Bay Impressions

A Window into Millennia of Maritime Civilization

The story of Nansha Bay begins with the sea.

In the Tang dynasty, this was a trading anchorage known as Nanwan. Sandbars emerged during the Song and Yuan dynasties, nurturing the earliest villages, and by the Ming and Qing dynasties it had become an important coastal defense stronghold protecting Guangzhou. From Shacheng to Shapu and then Nansha, named after the sandbars south of Huangshanlu, each name records a deep dialogue between this land and the sea.

Here, archaeologists discovered the earliest complete skeleton of Nansha Man in Guangzhou, bearing witness to the geographic evolution of the Pearl River Delta and the sweeping history of human migration.

From Ancient Villages to Modern Turning Points

The Lujing site shows that people were already living and thriving here in the Neolithic period.

Tangkeng Ancient Village is one of Nansha's oldest villages, founded during the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan dynasty. It is home to the earliest surviving Tin Hau temple in Guangdong, witnessing the beliefs and cultural transmission of Cantonese people who sailed to Southeast Asia.

In the Qing dynasty, the Jin Suo Tong Guan defense line was built, and a customs post was established on Shanghengdang Island, where all foreign merchant ships entering Guangzhou were required to pay duties.

Dajiaoshan Fort and Shajiao Fort across the river guarded the Pearl River. This became the starting point of the Opium War, while Jinsuopai Lighthouse guided countless merchant ships and witnessed the opening chapter of modern history.

The Culture of Nansha

It is a distinctive fusion of Cantonese culture and maritime civilization.

People of the sea may not have family genealogies, but they share the faith of Tin Hau. Mazu culture is deeply rooted here, becoming a spiritual anchor for families living on the water. From temple incense to festival rituals, it reflects the inclusiveness of Cantonese culture and the openness of maritime culture.

This land, once called Panyu's Siberia, now opens its arms to the world as a center of the Greater Bay Area. It is not only the blue sea and golden shore of the Pearl River estuary, but also a living scroll of history.

Fok Ying Tung's Nansha Dream

When Nansha was still tidal flats, Mr. Fok Ying Tung had already envisioned the future of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area here. He was not only an industrialist, but also a determined dream builder. In the face of doubt, he took the lead in opening east-west arteries across the Pearl River Delta, building bridges and roads and launching the Humen ferry to turn barriers into thoroughfares. In 1992, he pledged to build a world-facing coastal new city on this land.

Through sand filling, land reclamation, shoreline reinforcement and city building, he led his team over more than a decade to create a seven-kilometer golden coast and more than twenty benchmark projects, including the marina, Tin Hau Temple, Nansha Golf Club and Nansha Information Technology Park. Most precious of all, he upheld three principles: no occupation of farmland, no reliance on loans and no request for special policies, all to create a sustainable international model city.

Fok Ying Tung devoted his life to the belief of standing in Nansha while embracing the world. What he left behind is not only a modern coastal new city, but also a spiritual legacy of courage, vision and generosity.

Mr. Fok Ying Tung

I have long held a vision to build a beautiful coastal new city for socialist modernization, founded on commerce and driven by high technology. This city should serve our country's economic development and reform and opening-up. This has been my wish for twenty years.

Nansha is blessed with a unique geographic location. It should serve the country and support the economic development of the greater Pearl River Delta.

As a socialist coastal new city, Nansha still has a long road ahead. We do not expect to complete a new city in ten or twenty years. It will take the efforts of a second, even a third generation, to bring this vision largely to life. What seems ordinary may be the most extraordinary; what appears easy is often hard-won.

——Words of Fok Ying Tung

A River of Bay History