Zhongshan 中山市

Setting and landscape

Five thousand years ago Xiangshan was an island in Lingding Bay, made up of the hills around Wuguishan (五桂山). Silt from the West and North rivers has since pushed the delta plain outwards, and the river-laced north of the city formed only in the last 900 years or so. Low mountains and hills fill the south, where the main peak of Wuguishan reaches 531 metres.

History

Yue people fished and hunted on the island in the Neolithic. Xiangshan County was created in 1152; the Song geography Taiping Huanyu Ji (太平寰宇记) explains the name, "fragrant mountain", by the immortals' flowers on its hills. Many local people settled overseas, and Zhongshan is known as a home town of overseas Chinese. The county took Sun Yat-sen's name after his death in 1925, became a prefecture-level city in 1988 and was listed as a national historical and cultural city in 2011.

The Zhongshan saltwater songs (中山咸水歌) of the sandy delta farmland around Tanzhou (坦洲镇), sung at work and on boats, were on the first national intangible heritage list in 2006. The drunken dragon dance (醉龙舞), in which well-fed and well-wined youths dance a dragon carved from a single heavy log into the streets, is a folk dance of old Xiangshan. Xiaolan (小榄) has grown chrysanthemums since the Southern Song, and its chrysanthemum fair, held in grand form in every jiaxu (甲戌) year since 1814, joined the national list in 2006.

What to see

Cuiheng, in Nanlang (南朗镇), is a national historic village; Sun Yat-sen's former residence (孙中山故居) and the old Zhongshan memorial school there are national key heritage sites, and the Sun Yat-sen Hometown tourist area (孙中山故里旅游区) is a national 5A scenic area. In Shiqi (石岐), the old county seat, Sunwen West Road (孙文西路) is a street more than 800 years old lined with Qing and Republican-era arcade buildings, many built by returned overseas Chinese in a blend of European colonial and Lingnan styles.

Food and local products

Shiqi squab (石岐乳鸽) comes from pigeons brought back by overseas emigrants and crossed with local birds; the squabs are marinated and roasted at 21 to 28 days old, leaving crisp skin, tender meat and a pocket of juice. Almond cakes (杏仁饼), a well-known local product, were first made by the Juxiangyuan (咀香园) bakery from mung-bean flour shaped like almonds, with a slice of sugared pork baked in the middle.

Highlights

• Former Residence of Sun Yat-sen 孙中山故居: National key heritage site in Cuiheng village, Nanlang, Sun Yat-sen's home village.
• Sunwen West Road 孙文西路: Shiqi street over 800 years old with Qing and Republican arcade buildings built largely by returned overseas Chinese.
• Xiaolan chrysanthemum fair 小榄菊花会: Held in grand form every jiaxu year since 1814; national intangible heritage (2006).
• Zhongshan saltwater songs 中山咸水歌: Work and boat songs of the Tanzhou delta farmland; national intangible heritage (2006).
• Shiqi squab 石岐乳鸽: Roasted squab from a cross of imported and local pigeons.