Kaiping

Kaiping 开平市
County-level city
Dixi Road in Chikan, Kaiping
Location of Kaiping City (pink) in Jiangmen City (yellow), Guangdong province, and the PRC
Kaiping Location of the city centre in Guangdong
Coordinates: 22°22′N 112°41′E / 22.367°N 112.683°ECoordinates: 22°22′N 112°41′E / 22.367°N 112.683°E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Guangdong
Prefecture-level city	Jiangmen
County seat	Changsha Subdistrict (长沙街道)
Area
• Total	1,659 km^2 (641 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Total	699,242
• Density	420/km^2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	529300
Area code(s)	0750
Website	www.kaiping.gov.cn

Kaiping
Simplified Chinese	开平
Traditional Chinese	開平
Taishanese Jyutping	Hoi3-pen6 (local)
Hanyu Pinyin	Kāipíng
Postal	Hoiping
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Kāipíng Wade–Giles K‘ai-p‘ing Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Hoi^1-ping^4 other Yue Taishanese Jyutping Hoi3-pen6 (local)

Kaiping, formerly romanized as Hoiping,^{[lower-alpha 1]} is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located in the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. The area is the ancestral homeland of many overseas Chinese, particularly in the United States. It has a population of 680,000 as of 2003 and an area of 1,659 square kilometres (641 sq mi).^[2] The locals speak a variant of the Taishan dialect.

History

Under the Qing, Kaiping County made up part of the commandery of Zhaoqing.^[1] It was promoted to county-level city status in 1993.

Administration

Administratively, Kaiping is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen.

Name	Chinese (S)	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010)[3]
Sanbu Subdistrict	三埠街道	Sānbù Jiēdào	173,100
Changsha Subdistrict	长沙街道	Chángshā Jiēdào	124,829
Shatang Town	沙塘镇	Shātáng Zhèn	24,667
Chacheng Town	苍城镇	Cāngchéng Zhèn	26,750
Longsheng Town	龙胜镇	Lóngshèng Zhèn	26,161
Dasha Town	大沙镇	Dàshā Zhèn	22,298
Magang Town	马冈镇	Mǎgāng Zhèn	30,728
Tangkou Town	塘口镇	Tángkǒu Zhèn	22,626
Chikan Town	赤坎镇	Chìkǎn Zhèn	37,260
Baihe Town	百合镇	Bǎihé Zhèn	17,621
Xiangang Town	蚬冈镇	Xiǎngāng Zhèn	13,280
Jinji Town	金鸡镇	Jīnjī Zhèn	16,493
Yueshan Town	月山镇	Yuèshān Zhèn	46,700
Chishui Town	赤水镇	Chìshuǐ Zhèn	25,894
Shuikou Town	水口镇	Shuǐkǒu Zhèn	90,835

Geography

Kaiping City is located 140 kilometres (87 mi) away from Guangzhou, in the southwestern part of the Pearl River Delta. Kaiping consists of three port cities: Changsha, Xinchang, and Dihai.

Sights

Kaiping Diaolous (碉楼) are fortified multi-storey towers which were constructed in the Kaiping area from the early Qing Dynasty, reaching a peak in the 1920s and 1930s, when there were more than three thousand of these structures. Today, approximately 1,800 diaolou are still standing. The diaolou served two purposes: housing and protecting against forays by bandits. The Kaiping diaolou and villages were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2007.

• 
  Rui Shi Diaolou
• 
  South Building
• 
  Diaolou

Kaiping has traditionally been a region of major emigration abroad, and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese made good. As a consequence, several watchtowers incorporate architectural features from China and the West.

Examples include:

• Ruishi Diaolou, located behind Jinjiangli Village, Lianggang Township. Constructed in 1921, it has nine floors and is the highest diaolou at Kaiping. It features a Byzantine style roof and a Roman dome.
• The diaolou cluster spread across the three villages of Anhe li, He'an li and Yong'an li has 15 diaolou and houses
• Li Garden, in Beiyi Xiang, was constructed in 1936 by Mr. Xie Weili, a Chinese emigrant to the United States.
• Fangshi Denglou - Built in 1920 after contributions from villagers, this denglou is five storeys high. It is referred to as the "Light Tower" because it had an enormous searchlight as bright as the beam of a lighthouse.
• Bianchouzhu Lou (The Leaning Tower), located in Nanxing Village was constructed in 1903. It has seven floors.
• The "Southern Diaolou" located on the riverbank, which was known for seven local soldiers by the surname 司徒 who defended it from the Japanese.

Miscellaneous

Kaiping has been twinned with Mesa, Arizona, United States, since October 18, 1993.

Kaiping was a major source of emigrants at the turn of the 20th century. As a result, a large number of early Chinese Canadian and Chinese American communities had people who originated from Kaiping and its neighboring counties of Taishan, Enping and Xinhui. It is said that there are more Kaipingnese people living abroad today than there are Kaipingnese in Kaiping.

In 1973, various people originated from Kaiping started the Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School in Hong Kong.

Notes

1. The Postal Map romanization is based on the local Cantonese pronunciation. Other romanizations include Kae Ping.^[1]

References

Citations

1. Bolton & al. (1941), p. 262.
2. "Profile of Kaiping" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
3. shi, Guo wu yuan ren kou pu cha ban gong; council, Guo jia tong ji ju ren kou he jiu ye tong ji si bian = Tabulation on the 2010 population census of the people's republic of China by township / compiled by Population census office under the state; population, Department of; statistics, employment statistics national bureau of (2012). Zhongguo 2010 nian ren kou pu cha fen xiang, zhen, jie dao zi liao (Di 1 ban. ed.). Beijing Shi: Zhongguo tong ji chu ban she. ISBN 978-7-5037-6660-2.

Bibliography

• Bolton, Kingsley; et al. (1941), Triad Societies, Vol. 5, Abingdon: Routledge, reprinted 2000.

External links

- http://english.kaiping.gov.cn/gover_affair.asp?InfoId=1205&ClassId=72 (Kaiping Press Release for future high speed rail station)

• Kaiping travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Kaiping government website
• Information about the diaolou