The Beginnings

Appears in

Published 1990

About

Beginning as an administrative center, the city quickly generated a bustling commercial, manufacturing, and trading economy, drawing increasing numbers of people from the inland areas. Guangzhou was soon an important stop on the so-called Silk Road of the Sea, the trade routes linking China with Southeast Asia and, later, Europe. By the year 1000, Guangzhou was China’s southern trade center and a famous port. It remains so to this day.

This growth in wealth and population could not have occurred without the genius and energy of the people and the natural blessings of the area’s climate and topography. The province has a 160-km/ 100-mile coastline with many natural harbours, bays, and inlets. There are hundreds of creeks, streams, and rivers in the province: “The water in and around Guangzhou is like a treasure waiting to be spent,” says one local guide book; I interpret that to mean glorious fishing. The city itself is ideally situated at the confluence of three tributaries of the Pearl River. Rich soils, nurtured and husbanded for centuries; a mild, sunny, subtropical climate (perhaps twenty-five frosty days a year); well watered, with a twelve-month growing season; thousands of varieties of plants and trees; freshwater and saltwater fish in abundance; many wild animals and game birds - all of these are the foundation for Guangdong’s bounty. Small wonder that Cantonese inventiveness and attention to technique, in combination with such natural resources as these, were able to perfect what is arguably the world’s finest and most nutritious cuisine.