Did You Know?
Two Thousand Years of Trade, and a Fair Twice a Year
The Canton Fair has run in Guangzhou twice a year since 1957, through famine, the Cultural Revolution and every shift in Chinese economic policy since. Its exhibition halls cover about 1.5 million square metres, which makes it one of the largest trade events staged anywhere.
The city was a port on the maritime Silk Road long before that — Guangzhou has been trading with the outside world for roughly two thousand years, and rarely stopped.
The clock: Guangzhou keeps UTC+8, like the entire People's Republic. Its longitude lies well west of the zone's 120° meridian, so the sun here reaches its highest point around 12:30 rather than noon.