Shilong, Guangdong
| Shilong 石龙镇 | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
| Country | China |
| Province | Guangdong |
| Prefecture | Dongguan |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
Shilong (simplified Chinese: 石龙; traditional Chinese: 石龍; pinyin: Shī Lōng) is an industrial town in Dongguan prefecture-level city, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China.
Shilong Town is located at the lower reaches of the Dongjiang River at the convergence of the northern stem and southern branch of the Dongjiang River forming one river with three wharfs. The town covers a total land area of 13.83 square kilometers, with the registered permanent residents of up to 67,900, and the population from other places totaling 77,500.
Location
Shilong town is located within the north part of Dongguan prefecture-level city. It is situated at the central point of the Pearl River Delta, in conjunction with Zengcheng District and Boluo County, 69 km to Guangzhou city and 78 km to Shenzhen city. The town lies on the shore of the Dongjiang River and the Guangshen Railway passes by.
Transport
Its convenience in railway and water transportation makes Shilong a regional industrial and commercial center. There are 20 buses for every 10 thousand people in the town, and there are 27 bus lines open to traffic to peripheral cities, and there are 83 pairs of electrified express intercity passenger buses between Guangzhou and Shenzhen each day, so the residents share comparatively a large space for activities and the intercity effect has been utilized to the greatest extent.
Economy
In 2004, Shilong's GDP amounted to 3.66 billion RMB and the scale export income boosted to $1.14 billion. Shilong is very strong in the IT industry. For instance, 2.4 million cameras, 3 million computers and 750 thousand photocopiers and 1.8 million digital laser printers were manufactured in Shilong by 2004 and most of them were exported.
Ecology
In 2008, Shilong was chosen by the State as a “famous historical and cultural town in China”. There are 27 remaining ancient trees, including 1 tree at the age of more than 300 years and 16 trees at the ages of more than 100 years. The Government of the Town establishes electronic archives for ancient and famous trees by building their name cards so that it can manage those ancient trees scientifically and effectively; and there are 28 places of historical and cultural interests, including 5 places as the key cultural relic protective units at the municipal level.
Culture
In order to protect intangible cultural heritage, the Government of the Town has set up the development fund for Cantonese Opera. Now, there are 5 folk ballad singers associations, who hold free performances in Yat-sen Park in turn every Saturday evening. Furthermore, different kinds of museums and exhibition centers have been built as cultural and educational bases.
In 2005, it was listed as the Dragon Boat Champion Center in China by the National General Administration of Sports. Each year, there are more than 90 cultural and artistic evening parties of all kinds and more than 30 art shows.
History
During the Song dynasty (800 years ago), its first inhabitants settled down in Shilong town. Due to the convenient waterway of Dongjian river, Shilong had become a major hub for food supply and woods in the southern China since the late Ming dynasty to the early Qing dynasty. After the opening of the Kowloon-Canton railway (KCR) at 1910, which passed through Shilong, its status as a traffic and commercial center had been strengthened and its economic boomed. Shilong made its name in history as one of the 'Four Big Town in Canton' (Chinese: 广东四大历史名镇). Thanks to its famous weightlifting world record breaker - Chen Jin-Kai (Chinese: 陈镜开), Shilong also has won its reputation as the 'Home Town of Weight Lifting' (Chinese: 举重之乡).
See also
External links
Coordinates: 23°06′N 113°049′E / 23.100°N 113.817°E