Zhongshan

Zhongshan, city in southern Guangdong sheng (province), southern China. Located in the south-central part of the Pearl (Zhu) River Delta, Zhongshan has a network of waterways connecting it with all parts of the delta and is on an express highway running north to Guangzhou (Canton) and south to Macau. Zhongshan is the marketing and commercial centre of one of the most prosperous and densely peopled areas in China. Great quantities of agricultural produce are collected for shipment to Guangzhou, and it is the main distribution point for manufactured goods, also mostly from the Guangzhou area.

Zhongshan was founded as a market town in the 11th century. It became the seat of a county (under the name Xiangshan), subordinate to Guangzhou, in 1162. The area was one of the first to become subject to influence from Western contacts, and many of its inhabitants were prominent in overseas trade and in the first modernizing ventures in China during the 19th century. The county is famous for having been the birthplace of Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan), the leading figure in the Chinese Revolution of 1911–12; after his death in 1925 it was renamed in his honour.

With its close proximity to Hong Kong and Macau and because it is one of the main sources of overseas Chinese, Zhongshan has developed rapidly since 1980. Its industries include a sugar refinery, as well as plants manufacturing machinery and electrical appliances. Zhongshan is also a popular tourist destination and one of the key foreign-trade ports of Guangdong, and it has convenient water connections with Hong Kong. Pop. (2002 est.) 581,571.