Huizhou Province

Lore & Background

During the Song dynasty, Huizhou was a prefectural capital of the Huiyang prefecture and the cultural center of the region. The West Lake in Huizhou was formerly known as Feng Lake. At the age of 59, Su Shi was exiled to Huizhou by the imperial government of Song. When he visited Feng Lake, he found it located in the west of the city and as beautiful as West Lake in Hangzhou, so he renamed it West Lake. To solve traffic problems on both sides of the lake, he invested to help build two bridges. Later generations named one bridge Su Di to commemorate his achievements; the two bridges became one of the eight scenic spots in the West Lake, called 'Su Di Play Moon'. Huizhou used to be a prosperous region specializing in commerce and trading, which changed during the 20th century due to wars. After the 1980s, Huizhou developed as a manufacturing base.

Reader's Guide

Huizhou is located in the Pearl River Delta and is one of the 9 prefecture-level cities in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone (including Huizhou urban area, Huiyang, Huidong, and Boluo only). TCL, a major TV and multinational consumer electronics company, is headquartered in Huizhou. The city administers 5 county-level divisions: 2 districts and 3 counties. Huicheng, the urban center, is served by the Jingjiu Railway (also known as the Guangmeishan Railway in Guangdong) with two stations: Huizhou West and Huizhou.

Huizhou Pingtan Airport reopened in 2015. The main languages spoken are Hakka (mainly Huiyang dialect), Cantonese, Hokkien, and Huizhou dialect. Huizhou is the headquarters of the 42nd Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the two group armies comprising the Guangzhou Military Region. Huizhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa), with long, hot, humid summers and short, mild, dry winters.