It is easy to have a quick look at China's past and present, but it takes time to gain a panoramic knowledge of China. The "Panoramic China" series is meant to assist readers, especially those overseas, in this respect. Each volume in the series focuses on a province, municipality or autonomous region, describing, with illustrations, the outstanding characteristics of each area from different perspectives.

Guangdong: Forerunner of an Era

Guangdong Province is a beautiful and lively province in South China. Perched on the Tropic of Cancer and nurtured by a warm subtropical climate, Guangdong enjoys lush greenery all the year round. In the past, Guangdong was always in the forefront of modernization trends in China, and opening-up, Guangdong still acts as a trailblazer for inland China. The Guangdong people, once known as Cantonese in English, have traditionally been known for their spirit of daring to explore the new and unknown.
In the past twenty-odd years in particular, Guangdong has taken a bold lead for the entire nation, and made a tremendous leap in its economic development. It has gathered the cream of both Chinese and international cultures, and has again become the forerunner of the spectacular tidal wave of China's modernization and opening up to the outside world.
This book will escort you into Guangdong, to see the marvelous scenes of China's economic forefront, to witness its local conditions and social customs, to feel its human life and natural scenery, and to enjoy its spectacular green hills and jade-green waters.