As early as in Chou Period, 9th century BC, there were exchanges between "Baiyue" people at Guangzhou and people of Chu State, the name "Chu Ting" originated, which was the earliest name of Guangzhou. As a center of trade to foreigners, Guangzhou was established during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). Guangzhou became a part of China in the 3d century. When the Hindu and Arab merchants reached Guangzhou in the 10th the city became the first Chinese port regularly visited by European traders. Guangzhou was the seat of the revolutionary movement under Sun Yat-sen in 1911; the Republic of China was proclaimed there.
Guangzhou is situated in a subtropical monsoon climate zone with plentiful rainfall all year round. Summer typically lasts from the middle of April until September. Average yearly temperature is about 22°C (71.6°F), August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of 28°C (82.4°F). The plentiful rainfall and heat benefits the growing of plants and makes Guangzhou earn the fame of being "A City of Flowers" and become an evergreen and colourful city with green tree and flowers bloom all the year round.
The city has flourished economically since China opened its door to the outside world in 1978. Guangzhou has already become the centre of commerce, finance, communication, culture, science and technology in South China. Guangzhou has gradually increased its investment in communication, transportation and telecommunication, having established a widely extending and well connected comprehensive communication network. In telecommunication, its local telephones are all computer-controlled, and netting between the telephone lines in the counties under the city and those in the city proper has been realized. It’s also known nationally as the "Hometown of Fruit" for its rich variety of fruits.
Guangzhou is one of the China’s communication hubs. Located in the north of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is 28 kilometres distant from Haizhu Square (the geographic center of Guangzhou) is an important International airport in China. Guangzhou has very convenient transportation with public buses, trams, special bus lines, and subway lines. There are four metro lines in Guangzhou and service charges are based on the distance between pick-up and destination points. There is a developed bus transportation system in Guangzhou, public bus is the cheapest way to get around the city, but they are very crowded because of the city's huge population. There are a lot of taxis in Guangzhou, with the various colours of the cars; passengers can stop a taxi by just waving his or her hand. Guangzhou's highway system is also well developed; the region's sprawling road can take visitors to the whole country.
In China, the education is divided into 4 categories: basic education, occupational (polytechnic) education, higher education, and adult education. Basic education in China includes pre-school education, primary education and regular secondary education. Secondary education is divided into regular secondary education and vocational and technical secondary education. Mainly composed of medium-level professional schools, polytechnic schools, occupational middle schools as well as short-term occupational and technical training programs of various forms. Higher education at the undergraduate level includes two-and three-year junior colleges, four-year colleges, and universities offering programs in both academic and vocational subjects. Adult education comprises of schooling education, anti-illiteracy education and other programs oriented to adult groups.
The city boasts many tourist attractions; among them are White Cloud Hill Scenic Spot, Guangzhou Zoo, Bright Filial Piety Temple, Southern Yue King Tomb Museum, The South China Botanical Garden etc. In the Suburbs, there are such scenic spot on Conghua Hot Springs, Xiqiao Hill Scenic spot, Seven Star Crags, and Foshan City.
Temple of Six Banyan Trees was first built in the 3rd year of Datong (537 AD), the reign of Emperor Wu in the Southern Liang Dynasty. It was originally called Baozhuangyan Temple. After it was affected by fire and renovated, its name became "Jingwei Shi", but in 1100, the literary writer Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty came here to visit, and when he saw the 6 banyan trees in the temple, he gave the name "the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees" to this structure. The most popular attraction is the 55m (184 feet) octagonal Flower Pagoda, which is the tallest in Guangzhou. The pagoda in it is quite colourful and houses some thousand Buddha statues, thus it has got another name "Thousand-Buddha Pagoda".
Situated in the original site of Sun Yat-sen's Presidential Office on the southern slope of Yuexiu Hill, it is a memorial building completed in 1931 with the funds raised by the local people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China's democratic revolution. The main building of the memorial hall is the ceremonial hall of 47m high and 2 stories containing 3,238 seats. The designer smartly applied the structural theory of architectural mechanics and adopted the mixed structure of reinforced concrete. The central coping of the octagon pavilion of the Zhongshan Memorial Hall is surrounded by the four decorating double eaves from the front, back, left, and right sides of it. The most special thing about this hall is that the 8 pillars were all hidden in the walls, reflecting the high standards of architecture. In the front of the memorial hall, there erects the statue of Mr. Sun Zhongshan with carved words at the base of the statue which translate roughly to "the Outline of the Foundation of the Country of the National Government".
As the largest park in Guangzhou, Yuexiu Park covers 93 hectares including large sports playground, natatorium and art gallery, well-known attractions like the Sculpture of the Five Rams, the Zhenhai Tower. Yuexiu Park belongs to the ending ranges of Baiyun Mountain and stretches for 3 km from the east to the west with an altitude of over 70 meters. Yuexiu Park consists of seven hummocks: the peak Yuejing Hummock, Guihua Hommock, Muke Hummock, Liyu Hummock and three artificial lakes( Beixiu Lake, Nanxiu Lake, and Dongxiu Lake).
Guangzhou boasts a lot of festivals, seasonal or annual. The festive activities are various and colourful, they help in bringing the religious, geographical and social groups together and bind them in a single entity. Guangzhou's festivals have embodied both history and reality, some of them focus on ancient customs and their celebrations are intended to teach the younger generation their value. The popular festivals are the Spring Flower Fair, Dragon Boat Festival, Lantern Festival, Lotus Festival, Chongyang or Double-Ninth Festival, Litchi Festival, China Tourism Art Festival, Guangdong International Cuisine Festival and Guangdong Merry-making Festival.
