random thoughts on dongguan: factories, confusion, and too many people
so i found myself in this place called dongguan, which is apparently some factory city in china that makes basically everything. i just checked and it's...18.75°C there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. feels like 18.64°C with 75% humidity, so it's pretty damp and not too warm, which is kind of nice i guess. the pressure is 1018, which means nothing to me but sounds impressive. anyway, if you get bored, guangzhou is just a short drive away to the north, and shenzhen is just a short drive away to the south. huizhou is northeast if you need more options.
dongguan is this prefecture-level city in guangdong province, and it's got coordinates at 23.02°N, 113.75°E. that's about 50 km south of guangzhou, 90 km north of shenzhen, and 47 nautical miles from hong Kong. it's got a land area of 2,465 km² and some sea area too, which is weird because i always thought cities were just land. elevation is 8m, so basically flat.
historically, dongguan originated as bao'an county during the eastern jin dynasty in 331 ad. then it was renamed dongguan in 757 ad during the tang dynasty. "dong" means east of guangzhou, and "guan" refers to native bulrush grass. it became a county-level city in 1985 and was upgraded to prefecture-level in 1988. so it's got some history but not too much, which is fine by me.
the landscape here is weird - hills in the east, flat terrain in the west. it's got a 116 km coastline, 27% water coverage, and 25% forest cover. there are rivers like the dongjiang. climate is humid subtropical with average temperature of 22.9°C and lots of rain year-round. that explains the humidity i guess. they grow bananas, litchi, longan, and pineapples here, plus seafood from the coast.
dongguan is called the "factory of the world" which sounds intimidating. it has a population of about 10.5 million people, which is a lot. it's a key industrial hub with focus on manufacturing, high-tech stuff, and transport. someone told me that huawei has a campus here called ox horn campus for 25,000 employees. that's more people than some small towns! also, someone told me that the city has over 1,400 high-tech enterprises and zones like songshan lake which is top-ranked nationally. i don't know what that means but it sounds important.
the local cuisine highlights fresh seafood from the 116 km coastline and seasonal fruits like bananas, litchi, longan, and pineapples. i tried some of the fruits and they were pretty good, but the seafood was okay. nothing spectacular but not bad either.
dongguan has some tourist attractions but they're mostly focused on traditional chinese lifestyle. there are natural areas tied to its rivers, coastline, and forests. there are high-tech zones like songshan lake hi-tech zone which focuses on electronics, biopharma, and robotics. there are also emerging developments like binhaiwan new area and gba university's binhaiwan campus on weiyuan island. someone told me that these eco-friendly sites have over 60% green coverage in zones like songshan lake. which is weird because it's a factory city but also has lots of green spaces.
the city has a gdp of cny 827.86 billion (usd 125.11 billion) in 2018. that's a lot of money. it's part of the pearl river delta metro area with over 65 million people across nine municipalities. so it's basically just a huge urban sprawl with lots of people and factories.
when you visit dongguan, you should be aware that it's an industrial hub so air quality might be an issue. also, the climate is humid and rainy year-round, so bring an umbrella. the city is strategically positioned so transport is good, but it's integrated into a massive urban cluster, so it might be busy with commuters.
i don't know what else to say about dongguan. it's a weird place with lots of factories, some history, and a lot of people. if you're into manufacturing or want to see how things are made, it might be interesting. but if you're looking for a tourist destination with lots of attractions, you might be disappointed. anyway, that's all i have to say about dongguan.
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