Shantou is the earliest special economic zone opened in the country.

Shantou City is located in the southeastern part of Guangdong Province, China, on the edge of the South China Sea. It is located at the estuary of Hanjiang River, Rongjiang River and Lianjiang River. It is known as "the gateway to Lingdong and the hub of South China" and is one of the five economic cities in the country. One of the special zones and an important port city in the south. The city has a total area of ??2,064 square kilometers and a total population of 4.95 million; of which the central urban area covers an area of ??443 square kilometers and has a population of 1.37 million. It currently governs 6 districts including Jinping, Longhu, Chenghai, Haojiang, Chaoyang, Chaonan and Nan'ao County.

Shantou has superior natural conditions. Located at the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and the South China Sea, it has a subtropical monsoon climate, with no severe cold in winter and no scorching heat in summer. The annual average temperature is 21.3°C, the sunshine time is 2000-3000 hours, the rainfall is 1672.25mm, and the humidity is 82%. It is the most suitable for human habitation. one of the areas. The city has a coastline of 289 kilometers and many natural harbors. Shantou is not only the central city in eastern Guangdong, but also a commodity distribution center in eastern Guangdong, southeastern Jiangxi, and southwestern Fujian. It is an important node in the "Greater Pearl River Delta" and "Pan-Pearl River Delta" economic circles, and is also the economic center of the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and the west coast of the Taiwan Strait. It is an important connection point in the Belt and Road and has a unique location advantage as the geographical gateway to the Asia-Pacific. Shantou Port is close to the Western Pacific International Golden Waterway, less than 200 nautical miles from Hong Kong and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Shantou is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese and has close exchanges with overseas countries. There are currently 3.35 million overseas Chinese in more than 40 countries and regions around the world. There are more than 2 million returned overseas Chinese, family members of overseas Chinese and family members of compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Shantou's unique advantages in popularity, geography and affinity with overseas exchanges give Shantou special advantageous conditions and huge development potential in opening up to the outside world. In 1981, Shantou established a special economic zone and entered a new period of development.

Shantou has a long history of foreign trade and its economy is highly export-oriented. Shantou was officially opened as a port in 1861. It was one of the earliest port cities in modern China to open to the outside world. It is known as the "Central Port for a Hundred Years". Business has always been relatively developed, and there was a prosperous scene where "merchants gathered, buildings and ships from all over the world". In 1921, Shantou was established as a city. In the 1930s, Shantou Port ranked third in the country in terms of throughput and seventh in terms of commercial prosperity. Chaoshang has now become a global business community with strong economic strength and huge influence.

Shantou has more people but less land, and has unique cultural traditions. Shantou is one of the most densely populated areas in the country with the smallest cultivated land area per capita. Famous for its intensive farming, it is said that "farming is like embroidery". The Chaoshan area has always been a gathering of humanities, advocating culture and education, and is known as the "Seaside Zoulu". Chaoshan dialect, Chaozhou opera, Chaozhou music, Chaozhou cuisine, English songs, Chaoyang paper-cutting, and Gongfu tea are full of strong local characteristics and unique. The research on "Chaozhou Studies" with Chaoshan history and culture as its independent research object has been carried out extensively and deeply, and has far-reaching influence.

Since the reform and opening up, Shantou City has given full play to its advantages as a special zone and a hometown of overseas Chinese. The comprehensive strength of the national economy has jumped to a new level, and the level of social civilization has been increasingly enhanced. It has successively entered the ranks of "China's Top 50 Cities in Comprehensive Strength", "China's Excellent Tourism Cities", "National Environmental Protection Model City", "National Sanitary City", "China's Brand Economic City", and "China's Top 100 Investment Environment Cities". In 2006, the city achieved a GDP of 74.092 billion yuan, an increase of 11.6%; a total industrial output value of 146.99 billion yuan, an increase of 13.1%; and local general budget revenue of 3.493 billion yuan, an increase of 18.6%.

Shantou was originally a fishing village on the seaside of Jieyang (later settled in Chenghai). In the Yuan Dynasty, a large fishing village called "Xialing" was formed in the area of ????now Guanghuabu. By the ninth year of Jiajing (1530 AD), a sand ridge had formed in the area around Laoma Palace on Waima Road, which was called "Shashan". In the third year of Wanli (1575), the sand ridges accumulated into a patch, which was called "Shashanping". In the 56th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1717), a fort and a pier were built at the present site of the Shantou Branch of the People's Bank of China on Waima Road, which was called "Sha Shantou". Later, the Qing government set up a station here to collect salt tax, which was referred to as "Shantou". . By the fourth year of Jiaqing (1809), more and more merchant ships were berthing, so it was called "Shashantou Port". Before the opening of the port, the "Zhangchao Guild Hall" had been established, commercial activities were becoming increasingly active, and it had the prototype of a commercial port.

After Shantou opened as a port, opium and foreign goods were imported one after another, and a large number of "piglets" (indentured Chinese laborers) were transported to the colonies of various countries to serve as coolies. The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Norway, the United States, Japan and other countries successively established consulates to carry out economic development. , cultural, military aggression.

Shantou is named after the sand ridges formed by the accumulation of sediment on the seashore. Due to the continuous alluvial accumulation of sediment from the Han River on the seashore, and under the action of tides and waves, a natural sand embankment was formed in the old urban area of ??Shantou today. This type of sand embankment is called "Shantou", and the beginning is called "Shantou". ". Shantou is also known as Tuodao. The shark is a small, round, spotted fish that is a type of shark and is called a shark fish. The urban area of ??Shantou is located on one side of the Tuoji River and is surrounded by water on three sides. It used to be a peninsula in history. In the past, the bay was rich in sharks, so it was called "Tuo Island".

Opening of a port——Shantou City has a history of more than 130 years since its opening as a port. This was originally a turbulent bay. Due to the alluvial sediment carried by the Han River in recent hundreds of years, it gradually floated up from the bottom of the sea. During the Yuan Dynasty, a larger fishing village called "Xialing" had initially formed in the area of ????now Guanghua Port. In the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1369), Pengzhou Royal Thousand Households was established here. In the third year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1575), the sand ridges at the mouth of Hanjiang River had accumulated into a patch, which was called "Shaxianping". In the fifty-sixth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1717), a Yandun fort was built here, which was called "Shaxiantou". From Yongzheng (AD 1730) to Qianlong, more and more people moved here to live. In addition to fishing and farming, they also used seawater to dry salt. Salt traders from all over the country often came here to sell salt. The Qing government set up a station here to collect salt taxes. Referred to as "Shantou". Shantou also has "Tuo Island". Later, with the increasing frequency of passing merchant ships, in the 21st year of Qianlong's reign (AD 1756), the Qing government established "Changguan" at Fangji Mountain (today's Mayu Island) to collect customs duties for commercial traffic from the north to the south. This was in Shantou. The earliest customs established.

Chaoshan folk custom is a branch of Chinese folk culture. It is the crystallization of the fusion of Han culture, Baiyue folk culture and foreign culture. It is unique and has its own system. There are dietary customs such as eating "Seven Soups" on the seventh day of the first lunar month and "Dongjie Pills" on the winter solstice; there are wedding customs such as asking Qing Niangmu to make "Four Sentences"; there are also "eating Dingjiu", "going out of the garden", etc. Fertility customs; sometimes there are folk customs of worshiping the same year during the eight festivals; there are entertainment folk customs such as "Motu Opera" and "Lantern Competition"; there are social customs such as giving gifts in pairs for good things and odd numbers for bad things...