By the River

The Pearl River: An Overview

The Pearl River is known as the ‘Mother River’ of Guangzhou City, the capital of Guangdong Province. Crossing through the Province, it is one of the largest rivers in South China, with a total length of 2400 kms. As one of seven main rivers in China, it witnesses the growth of the region and documents every aspect of life around it. The river has become part of life for every Guangzhou citizen.

The Pearl River runs through the city from north to south. For over 2000 years it has been an important place for people living in this region. However, as a public place, the Pearl River didn’t always look as it does at present. Today’s riverscape has been shaped both by human activities and geographic transition over a long period of time. Actually, around 6000 years ago, during the postglacial transgression, most of the river space in the city was part of the ocean, where surrounding tributaries met and ran into the sea. With more intensive human activities and population growth, reclaiming land from the sea has become a strategy for urban expansion. This has resulted in the changes in the interface between ocean and land. Historical maps show that the riverbank had shifted greatly from the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1636 A.D.-1912 A.D.), with the locals changing its name from ‘Pearl Sea’ to ‘Pearl River’.

If rivers shape most of the cities in the world and create valuable waterfront space for the public as is the case with the Seine River in Paris, Thames River in London, Huangpu River in Shanghai and the Hudson River in New York, then how does the Pearl River shape the city of Guangzhou and connect the waterscape with its inhabitants?

The Mother River for the City

The history of this city is incomplete without mentioning the Pearl River, which has always been regarded as the face and identity of Guangzhou. According to historical records, the reason the area developed into a city was largely because of its rich waterway systems, which were needed for the traditional agriculture and business that could use the convenient marine transportation. This in turn resulted in urban land expansion and population growth since the early stage of the Qin Dynasty. The relationship between human activities and the delta region has also aroused attention among scholars in different fields around the world. For example, in the ’90s, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas published a book called Great Leap Forward, after doing extensive research in this area.

Interestingly, if we look at the map of Guangzhou, we realise how the river defined the urban fabric by dividing the central part of the city into several pieces of long island-shaped land. Today, as we drive over the bridge in this area, it is hard to imagine people crowded on boats sailing across the river a 100 years ago. Indeed, the waterways served as an important transportation system for people in the city before bridges were built over these separated lands.

The river also contributes greatly to the city’s green space networks. Most of the existing public parks with waterscapes in the city are connected to the Pearl River through small canals and the water runs from the river into the park, whichalso helps to form the unique local landscape style called ‘lingnan gardens’. 

Today, with the increased urban expansion, these ‘green water parks’ become valuable public space in the city. In other words, it has became a living room for people, a gathering place for Cantonese Opera and Tai Chi enthusiasts and a natural education centre for the younger generation.

A Market Place for Businessmen

Before the 20th Century, the river was the business centre for the city with its advantageous waterway system. Hundreds of small or large ports were built along the two sides of the river, serving both domestic and international needs as well as improving the regional economic development and culture exchange with the outside world. Because of international trade with other countries, the city of Guangzhou is also known as the origin of the famous Maritime Silk Road, which connects South China with India, the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula. According to records, from 1758 to 1873, at least 5107 merchant ships from other countries passed through here. A famous ship called the Swedish East Indiaman Gotheborg visited three times in ten years.

With increased economic activities and a lot of free markets, small retail stores and shopping centres emerged and extensive port infrastructure such as bridges, piers and navigation towers were built on both sides. It became a busy public waterfront space for everyone’s daily business life. During the fishing season, many fish farmers from surrounding villages got together every day to sell their products. 

However, after the 1960s most of the traditional waterfront spaces have been abandoned because of rapid development of highway, bus and subway systems. Today, although the river is no longer a business centre for the city, it still stimulates new commercial development on both sides of the riverbank. For example, there is a famous bar street called Party Pier next to the river, attracting thousands of people every day. The river may not serve the city as it did a hundred years ago, but we can still see it becoming a new type of ‘market place’.

A Part of Culture for the Local People

For the local people, the Pearl River has become part of their collective cultural memory. 

While walking on the waterfront next to the river, you will see many elderly people chatting together about the past, playing chess or dancing under the trees in the pocket parks along the river. Although the function of the river has been changed, the remnants of old buildings and relics still stand witness to the changes of modern Guangzhou. As such, it has also become an outdoor classroom for the young people to study the city’s past.

The Pearl River played an important role as an open port for the world during the 19th century. Unfortunately, after two Opium Wars between 1840 and 1860, the city of Guangzhou became a colony of the west. For example, a sandbank island in the Pearl River called Shameen Island was colonised by England and France. Today, the island has become an ‘Outdoor Architecture Museum’ including western-style buildings such as a French Catholic chapel, Our Lady of Lourdes chapel and a British Protestant church. In 1997, it became a national heritage reservation area attracting a large number of people from all over the world. For most of the people, it is not only a place with attractive buildings, tree-lined streets, restaurants and tea houses, but also a living history book telling the story about the city’s evolution.

Dragon-boat racing is one of the important traditional events that still takes place every year at the river just like it did 2000 years ago. The event is traditionally held as part of the annual Duanwu Festival, which attracts people to the river to commemorate fealty and filial piety. With the rapid urbanisation over the past decades, the role of the Pearl River is no longer the same as it was, but it is not difficult to see that it has become a part of the cultural memory and life of those who are now living in Guangzhou. 

River Cruise for Visitors

Most visitors who come to the Pearl River today may not be here to do business, but to take in the charming scenery along the river; experiencing the city landscape while cruising along the river has become a must for visitors to Guangzhou. They are attracted by the historical sites and unique architecture scattered along the river.

However, more and more people prefer to cruise on the river by night as the sparkling lights have their own fascination.

Productive Landscape for Farmers

Due to the rich water resource of the Pearl River, the traditional agriculture here is highly developed. Easily accessible water irrigation from the river promotes the production of grain, sugar, silkworm and fish, which have always been sources of major economic income for the local farmers.

One method of production called ‘mulberry dike-fish pond complex’ has been developed by local people to make full use of land and water resources. It has been popular with people for hundreds of years in the Pearl River Delta. The fundamental components for this traditional production model are mulberry trees, silkworms, pond fish and humans interacting in a harmonious and mutually beneficial way. The advantage of this system is to fully harness the productive potential of humans and their environment and to promote the development of different types of agriculture within the system. For example, mulberry leaves are food for the silkworm and then its excreta become fish food and then fish excreta in the mud on the pond bottom is used as manure for the mulberry trees. As we can see, this popular agricultural production model has created a productive landscape in the plains of the Pearl River Delta.

Industrialisation over the past decades has changed the economic structure in this area; today most of the local people no longer favour the traditional ‘mulberry dike-fish pond complex’. Tourism has now successfully replaced it.

Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M610898)