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Foshan History, China

Foshan is well known for its long cultural history and it is classified as one of the four major towns dating back to the Ming and Qing times where merchants have been gathering. It is also famous overseas where foreign activities are being launched, its friendly folks and nice climate makes the city worthy of one’s visit.

The city is located at the center of the of Guangdong province 20 kilometers southwest of Canton. History shows that Foshan was inhabited 2,000 years ago. Three bronze Buddha statues were unearthed in 628 thus giving its name Foshan, meaning “Buddha Mountain”. The city then became a vital site for the Buddhists. Foshan was also known as the center of porcelain industry during the Song Dynasty in 960-1279. There are also metal-working and silk-weaving industries. Up to the present, porcelain industry has continuously flourished and is still the city’s major industry, in tandem with its skilled crafts such as that of cutting and folding paper patterns.

Foshan marks the start of the Jin Dynasty. It gained the name Tang more than 1,300 years ago. Foshan got its name during the Tang period (628 AD). It was during the Tang and the Song Dynasties that Foshan gained prosperity, with its handicraft industry and commerce. The Ming and Qing Dynasties developed this city and made it a strategic place for commerce and industry, thereby making it a very famous town in China’s history.

This city has so many historical births. Some of these are: Foshan is known as the wide yarn center; has established its good reputation in terms of pottery being called the pottery of the southern part of the country. This splendid place is also where the Guangdong opera started and it is where China’s cooking culture started.

Because of its strategic location near the coast and near Hong Kong and Macau, it has opened up to international trades and foreign exports. The economic base of Foshan City is very rich. Nowadays, you will see Foshan developing into a modern city - with high-tech industry, technological advancement at par with any modern cities in the world.

With all these development and considerable progress, it has earned so many honors as the “National Sanitary City”, “National Garden City”, and by the United Nations as “Mankind Outstanding Example of Living.

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