Humen (town)

near Humen central bus station

Humen Town (simplified Chinese: 虎门镇; traditional Chinese: 虎門鎮; pinyin: Hŭmén zhèn), also known as Taiping, is a town within the borders of Dongguan city, on the eastern side of the Bocca Tigris on the east bank of the Pearl River Delta, in Guangdong province, southern China. The population was 577,548 as at the 2000 Census, making it the second most populous town (zhèn) in China (after Chang'an, also in Dongguan).

History

The Weiyuan Fort and the Humen Bridge

The history of Humen is linked to the First Opium War (1839–1842). It was at Humen that Lin Zexu supervised the destruction of large quantities of seized opium in 1839. Some major battles in the First Opium War were fought here and on the waters of the Bocca Tigris.

Economy

Humen is a thriving city crowded with consumer goods factories. These factories also fueled population expansion from emigrating workers around the country seeking factory jobs. Furthermore, Humen is geographically advantageous for the factories due to its proximity to two large metropolitan cities and export harbors of Hong Kong and mainland China's Shenzhen. Humen has long been an important gateway to south China. Going upstream, ships plying the Pearl River can reach the eastern, northern and western regions of Guangdong and even parts of Guangxi province. The main port, Humen Port, is a first-class port open to foreign vessels.

Tourist attractions

Sea Battle Museum Park entrance

Sea Battle Museum

• The "Sea Battle Museum", which has dioramas and displays concerning the Opium Wars, may be reached by taking Bus 8A or 8B to its westernmost stop.
• The Opium War Museum aka. Lin Zexu Memorial Museum
• Former Residence of Jiang Guangnai
• Keyuan Garden (lit. "a garden not too bad for visiting"), built in 1850 during the Qing Dynasty

Several Qing Dynasty forts, including:

• Weiyuan Fort (simplified Chinese: 威远炮台; traditional Chinese: 威遠砲臺), located near the "Sea Battle Museum" and almost directly under the Humen Pearl River Bridge
• Shajiao Fort (simplified Chinese: 沙角炮台; traditional Chinese: 沙角砲臺); lit. "sand corner" fort), where the Convention of Chuenpee took place in 1841
• Eyi Fort (simplified Chinese: 鹅夷炮台; traditional Chinese: 鵝夷砲臺)
• Jingyuan Fort
• Zhenyuan Fort

Travel and transport

Humen May 5, 2007

Humen is located at the eastern end of the Humen Pearl River Bridge.

Humen is served by regular direct buses traveling south from Guangzhou. Routes continue south by bus to Shenzhen's Window of the World theme park, from which it is possible to continue on to the Hong Kong border by bus or the Shenzhen Metro.

A ferry service connects Humen to Hong Kong International Airport.

External links

• Human government website (Chinese)
• www.humen.com (English)
• Chinese Wikipedia article about the destruction of opium in Humen