3. Guangdong

China is a big country. In terms of land area, it is the fourth largest country in the world and is the world's most populated country boasting a population in excess of 1.3 billion people. Now that's big.

The problem of governing such a large and disparate place has long been an important challenge for Chinese rulers. In 221 BCE, the Qin Dynasty was the first to impose an hierarchical organizational structure by dividing the country into commanderies and xiàn counties or districts. The Han Dynasty later added zhou (the modern precursor to prefectures but translated as "provinces") to the organizational pool. Finally the Yuan Dynasty further divided the country into provinces. This regional breakdown would have been very familiar to the Chinese emigrants of the late 1800's and early 1900's.

This system of organization would remain largely intact until 1949 when the newly formed communist government of the People's Republic of China readapted the system. The current organizational hierarchy is illustrated below with an example of how it currently applies to our family's ancestral home. China is divided into 22 provinces, not unlike the states of the US. These provinces are subdivided at the prefecture level, which are further divided at the county level. Below the county level is the township level and villages.
The use of the term "city" is often confusing in this system of nomenclature. As described in the Wikipedia article on the political division of China, both prefecture-level and county-level cities "are not 'cities' in the strictest sense of the term, but instead an administrative unit comprising, typically, both an urban core (a city in the strict sense) and surrounding rural or less-urbanized areas usually many times the size of the central, built-up core." This is probably crudely analogous to the relationship between counties and cities in the US (think Alameda county made up of cities and towns such as Oakland and Berkeley).

Of the 22 provinces, the one that most concerns our family (as well as a majority of SF Bay Area Chinese) is Guangdong. About the size of the state of Washington, the province of Guangdong is located in southern China along the South China Sea. Far removed from the center of ancient Chinese civilization, the region was given the name "Guang" meaning "expanse" or "vast" and "dong" meaning "east." Paired with the neighboring province of Guanxi ("xi" meaning "west"), the two Guangs were the "expanse east" and "expanse west." The province is divided into 21 prefecture-level "cities" including Foshan. The "city" of Foshan (佛山) administers five county level divisions including our family's ancestral home district Shunde (顺德区).
(a) The province of modern Guangdong; (b) map of Quantung (Guangdong) published in 1655 by the Jesuit priest Father Martino Martini (CSU Hayward Library).

With the Tropic of Cancer running through, the region enjoys a mild, warm climate as well as plentiful precipitation. Thus, farmers in the region have traditionally enjoyed multiple harvesting seasons for crops such as grains and natural silk. Guangdong has nearly 2700 miles of coastline, allowing ready access to transportation and commerce. Since the 16th century Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world and is often referred to as China’s Southern Gate. Despite the favorable climate and access to trade, Guangdong of the more modern era remained an economic backwater.

However, through the implementation of economic reforms starting in the late 1970's, the last 30 years has stood this "backwater" conceit on its ear. Guangdong is currently experiencing truly explosive growth with a population nearing 80 million people as well being home to three of China's four "Special Economic Zones." And the seat of this emerging state is the provincial capital Guangzhou.

Links:
"Land of Opportunity: China's Guangdong Province is Emerging as an Export Hotspot," SF Chronicle, January 22, 2006
Overview of political division of China
Guangdong (wikipedia.org)
Guangdong (Chinese government)