AN INTRODUCTION TO CHINA'S LARGEST CITIES
http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/top-large-cities.htm
If you enjoy the happening atmosphere of big and
rapidly growing cities, then China is the place to come. Feel the buzz of the urbanization rush in the
fastest developing country in the history of the planet. When you travel
through any mainland Chinese city remember you are walking through a giant that
30 years ago was only a fraction of the size!
Though places like Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and
Dongguan are not typical tourist destinations they have several
"undiscovered" attractions, and lots to do. Visit the cities where
your clothes and many other everyday items were made. China’s large cities are
known as the “factory
of the world”, though not all of them are "factory
cities".
See how these rapidly-developing cities function.
Experience China’s most-modern infrastructure. See China’s newest skyscrapers
and shopping malls. See the
future of China in the making.
The following are China’s top 10 largest cities, all
with populations over 7 million. [2013]
1. Shanghai
The
skyscrapers in Shanghai
·
Location: The Yangtze Delta, Central East China
·
Urban population: 22 million
·
GDP per capita: $14k
Shanghai is the undisputed largest and wealthiest city in
China. With a name synonymous with world trade, Shanghai has the largest and
busiest port in terms of containers and cargo tonnage, a grand business
district, two large airports (Pudong and Hongqiao), the world's fastest train (the Maglev), and a network of elevated highways.
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2. Beijing
The Forbidden City in
Beijing
·
Location: Near the Bohai Gulf, Northeast China
·
Urban population: 19 million
·
GDP per capita: $15k
Beijing is large primarily because it is China's capital. It
is a political, educational, and cultural center, with light industries (science,
technology and research) dominating over mass manufacturing.
Beijing has the world's largest airport, and an
extensive, mostly new subway system, but ongoing traffic congestion issues. The ancient city still features strongly in the core of its 6-ringroad
concentric layout.
3. Tianjin
Tianjin Port
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Location: On the Bohai Gulf, Northeast China
·
Urban population: 11 million
·
GDP per capita: $16k
Tianjin is a huge port and manufacturing center on the Bohai
Gulf, with a significant history due to its key location on the Grand Canal,
linking the Yangtze and the Yellow River. Only the seventh largest container
port in China, it still shifts over 10 million containers a year, and acts as
the shipping gateway to Beijing, only 70 km (40 mi) northwest.
4. Guangzhou
A Pearl River night
view in Guangzhou
·
Location: The Pearl River Delta, Southeast China
·
Urban population: 11 million
·
GDP per capita: $19k
Guangzhou (Canton) is a mighty manufacturing base, drawing
millions from the countryside to work in its factories. Vast quantities of
clothing, electronics, plastic goods, and toys are shipped from Guangzhou all
over the world. A city that has sprung up recently with China's economic boom,
it hosts the biannual China Import and Export Fair or Canton Fair.
5. Shenzhen
Shenzhen has China's
second tallest building. [2015]
·
Location: The Pearl River Delta, Southeast China
·
Urban population: 10 million
·
GDP per capita: $22k
Shenzhen is located in between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It is a
huge manufacturing center that has sprung up overnight. Feeding off the success
of its neighbors, it is ranked fourth in China for industrial output,
manufacturing higher technology products than Guangzhou in general, and with
several of its own successful sunrise companies.
6. Dongguan
·
Location: The Pearl River Delta, Southeast China
·
Urban population: 8 million
·
GDP per capita: $10k
Dongguan is a little-known but huge manufacturing city between
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, ranked fourth in China for exports. It has also grown
phenomenally in the last couple of decades. It employs huge numbers of rural
factory workers, producing electronic items and other hardware, like computer
peripherals.
7. Taipei
Taipei
101 Building
·
Location: North coast of Taiwan, Southeast China
·
Urban population: 8 million
·
GDP per capita: $50k
Taipei is less of a modern arrival on the world scene with
its post-war rise to prosperity alongside other Asian Tiger economies.
Considered a developed world city, its major industries are textiles and
electronics. Taipei is the capital of Taiwan, or the Republic of China, which,
while not acknowledged as independent from the Mainland, enjoys almost complete
autonomy.
8. Chengdu
Chengdu is the giant
panda's "hometown".
·
Location: The Sichuan Basin, West Central China
·
Urban population: 7 million
·
GDP per capita: $10k
Chengdu is an exception among large Chinese cities. It's the
only urban area of over 7 million people not in East China, near the Pacific coast.
The largest city in mostly mountainous or arid West China, it is a
concentration of the population of the Sichuan Basin. The pace of life is the
most relaxed of China's large cities.
Though industry does play a part in Chengdu's economy,
its growth is more a result of the tide of urbanization driving the rural
population towards the cities in search of better paid work, than of foreign or
domestic investment. With Chengdu being the lone large city in Sichuan Province
people gravitate there.
9. Hong Kong
A night view of Hong
Kong skyscrapers from Victoria Peak
·
Location: The Pearl River Delta, Southeast China
·
Urban population: 7 million
·
GDP per capita: $39k
Hong Kong is another Asian Tiger economic powerhouse, which has
a similar standard of living to large Western cities, despite its higher
population density. It is the most developed of China's cities, with the
highest living cost.
Hong Kong's major industries are all tertiary
(service) sector, including finance, communications, and foreign investments.
It has the world's third largest container port, but unlike other Chinese ports
its exports mainly come from other Chinese cities.
10. Hangzhou
Hangzhou's
elegant West Lake
·
Location: The Yangtze Delta, Central East China
·
Urban population: 7 million
·
GDP per capita: $15k
Hangzhou is one of the most prosperous cities in mainland China
in terms of GDP per capita. It has a variety of manufacturing industry, from
machinery to textiles to IT. Hangzhou has benefited almost disproportionately
from the spread of wealth, development, and investment from Shanghai, only
about an hour northeast.
Hangzhou has wide, clean, and orderly roads and a
network of expressways. Everything seems well maintained, extending to the
upkeep of its tourist attractions.
China's Large Cities — Most Anywhere in the World
·
China has 5 megacities (urban areas of 10 million inhabitants
— see above). This compared to 3 in India, 2 in the USA, Japan, and Brazil, and
1 in 14 other countries.
·
China has 14 cities of over 5 million people (Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou,
Shenzhen, Dongguan, Taipei, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Wuhan, Shenyang, Hangzhou, and Chongqing), whereas the USA has 8, India 7, Japan and Brazil 3, and 31 other
countries have 1. So China has
21% of the world's 5-million-person cities.
·
China has 41 cities of over 2 million people,
20% of the world total, compared with the USA's 21, India's 15, Brazil's 12,
and Japan's 6.
·
China has 79 (16.5%) of the world's 478 largest built
up areas (i.e.
city and connected suburbs), compared to 55 for India, 53 for the US and 50 for
the EU. China has over 100
built up areas of over 1 million people!
China has half of the
world's top 6 city clusters (a.k.a.
megalopolises or megaregions):
·
The Pearl River Delta (Population: 120 million, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Dongguan, Hong Kong,Foshan, Zhuhai, and Macau)
·
The
Yangtze River Delta (88
million, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou)
·
The Bohai Rim (66 million, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Dalian, Dandong, Yantai, Jinan,Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, and Weihai)
The other three are The Indo-Gangetic Plain (200
million), The European Backbone (90 million), and The Tokyo Region (80 million).
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