Population
59,000,000, of which the majority are Han Chinese. Other ethnic groups found in Guangdong include the Yao, Zhuang, Hui, Manchu and She.
Location
Guangdong is on coast of the South China Sea. It is the southernmost mainland province of China.
Description
Over half of Guangdong Province is covered in mountains and hills, with plains making up 23% and tablelands 19%. The land is generally high in the north and low in the south. The largest rivers converge on the Zhujiang (Pearl River) delta in the center of the province, where one finds the largest area of plains and hence the greatest agricultural productivity and the densest population.
Language
Most inhabitants of Guangdong speak one of the Southern Chinese group of languages. Cantonese (also called Yue or Yueh) is spoken primarily in the southern and western parts of the province (including Guangzhou, Hongkong and Macau). The inhabitants of northern and eastern Guangdong speak Hakka Chinese , while in the north-central parts the native language is Xiang (or Hsiang) Chinese . In pockets of northern Guangdong the Yao people speak Miao-Yao (or Hmong-Mien) .
Culture
Guangdong people are noted among Chinese for their distinctive cultural traits, especially language (see above), but also theatrical traditions such as opera and hand puppetry.
Institutions based on family lineage are an important part of the culture in rural areas of Guangdong, where entire villages are often composed of members of only one or two families.
Food
Although considered the fourth or fifth most important school of cooking by Chinese, Cantonese food is the most well-known and popular type of Chinese cuisine in the West. An extremely wide range of ingredients is used in Cantonese cuisine, virtually every type of animal, fish and plant found in the province. Cantonese chefs strive for clarity of flavours and artistic presentation, and pay particular attention to the natural characteristics of the ingredients (see links to recipes below).
Folklore
Given Guangdong natives' reputations for hard work and exotic culinary tastes, people in the rest of China joke that they excel in every profession they try, except zookeeper.
Information offered by My Hometown |
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