Dongguan, more than just 'Sex City'
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E-mail Xinhua, February 14, 2014
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| Opium War Museum in Dongguan. 1,000 tonnes of opium confiscated from foreign dealers at Humen Township were burned in Dongguan, which triggered the First Opium War between China and Britain from 1840 to 1842. [photo / baidu] |
About 140 km away from Hong Kong, Dongguan used to be a small fishing village. In 1839, Lin Zexu, an official of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), burned 1,000 tonnes of opium confiscated from foreign dealers at Humen Township in Dongguan. The move triggered the First Opium War between China and Britain from 1840 to 1842, which resulted in Hong Kong's colonization for a century.
In the late 1970s, with opening up and reform, Dongguan, as Hong Kong's neighbor, was among the leaders in foreign trades.
More than three decades later and the gross domestic product of the city last year exceeded 500 billion yuan (82.5 billion U.S. dollars). That's a trade volume of over 150 billion U.S. dollars.
According to Yao Kang, the city's deputy Party chief, one tenth of the world's sneakers are produced in Dongguan, about 20 percent of the world wears Dongguan sweaters, and 30 percent of the world's children are playing with Dongguan toys. World-famous brands, such as Nokia and Samsung, have plants in the city.
The city is home to basketball team Guangdong Hongyuan, eight-time CBA champions. NBA player Yi Jianlian once played for them.
The 2015 mixed team world badminton championships, the Sudirman Cup, will be hosted there.
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