Huizhou Province
A prefecture-level city in east-central Guangdong, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong.
via Wikipedia: Huizhou · see source
Huizhou is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. It borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, and Daya Bay of the South China Sea to the south. As of the 2020 census, the city has about 6,042,852 inhabitants and is administered as a prefecture-level city. Huizhou's core metropolitan area, within Huicheng and Huiyang Districts, is home to around 2,090,578 inhabitants.
- Region
- Southern Nikan
- Notable City
- Xianzhou (implied proximity)
- Key Character Origin
- Renshuo Liang
- Primary Economy
- Tea cultivation and artisan crafts
- Geographic Feature
- Mountainous terrain with dense forests
- Cultural Identity
- Traditional, agrarian, and artistic
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
During the Song dynasty, Huizhou was a prefectural capital of the Huiyang prefecture and the cultural center of the region. The West Lake in Huizhou was formerly known as Feng Lake. At the age of 59, Su Shi was exiled to Huizhou by the imperial government of Song. When he visited Feng Lake, he found it located in the west of the city and as beautiful as West Lake in Hangzhou, so he renamed it West Lake. To solve traffic problems on both sides of the lake, he invested to help build two bridges. Later generations named one bridge Su Di to commemorate his achievements; the two bridges became one of the eight scenic spots in the West Lake, called 'Su Di Play Moon'. Huizhou used to be a prosperous region specializing in commerce and trading, which changed during the 20th century due to wars. After the 1980s, Huizhou developed as a manufacturing base.
In Their Own Story
In ancient China, Huizhou and Heyuan were part of the remote Lingnan region. In pre-Tang times, the population included Baiyue peoples (Zhuang, Yao, Hmong, Tanka, and She) but very few Han Chinese aside from imperial soldiers. According to the Huiyang County annals (2003), during the late Yuan dynasty (14th century), what is now Huizhou had only 45,410 inhabitants in 9,545 households—one household or five people per square kilometer. Most of the 6 million inhabitants in Huizhou and Heyuan are descended from people who migrated during the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties and during the Qing dynasty after the Great Clearance. As of the 2020 census, the city's permanent population was 6,042,852, an increase of 1,444,450 people (31.43%) from the 2010 census. The majority are Han Chinese (3,617,800, 97.69%), with 85,500 residents of minority ethnic groups including Yao and She (2.31%). The Han population includes Hakka and Hoklo people; Hakka are distributed widely, and Huizhou has Hakka walled villages. Hoklo are concentrated in Boluo County and Huidong County. In Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, there are more than 800,000 people of Huizhou ancestry.
Reader's Guide
Huizhou is located in the Pearl River Delta and is one of the 9 prefecture-level cities in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone (including Huizhou urban area, Huiyang, Huidong, and Boluo only). TCL, a major TV and multinational consumer electronics company, is headquartered in Huizhou. The city administers 5 county-level divisions: 2 districts and 3 counties. Huicheng, the urban center, is served by the Jingjiu Railway (also known as the Guangmeishan Railway in Guangdong) with two stations: Huizhou West and Huizhou. Huizhou Pingtan Airport reopened in 2015. The main languages spoken are Hakka (mainly Huiyang dialect), Cantonese, Hokkien, and Huizhou dialect. Huizhou is the headquarters of the 42nd Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies comprising the Guangzhou Military Region. Huizhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa), with long, hot, humid summers and short, mild, dry winters.
Did You Know?
- Huizhou is forty-three miles north of Hong Kong.
- During the Song dynasty, the poet Su Shi was exiled to Huizhou at age 59 and renamed Feng Lake to West Lake.
- As of the 2020 census, Huizhou's permanent population was 6,042,852.
- The majority of Huizhou's residents are Han Chinese, making up 97.69% of the population.
- Huizhou is the headquarters of the 42nd Group Army of the People's Liberation Army.