Chaozhou

Chaozhou, Wade-Giles romanization Ch’ao-chou, formerly Chao’an, city, eastern Guangdong sheng (province), China. It is located at the head of the delta of the Han River, some 25 miles (40 km) north of Shantou (Swatow).

Chaozhou—having good communications with northern Guangdong, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces via the Han River system—has been an important regional centre since early times. Its county, under the name Haiyang, was founded in 331 ce; the city itself was the seat of various commanderies and prefectures. The name Chao was first given to it as a prefecture in 591. This part of Guangdong was a wild frontier and was a favourite place to banish disgraced officials during medieval times. In the 13th century the city began to play an important administrative role, and from 1368 until 1911 it was a superior prefecture.

After it was opened to foreign trade in 1858, Chaozhou was gradually overtaken in size and commercial importance by Shantou, although a rail line completed in 1906 to connect the two cities slowed down this process. The superior prefecture seated at the site was abolished in 1914 and was replaced by Chao’an county. Chaozhou city, however, was set up as the county seat in 1953, rescinded in 1959, and reestablished in 1979. It was promoted to a prefecture-level city in 1991.

Chaozhou, situated at the centre of a rich and extremely fertile agricultural district that has a high population density, is an important regional agricultural market. The city has long been renowned for its ceramic industry, which produces a wide variety of pottery and porcelain products. Other industries, such as clothing and footwear manufacturing, food processing, printing and packaging, and electronics, have been established. In addition to its water-transport connections, Chaozhou is on the rail line from Guangzhou (Canton), the provincial capital, to Shantou. In addition, expressways southwest to Shenzhen on the coast (near Hong Kong), west (via Shantou) to Guangzhou, and northeast to Zhangzhou in Fujian province were completed in the early 21st century.

The people of Chaozhou have a distinctive culture that includes their own dialect of Chinese, type of cuisine, and music and drama styles. The area is also a well-known centre of various handicrafts, which include, in addition to ceramics, embroidery and drawnwork (a type of needlework). The Chaozhou region is one of the country’s major places of origin of overseas Chinese; the number of those living in foreign countries is estimated at more than two million. A notable attraction in the city is the ancient Guangji Bridge across the Han, part of which consists of a pontoon bridge made up of boat hulls. Pop. (2002 est.) 311,249.