| Kaiping | |
| Other Name: | Hoiping |
| Postal Code: | 529300 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map: | China Guangdong |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the Kaiping city centre in Guangdong |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
| Seat: | Changsha Subdistrict (Chinese: 长沙街道) |
| Seat Type: | County seat |
| Settlement Type: | County-level city |
| Mapsize: | 250px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Guangdong |
| Subdivision Type2: | Prefecture-level city |
| Subdivision Name2: | Jiangmen |
| Area Code: | 0750 |
| Area Total Km2: | 1659 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 census |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Total: | 688242 |
| Coordinates: | 22.3773°N 112.6982°W |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| P: | Kāipíng |
| W: | K'ai1-p'ing2 |
| J: | Hoi1-ping4 |
| Toi: | Hoi3-pen6(local) |
| Psp: | Hoiping |
| Showflag: | toip |
| Order: | st |
Kaiping, alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, in local dialect as Hoihen, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located in the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. The surrounding area, especially Sze Yup, is the ancestral homeland of many overseas Chinese, particularly in the United States.[1] Kaiping has a population of 688,242 as of 2017 and an area of .[2] The locals speak a variant of the Sze Yup dialect.
During the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), Kaiping was under the administration of Xin'an county (Chinese: 信安縣)[3] Under the Qing (1649), made up part of the commandery of Shiuhing (Zhaoqing). From AD 1649 to AD 1949, the administration centre of Kaiping was Cangcheng town(蒼城鎮)， from AD 1950 to AD 1953, the administration center moved to Chican town(赤磡鎮)， from AD 1953 until nowadays, the administration center is Sanbu town(三埠鎮). It was promoted to county-level city status in 1993.
Administratively, Kaiping is administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen.
| Name | Chinese (S) | Population (2010)[4] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 三埠街道 | Sānbù Jiēdào | 173,100 | ||
| 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 |
Kaiping's city centre is located on the, away from Guangzhou, on the edge of the county Kaiping west of the Pearl River Delta. Kaiping consists of broken terrain, mostly either rocky or swampy, with only a third of the land arable. The county is shaped like a giant question mark (see map, in pink) and includes rural areas as well as three port cities: Changsha, Xinchang, and Dihai.
See main article: Kaiping Diaolou. Kaiping Diaolous (Chinese: 碉楼) are fortified multi-storey towers constructed in the village countryside of mainly the Kaiping area. They were built from the early Qing dynasty to the early 20th century, reaching a peak in the 1920s and 1930s, with the financial aid of overseas Chinese, when there were more than three thousand of these structures. Today, 1,833 diaolou are still standing, with the most in the towns of Shuikou (Chinese: 水口镇), Tangkou (Chinese: 塘口镇), Baihe (Chinese: 百合镇), Chikan (Chinese: 赤坎镇), and Xiangang (Chinese: 蚬冈镇), in that order (see map in article by Batto).[6]
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Kaiping was a region of major emigration abroad, and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese, Huaqiao, made good. As a consequence, many watchtowers incorporated architectural features from China and the West. These were examples of the Qiaoxiang (Chinese: 僑鄉) architecture.[7] The diaolou were built by villagers during a time of chaos and served two purposes: housing and protecting against forays by bandits.
In 2007, the Kaiping diaolou and villages were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and consist of four separate restored village areas: Zilicun village (Chinese: 自力村) in Tangkou, Sanmenli village (Chinese: 三门里) in Chikan, Jinjiangli village (Chinese: 锦江里) in Xiangang, and Majianglong village cluster (Chinese: 马降龙村落群) in Baihe township.[8]
The Kaiping diaolou was the location for parts of the filming of 2010 movie Let the Bullets Fly (Chinese: 让子弹飞).[9]
Examples of diaolous include:
See main article: Chikan, Kaiping. Chikan (Chinese: 赤坎) is officially designated as a National Historic and Cultural Town of China (Chinese: 中国历史文化名镇). The old town of Chikan has many historical sites that are about one hundred years old. For example, it has over 600 late-Qing and early-Republic historic Tong laus or Qilous (Chinese: 唐樓/ 騎樓) continuous, spanning over a length of 3 kilometers, including the riverside stretch along Dixi Lu (Chinese: 堤西路), sometimes referred to as 'European Styled Street'. Part of old Chikan town has been designated Chikan Studio City (Chinese: 赤坎影视城) for filming of historical scenes.
Chikan township also has two restored diaolous: Yinglonglou, built by the Guan (Chinese: 关族) lineage in the Ming dynasty, and Nanlou, memorialized by the martyrdom of seven Situ clan (Chinese: 司徒族) members in the early 20th century.
Historically, Chikan has been shaped by these two competing clans. One example is the existence of two libraries: the Situ's library, opened in 1926, and, not to be outdone, the Guan's library, opened in 1931; both libraries funded by overseas Chinese and incorporated architecture features from overseas.
It is a famous and well-known location for braised pork in noodles to locals.
Chikan is to become a tourist destination and the closing of local stores, dining posts, and streets are scheduled for the summer of 2017.[10]
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, which is known collectively as Sze Yup. It is said that there are more Kaipingnese people living abroad today than there are Kaipingnese in Kaiping. In a 2016 report, Deloitte estimated that there are 750,000 Kaiping-born overseas Chinese.[11]
In 1973, various people originated from Kaiping started the Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School in Hong Kong.
4. < 廣東省廣州市佛山地區韶關地區沿革地理》(history and geographical cha es of Guangzhou region, Foshan region and Shaoguan region)
Guangdong Zheng Guangzhou shi fishan di qu Shaoguan di qu yuan he di Li (history of geographical alterations of Guangzhou, Foshan and Shaoguan (Chinese: 廣東省廣州市佛山地區韶關地區沿革地理》) Author: Zhu, peng Xur Lin publishing limited 1984