China's Most Famous Cities

If we asked the average English-speaking web user what China cities they could name, we would probably get a list something like the one below. China is still a little-known and rather exotic country for most of the world, despite modern transport and communications turning the world into a global village. Come and discover China with China Highlights and get to know your oriental neighbors.

1.Beijing (Peking)

Everyone knows the capital of China is Beijing, though some may still call it Peking. Peking is rather traditional, and no longer used in China, except for in Peking duck, which originated in Beijing as an imperial food. Beijing is more of a "modern" imperial capital, being China’s seat of power for most of the last 1,000 years, and not featuring much before that. Beijing’s imperial attractions include the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. For older capitals, see Xi’an, Luoyang, and Nanjing.

2.Shanghai

Most people have also heard of China’s largest city, Shanghai. Shanghai has reaped the benefits of its location jutting out into the Pacific at the mouth of the Yangtze, and has become the world’s busiest container port, shipping "made in China" products all over the world.

With a population of over 20 million, Shanghai rivals the largest cities in the world for size and prosperity, and the Shanghainese are proud of it. Shanghai is the showcase for China’s economic success. Images of Shanghai are typified by the skyline of the Bund.

3.Hong Kong (Chinese: Xianggang)

Hong Kong is part of China, having ceded its 100-year British governance in 1997, though it still retains a high degree of autonomy and its unique Chinese-Western character. Hong Kong is famous for its movies popularizing Chinese culture, and its movie star Jackie Chan. Hong Kong is also known for its overseas Chinese population. Most China-towns have a Hong Kong character and Cantonese language.

4. Guangzhou (Canton)

For those who do manufacturing business with China, the chances are you have heard of Guangzhou, the largest manufacturing area in China.

Probably Guangzhou’s most famous exports are Cantonese food and the Cantonese language. Guangzhou was called Canton when it gave its name to the Cantonese language, which is spoken all over the southeast corner of Chinese, especially Hong Kong, and China towns worldwide. Now "Canton" is only used for things like the Canton Fair.

5. Nanjing

Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu Province, and in the past it was the capital of several empires and of the Republic of China. Nanjing means “Southern Capital.” It has alternated with Beijing as the capital of big empires and of modern governments. Beijing means Northern Capital. In the past, it was a prominent city, and its rulers benefited from the partial control of trade on the big and longYangtze River that allowed trade vessels to travel from Sichuan in the west of China to Shanghai and the Pacific Ocean.

Other Cities That Are Famous in China

China has many other huge cities that few outside China have heard of: Shenzhen, Tianjin, Dongguan, Nanjing,Wuhan, Shenyang, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Suzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, Xiamen,Qingdao, Changsha, Zhengzhou, etc. All these have populations over 4 million, and are provincial capitals or major commercial centers, but only some (Xi'an, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan) are on the popular tourist routes.