Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

in central

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

megalopolis, a

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

housing 86,100,000 inhabitants, making it the biggest urban area of the world. Foshan is regarded as the home of Cantonese opera, a genre of Chinese opera; Nanquan, a martial art; and lion dancing.

Name

''Fóshān'' is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the city's Chinese name , based on its Mandarin pronunciation. The Postal Map spelling "Fatshan" derives from the same name's local

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

pronunciation. Other romanizations include Fat-shan and Fat-shun. Foshan means " BuddhaMountain" and, despite the more famous present-day statue of Guanyin (or Kwanyin) on Mount Xiqiao, who isn't a Buddha, it refers to a smaller hill near the centre of town where three

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

sculptures of Buddha were discovered in AD 628. The town grew up around a monastery founded nearby that was destroyed in 1391..

History

Pre-20th century

Foshan remained a minor settlement on the

Fen River The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...

for most of China's history. It developed around a Tang-era Buddhist monastery that was destroyed in 1391. The Foshan Ancestral Temple, a Taoist temple to the Northern God (''Beidi'') that was rebuilt in 1372, became the new focus of the community by the 15th century. By the early Ming, Foshan had grown into one of the four great markets in China, primarily on the strength of its local ceramics but also on account of its metalwork.. Under the Qing, its harbor on the Fen River was limited to ships of a thousand tons' burden but it remained well connected with Guangdong's other ports. By the 19th century, Foshan was considered the "

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

of China", with its steel industry responsible for the consumption of the majority of the province's iron production.

20th century and onwards

Foshan was connected to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

and Sanshui by rail in the early 20th century. The Ancestral Temple was converted into the Foshan Municipal Museum upon the victory of the

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

in 1949. Foshan remained primarily focused on ceramic and steel production until the 1950s, when it became an urbanizing political center. On 26 June 1951, it left Nanhai County to become a separate

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

and, in 1954, it was made the seat of the prefectural government. Its economy stagnated as a result of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

—traditional ceramic ware was forbidden and its workshops were turned to producing Maoist and

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

folderol—but it continued to grow, reaching 300,000 people by the 1970s, making it the province's second city after Guangzhou. As early as 1973, however, its agriculture and consumer industries were permitted to become an export production base and a modern highway linked it to Guangzhou soon after. This permitted its party secretary Tong Mengqing and mayor Yu Fei to take full advantage when

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

introduced his Opening Up policies after the fall of the Gang of Four. In 1983, Foshan was promoted to a

with its former core becoming the new Chancheng District but lost the southwestern half of its former territory to Jiangmen. On 8 December 2002, Shunde and Nanhai joined its urban core as a full district. Since 2020, a Japanese-themed street in Foshan has become a hit with young people unable to travel abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 100m-long road called Ichiban Street has been outfitted by a local property developer to resemble famous commercial streets in Japan, complete with a sakura tree, an icon of Japan. The "exotic" street is attracting young people from nearby cities like Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Zhuhai as the younger Chinese generation likes many things about Japanese culture and design. After negative responses and anti-Japanese sentiment, all Japanese signage was removed and the street has been mostly abandoned.

Geography

Foshan lies on the

in the estuaries making up the west side of the

lies to the northeast, Zhongshan to the southeast, Jiangmen to the south, Qingyuan to the north, and Zhaoqing to the west.

Climate

Foshan experiences a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'').

Economy

Foshan has been well known for its ceramics since the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, although it was forced to cease production during the

. Foshan had a ¥0.8 trillion

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

in 2015, raising its per capita GDP past $10,000. Shunde District in particular has a high manufacturing output, with its 3,000+ electronical appliance factories responsible for more than half of the world's air conditioners and

refrigerator A refrigerator, commonly shortened to fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermal insulation, thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to ...

s.. Foshan now has more than 30 towns specialized in particular industries, including furniture, machinery, and beverages. The Foshan Hi-Tech Development Zone was founded in 1992. Its total planned area is . The zone is very close to the national highway G325 as well as Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. The major industries in the zone including automobile assembly, biotechnology and chemicals processing.

Administration

Foshan administers five county-level divisions, all of which are districts, including Chancheng, Nanhai, Sanshui, Gaoming and Shunde. These are further divided into 32 township-level divisions, including 11 subdistricts and 21 towns. Foshan is close to Guangzhou and considers its link with Guangzhou to be very important. As such, it is part of the

and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area metropolis, centered on Guangzhou.

Animal Cruelty Controversy

In December 2024, authorities in Foshan's Sanshui District uncovered an illegal cat meat processing facility in Yundonghai Subdistrict. The operation led to the discovery of several slaughtering and processing equipment, along with approximately 100 live cats. Due to the unknown origin of these cats and the potential public health risks, officials decided to "dispose" of them, which involved submerging five or six large bamboo cages containing the cats into a pond, effectively drowning them. This action sparked significant public outrage, with many netizens labeling the method as "cruel" and expressing their dismay over the treatment of the animals. (Source
MingPao

Language

A dialect from the Samyap branch of

is used by the city natives. Besides that, Mandarin is also used, mainly in business and education, although natives do not use much of it in their daily lives.

Transportation

In 2013 to 2014, Foshan planned to improve public transportation by putting forward six measures:Foshan City Transportation Bureau home page
Foshan City Transportation Bureau. Retrieved February 1, 2014

FMetro

The first line of FMetro opened in 2010, and another two lines are completed in 2021 and 2022. The existing line of FMetro network: * Line 1 (Guangfo Line): From Xincheng Dong Station to Lijiao Station * Line 2: From Nanzhuang Station to Guangzhou South Railway Station * Line 3: From to Zhongshan Park Station & Lianhe Station to Foshan University Station

Rail

Foshan is a main interchange for railway routes linking

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and western Guangdong Province. It is connected with Hong Kong via the KCRC Guangdong Through Train service from Foshan railway station, an inter-city train service that was extended from Guangzhou to Foshan in the 1990s.

Aviation

The city is served by Foshan Shadi Airport, and later the Pearl River Delta International Airport. It is also served by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Education

Like other government schools in mainland China, Mandarin is the primary language of instruction in Foshan's government schools.

Universities

* Foshan University * South China Normal University (Foshan campus) * Southern Medical University (Shunde campus) * Guangdong University of Finance & Economics (Sanshui campus)

Schools

* Nanhai Senior High School

Sports

Foshan is one of the host cities for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The city hosted events during the 2010 Asian Games.

Synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

at the Foshan Aquatics Center and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

at the Foshan Gymnasium. In October 2014 the city hosted The Foshan Open golf event on the European Challenge Tour. Two professional football teams have played in Foshan. From 1989 to 1997 Foshan Fosti (now disbanded) played at the New Plaza Stadium in Chancheng (now demolished). Foshan Fosti mainly played in the second tier, but did play in the eight team top tier in 1993. In 2007, newly created Guangdong Sunray Cave played at Nanhai District Stadium (now demolished), before moving to the Century Lotus Stadium in 2008. Sunray Cave then moved to Guangzhou, although did play the final games of the 2013 China League One back at Century Lotus Stadium. They returned to Guangzhou in 2014 and then disbanded.

Destinations

* Crowne Plaza Foshan Hotel * Foshan Ancestral Temple (Zumiao) * Nanfeng Kiln * Liang's Garden * Wong Fei-hung Memorial Hall

Sister cities

* Itami, Hyōgo Japan *

La Possession La Possession () is a Commune in France, commune in the France, French overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department of Réunion. It is located in the northwestern part of the island of Réunion, between the capital of Saint-Den ...

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, France (since 1989) * Port Louis, Mauritius *

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, United States *

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, United States *

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, Canada (Friendly co-operative) *

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, Queensland, Australia *

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

, United Kingdom *

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, Poland * St. George's, Grenada *

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, Germany (since 2013)

Notable people

* Au Tak (1840–1920), Hong Kong entrepreneur * Jeremy Bray (1930–2002), British politician * Cai Feihu (born 1964), professor, engineer and businessman * Cao Yuanhang (born 1991), Paralympian * Sun Chan (born 1932), Peruvian-Chinese artist *

Chan Wah-shun Chan Wah-shun ( 1836 – 1913), nicknamed Money Changer Wah (找錢華) and Money Clutcher Wah (爪錢華), was a student of the Wing Chun grandmaster Leung Jan (梁贊). He is noted for being the martial arts teacher of Ip Man. Background ...

(c.1836–1906), martial arts teacher of Ip Man * Chen Jintao (1870–1939), technocrat who founded the Bank of China * Cheok Hong Cheong (1851–1928), Australian missionary, political activist, writer, and businessman * Cheng Yu-tung (1925–2016), Hong Kong billionaire * Cheung Wing-sing (1897–1960), wife of Wing Chun master Ip Man * Chin Siu-ho (born 1963), Hong Kong actor and martial artist * Chow Chi-yuen (1900–1971), Hong Kong entrepreneur and the founder of Chow Tai Fook * Chow Kwen Lim (1928–2016), founder and the chairman of Chow Sang Sang Jewellery Company * Dang Fong (1877 or 1879–1955), disciple of the Chinese Kung Fu folk hero Wong Fei Hung * Eu Tong Sen (1877 -1941), businessman in Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong * Feng Feng (born 1968), footballer * Foo Ping-sheung (1895–1965), diplomat and politician in the early Republic of China and later in Taiwan * Fung Jing Toy (c.1864–1897), American gangster * Stanley Fung (born 1945), Hong Kong actor and film director * Merdan Ghappar, model and prisoner * He Xiangjian (born 1942), co-founder of Midea Group * Hu Zaobin (1897–1942), painter * Huang Mingda, diplomat * Huang Shaoqiang, (1901–1942), artist * Ip Ching (1936–2020), Hong Kong martial artist * Ip Chun (born 1924), martial artist and actor in the style of Wing Chun * Ip Man (1893–1972), Wing Chun grandmaster and instructor of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

* Kang Youwei (1858–1927), political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty * Ko Lai Chak (born 1976), Hong Kong table tennis player * Kwong Wui Chun (c.1955), Hong Kong businessman * Lai Shanzhang (born 1992), Paralympic cyclist * Lam Cho (1910–2012), Hung Ga Grandmaster * Lam Sai-wing (1861–1943), Hung Gar martial artist * Law Kar-ying (born 1946), Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actor * Lee Heung-kam (1932–2021), Hong Kong Cantonese opera singer and actress * Lee Hoi-chuen (1901–1965), opera singer and actor * Lee Shau-kee (born 1928), Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist *

Leung Bik Leung Bik (born Leung Bik-wo with the courtesy name Tai-wah; 1843 – 1911), also known as Mr. Bik (), was a Wing Chun martial artist. He was one of Ip Man's teachers. History He was born in Foshan in 1843 as the second of the nine sons of ...

(1843–1911), Wing Chun martial artist * Leung Chu Yan (born 1979), Hong Kong table tennis player * Leung Jan (1826–1901), Wing Chun master, doctor and instructor of Ip Man * Li Jian (born 1989), footballer * Li Wenfan (1884–1953), revolutionary and politician * Li Yingjian (born 1991), footballer * Li Zhaohuan (1898–1969), educator, politician and banker * Li Ziliu (1932–2022), politician * Liang Dunyan (1857–1924), Qing dynasty diplomat and politician * Liang Jiahong (born 1988), sprinter * Liang Shiyi (1869–1933), minister who served as premier of China * Liang Yanfen (born 2000), Paralympic athlete * Liang Youyu (1521–1556), Ming dynasty scholar * Lin Liang (c.1424－1500), imperial painter * Anqi Luo (born 1996), Canadian table tennis player * Luo Zhi (1915–1949), revolutionary activist and leader in Xinjiang * Ma Man-kei (1919–2014), Chinese-Macanese businessman, tycoon, entrepreneur and politician * Ma Yexin (born 1999), tennis player * Mai Shaoyan (born 1979), field hockey player * Evergreen Mak Cheung-ching (born 1968), Hong Kong actor * Mok Kwai-lan (1892–1982), fourth spouse of Lingnan martial arts grandmaster Wong Fei-hung * Antonio Ng (born 1957), Macanese politician * Ou Daren (1516–1596) Ming dynasty scholar * Ou Mengjue (1906–1992), politician * Ou Shizi (1234–1324), Song dynasty scholar * Pan Kou-ang (born 1939), Taiwanese former sports shooter * Pan Nam (1911–1995), martial artist and Grandmaster of the Wing Chun style * Pu Jun Jin (born 1984), racing driver * Quan Hansheng (1912–2001), economic historian * Philip Rees (1877–1912), English medical missionary * So Chan, martial artist and folk hero who lived during the late Qing dynasty * So Cheung-wing (born 1960), Hong Kong businessman and politician * Su Changlan (born c.1971), civil rights activist * Su Xiongfeng (born 1987), long jumper * Tan Pingshan (1886–1956), revolutionary socialist * Sun Ma Sze Tsang (1916–1997), Cantonese opera singer and actor in Hong Kong * Wang Yue, (2009–2011), toddler killed in an example of the bystander effect. * Wang Jingwei (1883–1944), politician * Wong Fei Hung (1847–1925), Hung Ga master and doctor, honored at a memorial hall in Chancheng * Wong Kei-ying (c.1815–1886), Hung Ga master, doctor, father of Wong Fei Hung and one of the members of the Ten Tigers of Canton *

Wong Wah-bo Wong Wah-bo was a martial artist and an opera singer of the late Qing Dynasty. Wong Wah-bo is a notable figure in development of martial art Wing Chun, which is known for its poorly documented history, and is recognized as being part of various ...

, martial artist and opera singer of the late Qing dynasty * Wu Dixi (born 1962), badminton player * Wu Jianren (1866–1910), writer of the late Qing period * Wu Yee-sun (1900–2005), Hong Kong entrepreneur and billionaire * Xu Liang (1893–1951), diplomat and politician in the Republic of China * Yam Kim-fai (1912–1989), Cantonese opera actress * Yang Guoqiang (born 1954), entrepreneur * Yang Huiyan (born 1981), businesswoman billionaire * Yang Jiechang (born 1956), contemporary artist * Yau Lit (1864–1936), revolutionary * Yuen Kay-shan (1889–1956), Grandmaster of Wing Chun * Zhou Wanfeng (born 1979), field hockey player * Zhang Yinhuan (1837–1900), ambassador * Zheng Yanfen (1902–1990), politician affiliated with the Kuomintang

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Populated places with period of establishment missing Prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong National Civilized City National Famous Historical and Cultural City