The city of Zhuhai
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The city of Zhuhai is, originally, a small village of fishers. In the 1980's, China's economic policies radically changed. The country opened its doors to the exterior, and Zhuhai was among the first Special Economic Zones (SEZ) that constitute the legal areas of exchange with foreign countries.
Zhuhai is trapped between two giants of the modern world: Hong Kong and Macao. You just need to cross the Pearl Delta to get to one of these cities.
Consequently, the city rapidly evolved. Even now in 2012, districts are built within months and change the cartorgraphy of the area. A lot of foreigners live in Zhuhai due to Macao and Hong Kong's proximity. Still, poverty remains an important problem.
As CHEN Ying explained, people see the Pearl Delta as a region of wealth. It is, indeed, but this richness veils a far darker reality. We, westners, must realize that China is still a young country when it comes to social development. The infrastructures are not as developed as in Europe, the country still has to face the problems of the past century (poverty, analphabetism, diseases, security, hunger...) and at the same time become/remain one of the most powerful countries on the planet. The challenges are enormous.
Taking care of 1,3 billion people (plus an estimated 200,000,000 never officially registered people) in such a huge country demands time and efforts. So, even in Zhuhai a lot of children can't afford school or healthcare, people encounter legal problems, farmers suffer from the financial crisis. CPAZ started locally. Now that we are well implemented in the city, we are developing our structure elsewhere, and diverse our projects.
Did you know ?
- Zhuhai (珠海) means Sea Pearl: a chinese myth tells that a mermaid carrying a pearl was rescued from fishers. She fell in love with one of them, but to prove her love he asked her to cut her bracelets (that represents her life). She did it, and died. But don't worry, most chinese myths have a happy ending: the fisher managed to bring the mermaid back to life. You can see her statue close to the beach.
- Zhuhai is in the guangdong province. People here speak guangdonghua (or cantonese), but most of them also speak mandarin. However, their prononciation is different from classical mandarin. For example, they cannot make the sound "h" (like the spanish "j"), or "sh", so they changed it to "f" and "s".
- The climate is really particular: the winter is not too cold but really humid, and every day is different (one day you freeze, the other you're in tshirt). The spring is the worst season: it is so humid that walls, floors and ceilings are covered with drops of water (avoid coming here in February/March). Then come 8 months of summer !
- In the province of Guangdong, it is common to have a rest after lunch and to have a 4 o'clock tea break
- Zhuhai is considered by the Chinese as the most romantic city in the country. The "Lovers' Promenade" along the beach is said to be the most romantic road in China and to bring luck to the couples that walked on it.
Zhuhai is trapped between two giants of the modern world: Hong Kong and Macao. You just need to cross the Pearl Delta to get to one of these cities.
Consequently, the city rapidly evolved. Even now in 2012, districts are built within months and change the cartorgraphy of the area. A lot of foreigners live in Zhuhai due to Macao and Hong Kong's proximity. Still, poverty remains an important problem.
As CHEN Ying explained, people see the Pearl Delta as a region of wealth. It is, indeed, but this richness veils a far darker reality. We, westners, must realize that China is still a young country when it comes to social development. The infrastructures are not as developed as in Europe, the country still has to face the problems of the past century (poverty, analphabetism, diseases, security, hunger...) and at the same time become/remain one of the most powerful countries on the planet. The challenges are enormous.
Taking care of 1,3 billion people (plus an estimated 200,000,000 never officially registered people) in such a huge country demands time and efforts. So, even in Zhuhai a lot of children can't afford school or healthcare, people encounter legal problems, farmers suffer from the financial crisis. CPAZ started locally. Now that we are well implemented in the city, we are developing our structure elsewhere, and diverse our projects.
Did you know ?
- Zhuhai (珠海) means Sea Pearl: a chinese myth tells that a mermaid carrying a pearl was rescued from fishers. She fell in love with one of them, but to prove her love he asked her to cut her bracelets (that represents her life). She did it, and died. But don't worry, most chinese myths have a happy ending: the fisher managed to bring the mermaid back to life. You can see her statue close to the beach.
- Zhuhai is in the guangdong province. People here speak guangdonghua (or cantonese), but most of them also speak mandarin. However, their prononciation is different from classical mandarin. For example, they cannot make the sound "h" (like the spanish "j"), or "sh", so they changed it to "f" and "s".
- The climate is really particular: the winter is not too cold but really humid, and every day is different (one day you freeze, the other you're in tshirt). The spring is the worst season: it is so humid that walls, floors and ceilings are covered with drops of water (avoid coming here in February/March). Then come 8 months of summer !
- In the province of Guangdong, it is common to have a rest after lunch and to have a 4 o'clock tea break
- Zhuhai is considered by the Chinese as the most romantic city in the country. The "Lovers' Promenade" along the beach is said to be the most romantic road in China and to bring luck to the couples that walked on it.