2010, the 16th Asian Games opening ceremony was held in Guangzhou.