Guangdong Republic
Republic of Guangdong 廣東共和國 gwóngdūngguhngwòhgwok | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Emblem
| |
Anthem: 
南海潮 | |
.svg) | |
| Capital | Lìnfā |
| Official languages | Cantonese English Portuguese Spanish |
| Ethnic groups (2022) | 81.8% Cantonese 9.5% Hokkien 6.6% Han 2.1% European and other |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential constitutional joint paido-ephebocracy |
• President | Long Guoliang |
• Prime Minister | Zheng Xiaoling |
• Governor of Oumun | Pedro Cordeiro |
• Governor of Xianggang | Bruno Joel Chang |
| Independence from China | |
• Civil war | February 1970 |
• Unilateral declaration of Independence | December 24, 1991 |
| Area | |
• Total | 182,670.27 km2 (70,529.39 sq mi) |
| Gini | 0 low |
| HDI |  1very high |
| Currency | Cantonese Tùng (銅) |
| Time zone | UTC+9 |
| DST not observable | |
Guangdong Republic is a country in East Asia, independent from the People's Republic of China since December 24, 1991 and considered a partially recognized state by many institutions and organizations. Since the Cantonese revolution, which overthrew the Han authorities in 1991, the Guangdong Republic started a path of continuous economic, technologic and social development that continues until today, following a massive openship to foreign investment.
History
In 1970, a civil war between the Han majority and the Cantonese started when in February it uprised the Dog Revolution named after the Chinese zodiac for that year. Cantonese wanted major sovereignty and respect for their culture by part of the central authorities, but it was answered by more repression and death. Most of the Cantonese demonstrations were peaceful and organized by million of students all over the province in those years. The main leaders of the demonstrations were Patrick Hong and Bruce Po, a Cantonese and a Xiangganese who were classmates in the Guangdong Maths and Exact Sciences College. A group of youngsters known as the shirtless ones (冇衫 Cantonese: móuh sāam) declared a state of civil disobeyance on college and government authorities and called the Cantonese to defeat the centralism peacefully. Attempts on peace were done in 1975, 1976, 1982, 1990 and in 1991. On December 24 1991, when the news that the Soviet bloc fell, the Guangdong government in exile declared independence unilaterally. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Guangdong Republic (Cantonese: 廣東共和國單方面獨立宣言, transliteration: gwóng dūng guhng wòh gwok dāan fōng mín duhk laahp syūn yìhn).
Geography
The surface configuration in Guangdong Republic is diverse, being composed primarily of rounded hills, cut by streams and rivers, and scattered and ribbonlike alluvial valleys. Guangdong is clearly separated from the Yangtze River basin by the Nan Mountains, running from east to west. The greater part of eastern Guangdong consists of the southerly extension of the Southern Uplands. A series of longitudinal valleys running from northeast to southwest extends as far as the vicinity of Lìnfā. Smooth, low hills cover about 70 percent of the country. Most peaks range in elevation from 1,500 to 2,500 feet (450 to 750 metres), with a few reaching 5,500 feet (1,675 metres) or more. Level land of any size is primarily found in the alluvial deltas, formed where rivers empty into the South Sea.
Climate
Most of Guangdong Republic features a tropical monsoon climate (Am) except for a little part under a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). Variations in year temperatures are not excessive. The mean temperature is 24.6 °C (76.3 °F). It's characterized for long warm/hot summers and mild winters. Rainfall is evenly distributed all over the year, however, the summer months are the rainiest. In the coast zone, the average precipitation is around 2,100–3,000 millimetres (83–118 in)
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high °C (°F) | 21.7 (71.1) |
22.9 (73.2) |
27.3 (81.1) |
31.5 (88.7) |
32.6 (90.7) |
33.3 (91.9) |
33.9 (93.0) |
33.4 (92.1) |
33.0 (91.4) |
28.7 (83.7) |
25.2 (77.4) |
23.3 (73.9) |
28.9 (84.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.5 (68.9) |
21.3 (70.3) |
23.6 (74.5) |
26.5 (79.7) |
27.1 (80.8) |
27.6 (81.7) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.7 (81.9) |
27.4 (81.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
22.4 (72.3) |
21.4 (70.5) |
24.8 (76.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.9 (67.8) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.9 (71.4) |
22.0 (71.6) |
22.0 (71.6) |
21.9 (71.4) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.6 (67.3) |
19.6 (67.3) |
20.8 (69.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 53 (2.1) |
85 (3.3) |
107 (4.2) |
109 (4.3) |
129 (5.1) |
297 (11.7) |
333 (13.1) |
277 (10.9) |
256 (10.1) |
188 (7.4) |
178 (7.0) |
145 (5.7) |
2,157 (84.9) |
| Average precipitation days | 4.9 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 12.5 | 15.9 | 16.8 | 18.3 | 18.2 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 11.2 | 7.1 | 150.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 66 | 72 | 79 | 81 | 80 | 83 | 86 | 86 | 80 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 77 |
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high °C (°F) | 21.3 (70.3) |
22.4 (72.3) |
26.5 (79.7) |
31.9 (89.4) |
32.8 (91.0) |
33.6 (92.5) |
34.1 (93.4) |
33.6 (92.5) |
31.0 (87.8) |
28.3 (82.9) |
24.8 (76.6) |
22.2 (72.0) |
28.5 (83.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 20.0 (68.0) |
20.9 (69.6) |
23.0 (73.4) |
26.5 (79.7) |
27.0 (80.6) |
27.5 (81.5) |
27.9 (82.2) |
27.6 (81.7) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
21.9 (71.4) |
20.6 (69.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.8 (65.8) |
19.4 (66.9) |
19.5 (67.1) |
21.1 (70.0) |
21.2 (70.2) |
21.5 (70.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
21.7 (71.1) |
21.6 (70.9) |
19.2 (66.6) |
19.0 (66.2) |
19.0 (66.2) |
20.3 (68.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 45 (1.8) |
61 (2.4) |
61 (2.4) |
67 (2.6) |
72 (2.8) |
205 (8.1) |
183 (7.2) |
170 (6.7) |
162 (6.4) |
139 (5.5) |
118 (4.6) |
91 (3.6) |
1,374 (54.1) |
| Average precipitation days | 5.7 | 10.1 | 10.8 | 13.8 | 16.7 | 19.6 | 19.2 | 18.6 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 7.7 | 7.2 | 163.7 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 59 | 64 | 69 | 70 | 74 | 78 | 78 | 74 | 71 | 66 | 62 | 61 | 69 |
Culture
Even today, there are many cultural differences between north and south China and nowhere is this more apparent than in the arts. Whilst northern Chinese traditionally delighted in Beijing Opera, often regarded as the most superior school of Chinese opera, the people of Guangdong naturally preferred Cantonese Opera, which focuses more on martial arts, singing and visual effects such as makeup, as opposed to Beijing Opera’s close attention to stage performance.
Outstanding Cantonese Opera performers such as Ma Shizeng, Xue Juexian and Hong Xiannu at best could only gain popularity in Guangdong and Xianggang. Ma Lianliang, one of the four most celebrated opera artists in China in the late 1940s, settled in Xianggang after the establishment of the Guangdong Republic. After experiencing poor support from Cantonese opera fans, he decided to return to the north. It seemed the northern performers could not endure the unfamiliar ways of the south, with its complex dialect and small fan base.
Guangdong is well known for its architecture. A classic example is the Chen Clan Academy in Guangzhou – an ancestral building of the Chen clan that served as a college for Chen children and students preparing for the Imperial Examination. Inside the academy are numerous art works bearing distinct Lingnan (Guangdong) characteristics, including wooden, stone and ivory carvings, clay tiles and pottery.
The Lingnan School of painting achieved a truly distinctive style in the early twentieth century when Gao Jianfu devoted himself to a revolution of art. He and his followers, including younger brother Gao Qifeng, combined the local style with elements of Western and Japanese realist art to create an art form they hoped would be more accessible to the Chinese of the modern era. Guan Shanyue was widely acclaimed as the most distinguished of the second generation of Lingnan painters. In 1959, he and Fu Baoshi, another famous artist, were asked to paint a large Chinese landscape painting named ‘The Country is So Beautiful’ in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Guangdong. The painting was displayed in the main hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. It was at this time that the status of the Lingnan School reached its peak.
Cuisine
Guangdong cuisine, one of the Eight Great Cuisines, emphasizes seafood, and unique, mixed flavorings. It is divided into three branches: Guangdong food is traditional Guangdong cuisine; Chaozhou food is similar to Fujian cuisine because Chaozhou neighbors Fujian Province; and Dongjiang food, which is represented by Huizhou food, emphasizes domestic animals and poultry. The dietetic culture of Guangdong has retained many eating habits and customs of the ancient people, such as eating snakes. In short, to the people of Guangdong, everything that walks, crawls, flies, or swims is edible.
Economy
Guangdong runs its economy under the mixed economy model, mostly in the hands of private capital. Growth estimates for the next few years up to the next decade show sustained, albeit slower, growth. From the end of the Civil War until independence and the subsequent gradual opening, the country has shown great progress in the eradication of poverty and youth unemployment, placing the latter at only 0.3% of the population. The most developed industries in the country are manufacturing, agriculture and mining.