Humen Town


Humen Town, formerly Fumun, is a town in Dongguan city on the eastern side of the Humen strait on the Pearl River Delta, in Guangdong province, China. The former town of Taiping was incorporated into Humen Town in 1985. The population was 577,548 in the 2000 census, making it the second most populous town in China.

History

The history of Humen is linked to the First Opium War. It was at Humen that Lin Zexu supervised the destruction of large quantities of seized opium in 1839. Some major battles in the First Opium War were fought here and on the waters of the Bocca Tigris.

Economy

Humen is a thriving city crowded with consumer goods factories. These factories also fueled population expansion from emigrating workers around the country seeking factory jobs. Furthermore, Humen is geographically advantageous for the factories due to its proximity to two large metropolitan cities and export harbors of Hong Kong and mainland China's Shenzhen. Humen has long been an important gateway to south China. Going upstream, ships plying the Pearl River can reach the eastern, northern and western regions of Guangdong and even parts of Guangxi province. The main port, Humen Port, is a first-class port open to foreign vessels.

Tourist attractions

Several Qing dynasty forts, including:
Humen is located at the eastern end of the Humen Pearl River Bridge.
Humen is served by regular direct buses traveling south from Guangzhou. Routes continue south by bus to Shenzhen's Window of the World theme park, from which it is possible to continue on to the Hong Kong border by bus or the Shenzhen Metro.
There is a bus service from Humen Town to Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen. In addition, a ferry service connects Humen Ferry Terminal to Hong Kong International Airport's SkyPier.